The Jets backfield may look different when they take the field this Sunday for a third meeting with the Patriots.
Leon Washington, who had just 12 total touches in two games against the Patriots this season, emerged as the team's leading rusher with 650 yards on 151 carries in addition to 270 receiving yards. Cedric Houston, who scored three touchdowns in the month of December alone, did not participate in either game against the Pats in the regular season, and could cause major problems for a defense that allowed at least 21 points in their final two regular season games.
"They've had good exposure in other games, and Cedric is a running back that we were familiar with last year and got ready for, so there's some background there," Jets head coach Eric Mangini said. "I think that you study quite a bit, and each team has faced new running backs, and this really isn't a new running back. Maybe you don't have the same exposure, but it's still greater than if you're seeing a guy for the first time."
Read below for coach Mangini's complete press conference transcript
New York Jets' Head Coach Eric Mangini, 1.5
Opening Statement
Some good news: Anthony Clement and his wife had a little baby boy, Caleb, on Tuesday, which I should have announced, but we were waiting for Chris Baker, who had a little boy this morning, Chris Baker, Jr. Good to have some more additions to the family.
Today we're working on a regular Friday so it will be red area, it will be two-minute and it will be a review of the first and second down package and the blitz package. All the different elements that we normally do on Friday.
With New England, they've been excellent in the red area both offensively and defensively and they have been excellent in points allowed defensively and also points scored. That's another thing that I learned during my time there; that the most important statistic always comes down to points scored and points allowed.
In terms of two-minute, we've all seen Tom Brady win games in the two-minute package and in two-minute situations. He's very good at clock management and has excellent poise, really uncanny poise. Defensively, they've been doing a lot of good things there, as well.
We have some things that we have to clean up and some things that we have to really get installed and work on, but it'll be essentially the normal pattern that we follow here on Friday.
On what New England does in the red zone that makes them so successful…
They're very good against the run, so it makes it difficult to run it in, and in the passing game they have combination coverages, so it's not just a standard coverage. There's different ways that they can double team receivers. There's some variation in terms of what they present coverage-wise and recognizing the two, so I think it's the function of all the different things they do, the fact that they're very good against the run and very consistent down there, and don't make many mistakes.
On being successful on third down conversions…
A lot of it goes back to first and second down. The more you can manage those early downs and getting into the third-and-ones, third-and-twos, because percentage-wise it drops dramatically with the increased amount of yards. So a significant part of third down success translates back into how well you're performing on first and second down.
On if the Jets do something mentally that allows them to be successful on third down…
Chad (Pennington) does an excellent job with finding the open receiver, and we've had some third down conversions throughout the year that were just sheer effort plays, guys diving over the line. That to me is not just the effort, but the awareness of where the sticks are and what exactly is the yardage needed. On the field we have the yellow lines that you'll see that go across and that's something that (Offensive Coordinator) Brian (Schottenheimer) brought with him from San Diego. We use those lines as a guide. You have the sticks set up, which is great. We also have it all the way across the field, so defensively you know exactly where the ball needs to get to and offensively the same thing, and I think that's helped our awareness overall.
On when he decided to run the no-huddle offense regularly…
For me personally, it was working with Ted Marchibroda. When I was with Ted, Ted would do two-minute at the end of practice as part of conditioning, and we'd also run the two-minute offense during the games, and I saw how effective that was. As a defensive coordinator, a defensive back coach, it puts a lot of pressure on you to get the calls out quickly, to make the adjustments quickly. Even though offensively you're speeding up, it actually slows down the look that you get defensively because the variations can't be as great.
On needing special personnel to run the no-huddle consistently…
You really need everybody to work together. It's getting to the line of scrimmage, getting ready and in the position that you need to be in, hearing the call from the quarterback, understanding the difference between what's the real call and what's the bogus call he's giving, so you have to process that because there's a lot of that when you come up. You may give three things that mean nothing, then a trigger word that means, 'okay, here's what we're really doing.' So processing that information, and then being able to execute it in that hurry-up mentality.
On Laveranues Coles' injury being a jaw injury…
It's the same injury. As we looked at it more, it is more jaw than chin, just to clarify what it was.
On expecting Coles to be ready on Sunday…
With Laveranues I always expect him to be at full speed. When things bother him, it's not the normal effect that an injury has.
On what players compare to Coles in terms of toughness…
(I can't think of anyone) off the top of my head. He's pretty rare. I'd have to think about it. I've been around a lot of tough guys through the years, and one doesn't pop up. It's not that there isn't one of a comparative nature, but off the top of my head, I can't think of one.
On Coles' toughness working to his detriment…
He's very smart. He knows the difference between injury and pain, and he just has a very high pain threshold and very good mental toughness to deal with that where things that may be too great for someone else doesn't affect him the same way.
