Transcripts of news conferences and interviews in the Jets' Ralph Wilson Stadium locker room following their 28-9 loss to the Bills:
HEAD COACH REX RYAN
I'm obviously extremely disappointed with the outcome of the game. We had a bunch of opportunities, especially in the first half, 0-for-3 in the red zone, and then they had the interception for a touchdown. Obviously Spiller made a great play on the screen pass — he's an explosive athlete and he made a great play. They outplayed us in the second half. You have to give them a lot of credit. They certainly deserve the victory, and obviously we wanted to win in the worst way.
On if Mark Sanchez is in the plans for the Jets' future...
The future is going to be addressed at a different time. Right now we're just coming off a terrible defeat. The future will be discussed at a different time.
On an ESPN report before the game that OC Tony Sparano won't be back...
Again, I think when you look at it, whether it's anybody, I'm talking myself, Tony, players, whatever, all that will be addressed at a different time. As much as I hate talking about this Buffalo game, that's where I'd like to keep the questions.
On if he thought about putting Tim Tebow in the game for a stretch...
No, I made the decision. It was my decision to stay with Sanchez. I was the only one who made that decision. It's on me, and obviously it didn't work out the way I wanted it to.
On reasons he made that decision...
Yeah, I thought he gave us the best chance to win. I know you guys love that answer, but it's the truth. I'm trying to win the game and that's it. If I thought Tebow would have helped us win the game playing quarterback or defensive tackle, I would have played him.
On his feelings on the 2012 season...
I'd rather talk about that tomorrow or at a different time. But, you know, six wins obviously isn't up to anybody's expectations for this team and certainly not mine.
On why the Jets couldn't do more against the Buffalo defense...
I'm not sure. I thought we were running the ball really well early in the game. I don't know what adjustments they made, but certainly they played much better in the second half. I expected to come in here, I felt confident that we could move the football, and you have to give them a lot of credit.
On if he's received assurances from ownership that he'll return as head coach of the Jets...
Nope, sure haven't. We'll see.
On his thoughts on his situation...
Up until right this moment, my focus was this game against Buffalo. That's exactly where my focus was, trying to win a game. Right now, it'll probably be a little different.
On the report that he might prefer to be fired if things aren't fixed with the Jets' offensive personnel...
My thought was, when asked the question, I gave my answer. It was untrue that I never wanted out of my contract or anything else. That was the premise of the conversation. The "off the record," whether that's a misunderstanding or not, I certainly know what my answer was. For me, this is my team, and I made sure that all of you understand my intentions. This is the team that I want to coach, nobody else's. Obviously with only six wins and all that stuff, I'm sure there'll be some Jet fans that maybe wish I wouldn't coach the Jets. But guess what. I know I'm the right guy for the job.
On how quickly he'd like to clarify his situation...
I just want to be here. Obviously, [Woody] Johnson has a right to do whatever he chooses because he's the owner. I appreciate the fact that he's given me this opportunity.
On if he sensed any quit in his team vs. Buffalo...
No, I never did. At the end of that last drive, we had a couple mistakes that were absolutely killers. I always say we've got to have 11 guys singing out of the same hymnal, but we had one guy one time wasn't singing out of the same hymnal and it hurt us. They took advantage of it, ripped off a big run. I'm giving Buffalo credit because they made the plays. Certainly it was disappointing, but give them the credit.
On how discouraging Sanchez's performance was...
I think as a football team it's discouraging. We had our moments in the game. I thought offensively we were really moving the football, and we just weren't scoring in the red zone. Defensively, we were playing extremely well. In the second half, though, obviously Buffalo did a much better job, in particular converting on third down.
On if he expects Tebow to return next season...
Tim's under contract, so we'll see what happens.
QB MARK SANCHEZ
On what happened in the game...
It was just that we didn't play our best. We gave them a cheap one early. I stared down [Jeremy] Kerley a little too long. But after that I thought for the first half we ran the ball very well, very effectively. We just didn't have that in the second half, we just kind of dropped off there. Then we got in a situation where we were behind and had to come back to win it and just didn't have enough there at the end, so it kind of slipped away.
On his thoughts on his future with the Jets...
Well, there are some decisions to be made, obviously, from upstairs, and they'll do their best. They'll put the best possible team together, coaches and players, for the next season, put us in a position to be successful. Other than that, I'm not going to hypothesize or try to guess about what's going to happen. We'll just see what happens from them and move on.
On fathoming the offense's struggles at the beginning of the season...
No, I never think about that. I never think about not being successful. I felt like we had some poor execution at times, just didn't take care of the football as well as I should have at times. Those led to a few losses, and we just weren't our best. That's too bad, but that's kind of the way things went and we'll learn from it and move on.
