Interviews after the Jets' 37-20 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at the Meadowlands on Friday:
HEAD COACH ERIC MANGINI
Prior to the game, I talked to the players about building on last week. Last week we did a really good job in terms of our game operations, penalties, things like that. In addition to that, I was looking to put together a game that was similar to our practices, and that's what this game was. There were some plays that showed very good awareness, attack situations down in the red zone, using the cadence effectively, and there were some good checks defensively at times. Then there were a whole lot of plays that weren't very good. That's why there is practice. It's obviously disappointing. I told them after the game that if anyone has the impression that this is OK because it's preseason, they are wrong. Next week, we are going to work very hard to get these corrected — extremely hard to get these corrected. I think they understand. It's too important not to.
On correcting the mental mistakes from tonight's game …
In any game, there are mental mistakes you have to work on in practice. Our significant issue was the turnovers, the snap over the head, the interception off the batted ball, the tipped ball high on Kellen's play, another snap that was low, and the two throws that Chad had, which I am sure he would like to have back. I know I'd like him to have them back. This is who the Vikings are. They are good against the run. They led the NFL last year on interceptions returned for touchdowns, defensive returns for touchdowns. So it's not that there was not awareness. We just need better execution.
On QB Kellen Clemens' play …
Kellen had some good plays, there were some really good drives. The decision he made on the play to Justin McCareins was very decent in terms of the look they gave us. He got it out to Justin there and Justin would have had the first down. It was a good effort play and a good example of run after the catch.
On QB Chad Pennington's two interceptions …
Anytime there is an interception, it's a bad decision and bad throw. They are very good at what they do, which means your decisions have to be that much sharper.
On whether Pennington called the plays that led to the interceptions …
They were called plays by [coordinator] Brian [Schottenheimer]. A lot of the plays have one or two options on the play, but actually the plays coming in from the sideline were from Brian.
On talking with Pennington on the sideline early in the game …
What I was concerned about was calling a timeout on second-and-17 that early in the game. He should just check to a run and get what he can there as opposed to calling a timeout. You can't give up those timeouts that easily in the first quarter with a play like that. It was just a clock management issue we were talking through.
On rushing on third-and-long after having two interceptions …
We thought we had the play there. The way they were rushing up the field and with it being third-and-long, it's just like running a screen or a draw. It was a trap play where we were trying to run inside and we thought we had a good opportunity to split the defense.
On Adrian Peterson's 43-yard run …
That's a good example of effectiveness of tackles. You saw it all the time. We had a defender there who could have made the tackle but didn't make the tackle. At that point where you have someone with Adrian Peterson's speed, it's going to go a long way. It's the same when you blitz. You throw a hitch out on the corner, it's one-on-one. You have to be able to make those tackles. I don't think it was a scheme issue as much as it was an execution issue on the perimeter.
QB CHAD PENNINGTON
On tonight's game …
The only good thing that came out of tonight is that it didn't count. But with that being said, I think all of us in the locker room are going to take this game very seriously and look at those mistakes and correct them on the practice field. Anytime you have a game like this, the best thing you can do as a team and do as an individual player is fix them and practice well the next week and get ready and prepared. That's what we'll do, that's what I'll do. My mistakes are fixable. They are not things that can't be fixed or things that I can fix really quickly in a heartbeat. I will just move on and learn from it and try to teach our young guys how to move on from setbacks like this. As veterans we need to step up and make sure we do the right things on the practice field to get better.
On making errors in the game …
You're glad it doesn't count and you're glad you're still 0-0 as far as the NFL record books are concerned. But as a player you are disappointed in how you played and how you performed on the field. Anytime you have a chance to perform on the field, you want to perform well. You want to get better at the fundamentals and you talked about those things when we didn't make those things happen. It starts with me. I take care of the football and take pride in taking care of the football and not just giving the ball away, and I didn't do that tonight. That's what I've got to focus on. Just focus on me. I am doing everything necessary to where my teammates can feed off of my play.
On the off-season …
Number one, I just went back and looked at all of the interceptions from last year and saw which ones I could control and which ones I couldn't control. Number two, you hope that in your second year in the offense you limit some of those interceptions because you're learning in year one and you're trying to get a feel for timeouts and things like that and then move on and try to make things work on the practice field. For the most part throughout training camp I did a relatively good job of taking care of the football and tonight it just came tumbling down, so we'll go back and look at it. All of us in the locker room know and feel we can go back and fix those mistakes. Those aren't mistakes we feel aren't correctable and we'll correct them and make sure we move on. We have to come out and do well with practice tempo, practice really well and be upbeat about it.
