Transcripts of news conferences and interviews in the Jets' Lincoln Financial Field locker room Thursday night following their 28-10 loss to the Eagles:
HEAD COACH REX RYAN
On tonight's game...
Well, we scored. That was good. Obviously that was a rough game. I think we had 4 yards in the second half. That was a little rough. I don't know how many sacks they had, but it looked like they were going to get a record there, I'm not real sure what it was. But we had 4 yards in the second half, they were 3-for-3 in the red zone, clearly you're not going to beat anybody that way. At times I thought the first unit offensively, we moved the ball pretty well and I was happy to see us get in the end zone, that was good to see. I thought the protection held up at times in the first half. I thought that was good, that was real positive. This team can really rush the passer and it doesn't matter who's out there. They had a couple of number ones out there as the defensive ends and that was good to see.
I thought [tackle] Jason Smith for a guy that had one meeting, I thought Dave DeGuglielmo must have done a good job teaching him because the kid was out there. We said 10 plays initially, and the kid played a whole half and I thought he held up well considering he had only been here for one meeting. I was proud to see that young man compete like he did. I thought QB Greg McElroy did a nice job. When he was in there he did well, moved the team well, showed poise, and that was good to see.
On the depth of the team...
Obviously I'd much rather be 4-0 in the preseason, I hate to lose more than anything. But again, they start counting for real, there's no excuses starting next week when we play Buffalo. We'll evaluate the team then, but with that said, I'd much rather be 4-0. The depth of our team, we'll see. We'll take a hard look at this film, we'll see if some guys stepped up and I thought some guys had an opportunity and I wasn't real happy with them. I'm not going to get into specifics, but I think we'll have enough depth on this team.
On getting the first touchdown of the preseason...
Like I said, I'm glad we got it. I wish we would have saved it and tack it on next week. But it was good to score, no question about it. I thought we moved the ball well at times in the first half and that was good to see.
On getting everything accomplished during the preseason...
The good news is we'll find out. I think this team's a lot better than others but again, we get to prove it on the field, I know where my bet would be. I believe in this team, I believe in this coaching staff. I would have liked to have won, clearly that wasn't the case. This opponent, you have to credit this opponent, and Philly was better than we were today.
On the officials...
Our big thing and my job is to coach this football team and have this team ready and I can't be concerned with that. We're just going to get our team ready and play to the best of our abilities.
On DT Marcus Dixon's injury...
I think it's a stinger. I don't believe it's that serious.
On CB Kyle Wilson...
I thought he had a really good preseason. There are times when you put a guy in a man-to-man cover situations, in particular playing a cover-5 on one particular play I remember, but you have to the give the opponent some credit as well. I thought Kyle really had a good preseason though.
On RB Terrance Ganaway getting any reps at FB...
We tried to get Terrance some reps in there so we could have a backup fullback. We tried Nick Bellore some during the week but he separated his shoulder or had some kind of shoulder injury, so it really prevented us from putting him in there. We tried Terrance in there some, but you talk about depth and you're looking to add some depth as well. We'll see, I really can't make an accurate comment on how he played today.
On FB John Conner's roster spot...
Again I don't want to talk about anybody's specific roster spot. We'll look at the tape and we'll let you know tomorrow.
On winning and losing during the preseason...
I'm certainly confident and I believe our team is confident and we'll see. To be honest with you, if we get beat by Buffalo, I don't think it's going to be by a lack of confidence.
On Nick Folk's 58-yard field goal...
I'd much prefer a 28-yarder. But seriously, it was great to see. He's been kicking like that all training camp, and the beatwriters have seen this guy's been kicking great all through training camp and all that. I wasn't surprised he hit it. That was a long kick, but it was great to see that he made it.
QB GREG McELROY
On tonight's game...
I thought it was good. I thought we made some improvements. We had some key focuses, things we wanted to improve, and I think we made good strides. It always fun to be out there with the guys.
On scoring the first touchdown of the preseason...