On why he and the offense didn't develop a rhythm...
I think we just didn't execute and it starts with the quarterback. I've got to be better. At times we ran the ball really well, at times we didn't. At times we made plays in the passing game and at times we didn't. When you're inconsistent like that, it's tough to win in this league.
On the difference from Game 1 vs. Buffalo to this game...
I think it was just poor execution, speaking from an offensive standpoint. We've got to be more consistent, whether it's running or throwing the ball, and I've got to play better. I played much better in the first game as opposed to this one.
On if he'll take more time to get away this offseason...
You do that every season, no matter what. Whether you make a deep run in the playoffs or things end up short and not the way you expect, like this year or last season, you've got to get away from the game for a little bit and then be ready to come back strong, and we will.
On how he and OC Tony Sparano worked together this season...
I thought he was great for us. I thought he was tough on us, he held everybody accountable. But we just needed to execute better from a player standpoint, and it starts with the quarterback. I thought he worked his butt off, he gave us everything he had, and I'm not going to speculate on who's going to be here and who's not going to be here. Upstairs, there are some decisions to make for Mr. Johnson and Mr. Tannenbaum, so they'll do their best to make this team the best possible group we can next year, players and coaches alike.
On so much uncertainty going into this offseason for him and the Jets...
First time, so I don't know. I'll let you know in a couple of months, we'll see what happens. I think there's a lot of potential with this organization. We've had success here before and I know we can do it again.
On if he feels he grew this season...
I think you're learning about how valuable it is to protect the football, how smart you have to play down in the red zone, and how much better you have to execute to win football games. Understand that this is the ultimate team sport, we've got to have it in all three phases every game to win. We didn't have that this year We've got to execute better.
On how he'd evaluate his season...
I don't know. It's too early to tell. I'll look back at film. Not my best. I know I'm better than this. That's what I'll focus on this offseason, getting better.
On his relationship with head coach Rex Ryan...
Coach Ryan is a fighter. He wants this thing bad just like I do. We've had our taste of success here, a couple of deep playoff runs where we were really a quarter or a half away from a Super Bowl twice, and you've got to cherish those moments and really take advantage of those moments because you never know what can happen in those next couple of years. I know Coach is going to do everything possible to improve, and he has done that, he's fighting his butt off and I admire that.
On imagining Ryan not being back with the Jets for next season...
Like I said, I'm not going to speculate on stuff like that. He's the only head coach I've known in the NFL and I don't know anything different. I know he's going to work his butt off to improve, just like I will.
On owner Woody Johnson not being at this game...
I don't know. You just told me. He's usually in the locker room after the game shaking everyone's hands. So I don't know.
On if he wants to be back with the Jets next season...
Of course, of course. I mean, this is where it all started, this is where we've had a bunch of fun playing a ton of games, almost 40 wins for Rex and me. We know we can be successful here, so hopefully things work out. If not, I just can't speculate. We'll see.
On if he sees himself as part of the solution...
I mean, I'm contracted to be here, I want to be here. That's all I've known is a Jets uniform. I plan on playing here forever, so who knows?
QB TIM TEBOW
On the difference between this season and last season when he was headed to the playoffs with the Broncos...
Well, this year has had its ups and downs. Obviously you wouldn't have liked to end on this note but I felt like everybody played hard today and showed a lot of character with how they played.
On how this season was for him personally...
I think you have to take a few days to take it all in and look at the season. Obviously there were ups and downs.
On if he expects to be with the Jets next season...
I'm not sure. Like I said, I'll take a few days to just let everything sink in from the season and see from there.
On if this experience with the Jets was a disappointment...
Like I said, there were ups and downs. I think it was a great learning opportunity for me. I know I learned a lot and I'll try to take a lot from it.
On if he wonders what the Jets could have been if he were given a bigger role...
I try not to speculate on what-ifs. I just tried to help this team however I could, however I was asked, and just try to stay ready to go.
On staying another year with a team for which he may not play much...
I felt like it was a learning opportunity for me. There's a lot that I will take from it, there's a lot that I've learned and great relationships that I've built. I know that happened for a reason.
Of it this year with the Jets set him back as a player...
No, sir.
On why he wasn't around the other QBs or OC Tony Sparano on the sidelines during the game...
No, I was over there pretty much most of the game. There was a few times I was probably standing by the heater, but that's because they were showing us similar looks that we had been seeing. I was over there when we were talking about everything.
On if he thinks the Jets were fair to him this season...
I have a lot of great relationships in this organization and I'm proud to have those relationships. I look forward to continuing those relationships. I'm not going to worry about whether I was treated fair. You just try to worry about what situation you're in and handle it the best that you can with the most character and integrity, and worry about what I can control because that's the most important thing.