WR LAVERANUES COLES
On the Vikings and the loss …
That is just a very good football team we played tonight. They are a very well-coached football team and the guys played hard. I mean, sometimes you have days when your team comes out and some days when they do not. Unfortunately, that was today. We all have to take it in. We took one on the chin and that is something we can learn from. And then hopefully we will just get better, and that's the main thing. We have guys in this locker room, character guys, and when something like this happens, we all take it personally. I think we just have to work hard on our end and try to fix the mistakes we made.
On the approach to playing a preseason game …
Our coach takes it very seriously and the guys take it very seriously, as a team and as a unit. We have guys with that mentality that feed off of it and I think that's what you come to training camp for, to improve in areas and to keep up on the new nuances you added to the offense and the defense. And the guys got to go out there and continue to keep improving in those areas so that hopefully, by the time we're ready to kick off in the regular season, we'll be moving in the right direction.
RB LEON WASHINGTON
On his performance and playing in the NFL …
Last year was a big year for me and I'm getting a lot of skills. I can play in the NFL, I belong in the NFL. Trust me, I belong here and at the same time I'm trying to get better every day, take down the new stuff and trying to improve out there week to week.
CB DARRELLE REVIS
On his first game as a New York Jet even though he didn't play …
It's great to be with my teammates and be out here and now to enjoy the NFL life. It was great, my first time wearing the uniform. Tonight it was just great to be a New York Jet and be out there with my teammates. I'm just getting into the mix and getting back into the playbook.
On trying to catch up …
I haven't been here. My teammates have been here and working hard. There are things I have to catch up on and I have to work hard.
On learning the defense …
I know Coach has a lot of schemes up his sleeve. I just have to take it one day at a time and compete.
On his teammates helping him learn the defense …
Everyone has been helping, Kerry Rhodes, Erik Coleman, all the defensive backs, the coaches. They've all been helping me.
On if he will be a starter …
I just want to come in, compete and work hard. It's up to Coach to decide who starts.
QB KELLEN CLEMENS
On his overall performance …
It's difficult to say. We were fortunate to get the touchdown there. Credit that one all to Justin [McCareins] for making those guys miss. The interception was costly. I know that led to points. It put our defense in a difficult situation. There are a lot of things we can improve on.
S ERIK COLEMAN
On overall performance of the defense …
I think things weren't as bad as they looked. I definitely think we have things to work on. We gotta stop that run. We had a couple of breakout runs that we could've stopped, but for the most part the Vikings did a good job of executing. We've still got a lot of work to do. We're still in training camp. We're still working and trying to get better and get ready for the season.
On Coach Mangini's message in the locker room …
It's not acceptable to come out here and give up plays. Even though it's the preseason, we demand nothing but the best out of each other. We work too hard for us to give up plays. The defense missed a couple of tackles and we work too hard for that. We gotta keep getting better. It's still the preseason so it's not like we're gonna panic, but we still have a lot of work to do.
G PETE KENDALL
On his errant shotgun snaps …
Certainly I'm disappointed with those two snaps. It is what it is. I can't blame anybody but myself. I'm the one that pulled the ball and it was obviously awful, so I let my teammates down. It's back to the drawing board, I suppose.
On having to play center this game …
I made mention that I didn't feel entirely comfortable after two or three days of practice. You know, I don't control where I play, I don't control when I play, I don't control who I play for. So they told me to go out there and do it. I did the best I could and the shotgun snaps were awful. There's no other way to put it. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I probably cost the team a touchdown. So it is what it is.
On the team's evaluation of his performance …
I would hope to be evaluated as a guard. I believe the determination has been made that I was a guard. That's how I view myself. But again, I don't control where I play. I don't know if it's tackle next week or punter or whatever. I will do the best I can. I expressed that I don't feel comfortable at center and I prefer to play guard. It is what it is. They asked me to go play center. They were well within in their rights to do that. I did the best I could. It wasn't good enough. I don't control the evaluation process. We will see where it goes from here.
MINNESOTA COACH BRAD CHILDRESS
On the defense playing well tonight …
I was very satisfied with the way our defense executed this evening. The defense scored the majority of the points tonight, with two interceptions and a fumble recovery for a touchdown. The defense was very aggressive. They confused Chad Pennington with the rush. We were able to score on certain situations and continue to pressure Chad, which resulted in two scores. Red zone defense was executed well with explosive plays and opportunities to score.
On Adrian Peterson's performance …
Adrian is an explosive player and I was satisfied with his performance. He's a very good student of the game, and as a rookie he's taken everything in well through training camp, which filtered on to the field tonight.
On Brooks Bollinger …
We really didn't get to see him work with some of our premier players to see what he can really do on the field. Brooks played well for the time that he played. He executed well with the second-team offense. I think he would have done better with the first-team offense, but we will work that into the game plan going forward in our remaining preseason games. We will evaluate forward with Brooks' progress.