It's always a great feeling to get in the end zone. The O-line did a great job selling the run-fake and Terrance [Ganaway] did a great job of sneaking out the back door. It was enjoyable. I thought it was a great call by Tony [Sparano] and we were able to execute it and score some points.
K NICK FOLK
On if he was excited about his 58-yard field goal...
It felt great but I still have a long way to go to help us win some games. It starts a week from Sunday against Buffalo and I need to be ready to go.
On if this was a career long for him...
I hit a 56-yard field goal against Denver a couple of years back but this was the furthest field goal of my career. I wish it had counted, though, in the regular season.
On if he has good rhythm with his kicking game...
I really think I do with Tanner [Purdum] and whoever is holding. I've been kicking well in camp. These guys have really been putting the ball where I need it and at the right time and things are just clicking right now. I just really want to keep it going. I do want to do a little better job on kickoffs because my second one was only OK tonight.
On if he is ready for the season to start...
I think everyone in this locker room is ready to go. With all the summer conditioning and the training, I think all are just ready to get out there and have a good season. I think the team is just really getting ready for Buffalo.
DE QUINTON COPLES
On how training camp went for him...
It's gone well and I just have tried each and every day to get better and improve.
On if the blocking and rushing is a lot different than at North Carolina...
It's a little different but as far as the double teams and schemes, they're a lot alike to what I saw at UNC. It's similar in many ways but then I do find myself seeing that some of the techniques at the pro level are quite different. I know that I've trained a lot harder at this level than I had to in college.
On if he felt some people had said some negative things about him and if that made him fall in the draft...
Actually, if it did hurt me, I'm glad because it allowed me to end up as a Jet. I'm happy where I am at and it's the best situation for me at this time. I'm moving forward and so looking forward to the season.
On if he was expecting to play as much as he did tonight...
I was ready to play all four quarters and I always prepare to play all night unless I'm told different. I let it be the coaches' decision on how much time I will play in any game and otherwise I am going for the four quarters.
LB BART SCOTT
On if he feels prepared for the season...
Yes, we're prepared and we're ready for the season on defense. I feel that for myself I'm really ready to go. I've been ready to go since last week and I know what we're capable of.
On what it will take to get to the next level again on defense...
I think I myself want to take the next step. We finished the fifth-best defense last year and that's not good enough for us. We have very high standards here. We just really want to get better and I have no doubt it will happen this year.
On what they need to do to get back to being the top defense in the league...
We just need to get better than we were last year. In my 11 years, I haven't been on a defense that finished less than sixth and really don't want it to happen. You look at last season, there was not much of a difference between us and the others. You take away a bad game we had at Oakland and we could've been near the top.
RB SHONN GREENE
On his thoughts on tonight's game and the offensive performance...
I think we did some things well but for the most part we had a lot of penalties and we must protect the quarterback better
On what he has seen this preseason from the offense...
With a new offense, we're just learning it and I believe we have a good grasp of it and I know we'll be ready for Sept. 9.
LT D'BRICKASHAW FERGUSON
On his thoughts on tonight's game and the preseason as a whole...
Well, the preseason ultimately is the time for us to prepare and finalize our team. I think we went out there and I believe we could do some things better but I think we got across things that we needed to get done.
On his thoughts on the new offense...
I think we'll see what we put out there. Obviously, we're going to do a lot of scheming. Each game we scheme to be successful against our opponent. We're excited as players to see what we'll put out there as our product, our new thumbprint, and we can't wait till that time.
CB ISAIAH TRUFANT
On if he was happy with his play in the game...
It definitely was not a perfect game but I was OK with the way the corners played. I gave it all I had and you never know what will happen this time of the year but I wanted to leave it all on the field.
On if he's ready to put the preseason behind...
Definitely. It was a long preseason and with the Lord willing, I'll be able to start the season. I think if we put it together with the defense, it's going to be a really good season. We didn't want to leave anything on the field but just wanted to play tonight with a lot of energy.
On what the coaches said after the game...
They just told us that it was so great to have everyone make it to tonight and that not everyone could make the team.