On Coles' response when asked if he's hurt…
'I'm fine.'
On using the bye week to correct mistakes from the first half of the season…
We didn't have enough time to cover all of them, but we went through as a staff and we evaluated -- first the offense and defense met and then we met collectively as a group and discussed the different things that had come up. Not just in terms of what the errors were but also personnel and how the personnel fit. Then we put together -- like you would with a game plan, the actual book of adjustments and corrections to the problems, handed that out, went through those things, addressed it on tape, went outside, walked through those things, then went to the field and actually practiced those things against very similar looks. Just the identification, the process of everybody seeing it, being able to look at it on paper, walking through it at a slow tempo and then executing it at a quicker tempo where you have to make the calls and those types of things. I think that whole process of going through it was very positive for us.
On the improvement after the bye week…
It was pretty similar to the experience we had last year in New England where statistically we weren't very good the first half of the season defensively, and the second half of the season we were pretty close to one or two in every defensive category. Some of that was a function of different personnel playing in there and that we had lost a couple guys who had thousands and thousands of reps in the system.
What I attribute that to is the players' hard work and the players' consistency. They've been working at this for a long time, and some of the problems that did happen the first week had already been corrected for the second week, right on down the line. It's their commitment to getting it right, their professionalism, all those things, and all of us working together. Even though it transitioned over at that point, it was a process that had been in the works for quite some time.
On the players ability to accept his coaching…
That's always the mark of true professionals because we all do things you wish you hadn't and you make mistakes. It's good to get the honest feedback of this could be better or this wasn't very effective, so the next time you're in that situation you can be effective. Everybody is so competitive, everybody wants to do well, everybody has a lot of pride, and that feedback is an important part of being able to grow and get better.
On the difference between preparing for a team you have only seen on tape and a team you have played before…
When you have exposure to players, you have exposure to schemes, it's definitely a positive thing because you're not covering ground that you have to cover with a team that you have no exposure to. You have some more familiarity with their strengths, their weaknesses, those types of things, and you can dig a little bit deeper into some of the other things. Now, the reverse of that is true, they have that same exposure and they can dig deeper as well, so it's really offset a little bit by the fact that you both have the same advantage.
On traits like speed and strength translating from tape…
You do the best you can there, and the pro personnel department also writes up each player, and that's true for every NFL team where they'll go through multiple games prior to you ever facing them and give their assessment of the player, just like they would if you were looking at them in free agency. And you learn from that information as well, and you just try to gather as much as you can to get a true sense of who the player is.
On Pete Kendall's influence on D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold…
Pete has been a great influence. He's very smart, he's very knowledgeable, he draws from a lot of experiences, and he's right there in between the two, so he's a steadying influence, and I think that he's been very helpful to them. But I would also put Anthony Clement in there and Brandon Moore and all the work that the offensive linemen, all these guys work together. On the flipside, Bobby Hamilton, Kimo von Oelhoffen, Shaun Ellis, they work with those guys, too. When I'm pass rushing against you, this is what I like to do because of this, or when you have this stance, it gives me this key. So it's a little bit of feedback from guys playing their position as well as feedback from guys playing against them to give them both sides of the ledger.
On the role special teams will play against New England…
Special teams play a huge role in every single game that you're in, and a lot of those plays are game-changing plays. A lot of those plays take place after game-changing plays, so usually when you have the kickoff return team, it's the start of the half, the start of the game, or after they've scored, so if you can go out and get a big return and get some of that momentum back, those things are significant. Mike Westhoff does a really great job with our special teams, and on the other side, Brad Seely does a really great job with their special teams as well. That's going to play an important role.
On making special teams more important than other coaches…
It was important in New England and it was important here when I was with Bill Parcells. It's the third phase of the game, and it has equal importance to the other two. Philosophically we believe if you're tired, you take a break on offense and defense and not on special teams because those plays have the potential to be game-changing plays.
On the running game now versus at the start of the season…
Both our run offense and our run defense have made good strides from the beginning of the season, and a lot of that is a function of everybody being able to work together, getting a better sense of the runs that we run and the runs that are run against us and how to stop them or how to block them effectively. Also the running backs, the timing of everything, I think we've made some good progress there, but it's still something that we look to make progress on.
On it being to the team's advantage that Cedric Houston and Leon Washington did not play a lot in either of the two previous games against New England…
They've had good exposure in other games; and Cedric is a running back that we were familiar with last year and got ready for, so there's some background there. I think that you study quite a bit, and each team has faced new running backs, and this really isn't a new running back. Maybe you don't have the same exposure, but it's still greater than if you're seeing a guy for the first time.