On if he wants the chance to be the quarterback next year, wherever he is...
Yes, sir.
On if he felt as if he had a lot more to give this season...
I just try to be ready at any time to help this team be ready to go. That was my goal. Whatever I was asked to do, I do with all my heart to help this team, any way, any role. I tried to do that every single week.
CB ANTONIO CROMARTIE
On how he would describe his team's performance...
Poor. That's the only way you can sum it up. For one, we can't score points, turn over the ball, things like that. It's just some of the things you can't do. This is a win-first business. We have to go try and do everything we can as possible to win games.
On the most frustrating part of the season for him...
Losing, that's the most frustrating. We are 6-10. End of the break, we were sitting at 3-5, opportunity to get back at .500, never got back to .500. The opportunities that we had to go out and win the game, we didn't win the game. You have to go look at the games you had a chance to win and you have to figure out what you got to do to during the offseason. I think the biggest thing is, if guys want to be here, they need to come out and work harder during the offseason to make sure guys are getting ready.
On how frustrating as a defense that the offense wasn't able to back them up...
Honestly, we can't worry about what they do. We try to give them the shorter end of the field, try to make sure that we stop their offenses and get our offense back the ball as much as possible. Two missed field goals in, I think, the opening half, and you get a stripped fumble, give the offense a chance at the 15-yard line … you have to find some way to get some points out of it, and I don't think we got any points off it.
On the play of the Jets' secondary this season...
The play of the secondary has been pretty good. We take pride in what we do. The biggest thing that we try to do is giving up the big plays. If you catch the ball, then fine, just don't give up no "YAC" yardage or anything like that. So I think guys took pride, once [CB Darrelle] Revis went down, study what they needed to study, communicate on the back end as best as we know how.
On where he goes from here...
Just go into the offseason, look at the mistakes that I made, and build on what I try and need to build on. This offseason, it's another long offseason, so every guy should be looking at themselves and seeing what they try and need to do.
S YEREMIAH BELL
On how disappointing this season has been...
It's disappointing, no doubt. We feel like we're a playoff team. Not making any excuses, we had a lot of injuries and you kind of wish the guys were healthy so we could've really seen what we could have done. It is what it is, you can't go back. These are typical things that happen in an NFL season. You look at it as that and see what happens next year.
On what Rex Ryan said to the team after the game...
Just the same thing he has been saying the past couple of weeks — missed opportunities, turnovers, shooting ourselves in the foot, things like that. Things that we've been doing, self-inflicted wounds, have been hurting us all season. We continue to do it early, we continue to do it late, and I think if we didn't realize before, we realize now you can't do those things and expect to win a football game.
On if he wants to return to the Jets next season...
No question. Lot of great guys in this locker room, great coaching staff, and this year I probably played with the best secondary I have ever played with. With that being said, I loved my time, I really enjoyed it, and hopefully I'm back to play with these guys next year.
WR BRAYLON EDWARDS
On how he sums up his season in the limited time he's been back with the Jets...
Like you said I haven't been here the whole season, but just from the last three, I think just on offense we've had a lot of chances to make plays and put ourselves in winning situations and we didn't take advantage for whatever reason. I don't think we executed very well. I think we need to go into the offseason and everybody needs to be critical of themselves because everybody has something they can work on to get better for the 2013 season.
On what he said to Mark Sanchez during his struggles in this game...
I just try to focus on the next play. As a player in this league, you have to have a short-term memory. If you miss a tackle, if you miss a block, if you drop a pass, if you miss a throw, you've got to worry about the next thing. If I drop a pass, Mark will do the same thing — "Hey, you've got the next one." That's all we can do from there, on to the next play.
On how Sanchez reacts to that advice...
When I ask him questions or talk to him, he seems fine. That's all I can go by. I can't dig into his psyche. Mark's his own man, and when I talk to him he seems fine.
On if he wants to be a Jet next season...
I definitely do. This city has been nothing but good to me. I've had some good times here and there's a lot of good people in this administration and in this locker room. I think we can win here — I know we can win here — so I hope the opportunity arrives this offseason. And if it doesn't, I wish the Jets organization nothing but the best.
RB SHONN GREENE
On the worst part for the Jets in this game...
Just not carrying ourselves, and turnovers. Turnovers this year cost us and I think that's the most disappointing thing.
On how hard it is for him and his teammates to motivate themselves without the playoffs on the line...
I don't think it's hard because you just want to play as hard as you can for your fans, your coaches and your family.
On how hard it is to celebrate reaching 1,000 rushing yards for the second straight season...
Yeah, it's hard, but it is something for us to look forward to next season. Our offensive line did a great job all season. They did a great job blocking down field all season.