On Kevan Barlow's status for the game…
It all comes down to the end of the week; it all comes down to how we evaluate it. We have another day here, so it could be any one of those three guys. Derrick (Blaylock) has actually been doing a lot of good things, so we've got a good mix there.
On the evaluation for Barlow having more to do with game plan or injury…
Well, they all work in throughout the game plan, and that's part of the evaluation is how well, how effectively they do within the week within the context of the game plan.
On Shaun Ellis…
One of the most dramatic plays that stand out in my mind from the season is a play against Miami where they had the third down and they got it to fourth and one and decided to kick the field goal. Shaun on that play was on the backside of the play, pursued down, actually fell in front of the ball carrier and stopped them the yard short. During the course of the week Shaun had a really outstanding week in pursuit, and he's been very good at. That's something that we stress quite a bit, everybody getting the ball. I thought that play with how well he had done during the course of the week, the fact that it was really a pursuit/effort play where he falls in front of the running back, stops him short of it, now they have to kick the field goal. Without that effort, without that play, who knows where the game would have gone.
Things like that- outside of all of his statistics- things like that go a little bit unnoticed, and he's done a real good job with that element of leadership that he brings on the practice field and translates into the game.
On the situations in which Leon Washington is most dangerous…
Leon has done a lot of different things really well. He's caught the ball out of the backfield effectively at times, even if it's not necessarily a designed route. If it's just a check down where he's the outlet, and the fact that he can make things happen with the ball in his hands after he gets it in space. I think he's done some nice things on the perimeter runs and draws. The other thing I like about him is he's done some runs that traditionally big backs run and he's done well with that because he's got a good sense now of pressing the hole, where the cutback lane will be, and that takes some time and that takes some real effort to understand that and how it's all going to fit together up front, and that's part of his maturing and consistent work.
On what he's told the players about running the ball this week…
Hold it high and tight; protect the football.
On telling them anything about getting extra yards…
It's very important to always force them to tackle you, but a lot of it comes down to holding the football high and tight and protecting the ball.
On Washington reminding him of Patriots' running back Kevin Faulk…
There are some elements of that. He has some qualities that Kevin has and Kevin has some qualities that he doesn't have, but they're both really good people. They both work extremely hard. They're both good teammates. Kevin is obviously a lot more experienced than Leon is, but I think there are some similarities and differences. As people, they're two very, very good people.
On Hank Poteat…
Hank has done a good job and he's filled a lot of roles. We had him here early and had a visit with him and he got to play and then came back. Hank is a good example of when opportunity comes, being able to take advantage of it. One of the things that I've always liked about Hank is his toughness, his competitiveness and his professionalism. Doing things the right way, if he's supposed to be in a certain spot, really working to get to that spot and being consistent with that. So those are all things that I liked when I knew him prior to coming here and since he's been here.
On admiring Poteat's resilience…
That's something we talk about as a team all the time that there's going to be adversity through the season, there's going to be adversity in games, and really there's always going to be adversity in your career, your life, whatever the situation may be, and how you deal with that is so important, how you're able to move on from that and focus on the next thing, and he's done a good job with that.
On how having veterans on the team who won Super Bowl has helped…
(They are) another sounding board for people to ask questions to, but there's a lot of guys here who have won a lot of games, whether it be here or in college. How you draw from all those experiences and the things that they did well. There are a lot of similarities as to why you win at whatever level, and you're always trying to share things that will help you do that at the level you're currently at.
On Matt Chatham…
The fact that Matt was voted special teams captain is a real testament to him being a new guy, and he's very insightful; when he looks at opponents and the players, he does excellent reports on those things. He's tough, he's got experience in the system, and that was important, especially early on. Matt has been a good addition.
Friday Injury Report Jets Questionable:FB B.J. Askew (foot), RB Kevan Barlow (thigh), CB David Barrett (hip), WR Laveranues Coles (jaw), CB Andre Dyson (knee), FB James Hodgins (knee), C Nick Mangold (knee), OL Brandon Moore (ankle), S Kerry Rhodes (knee) & DL Dewayne Robertson (knee)
Probable: *LB Matt Chatham (foot), *RB Cedric Houston (calf), *QB Chad Pennington (calf), *DB Eric Smith (foot) & *DE Bryan Thomas (shoulder)
Patriots Out: S Rodney Harrison (knee)
Questionable: WR Bam Childress (ankle), RB Kevin Faulk (knee), CB/S Chad Scott (back), TE Benjamin Watson (knee) & NT Vince Wilfork (ankle)
Probable: *QB Tom Brady (r shoulder), *CB Ellis Hobbs (wrist), *DL Richard Seymour (elbow) & LB Mike Vrabel (back)
*Denotes players who participated in practice
