Transcripts of news conferences and interviews in the Jets' locker room at EverBank Field following their 17-10 triumph over the Jaguars on Sunday afternoon:
HEAD COACH REX RYAN
On his overall impression of the game...
Obviously, it's tough to win games in the National Football League and we knew we were going to get their best shot. We certainly got it. I liked the will of our players. It obviously wasn't going great in the first half. We stayed the course, started protecting the football better, and I thought the offensive line really took the ballgame over as well as our defense in the third quarter.
Obviously, I would have liked to finish the game better defensively, but you have to give Jacksonville credit. They made some big plays against us. The big run that Owens had on the second-and-18 or whatever it was, I said, "Good, they're going to run it. Is somebody going to tackle him? No." But it was a great run by that kid and all of a sudden it's a new ballgame. They had a big conversion on fourth-and-15, and I sort of wish we had that one over. You have to give them a lot of credit. They fought like crazy and I knew they would.
On his decision to dress Tim Tebow...
As far as the quarterback, I want you to understand I've always said I don't like dressing three quarterbacks, but I was actually going to do it today. But Joe [McKnight] ended up having a migraine. He's in the locker room and has a migraine and for that reason I activated [Kahlil] Bell and sat Greg [McElroy] down. My intention actually was to dress all three quarterbacks today.
On adjustments the offensive line made in the third quarter...
I think it starts with "the Guge" [OL coach Dave DeGuglielmo] and the communication he has with Tony [Sparano]. They've been together for a long time and they see certain things — especially the way they were playing against our big tight end, our giant look with three tight ends, we started coming back to the open sideline. I thought that was a nice adjustment. And I thought our offensive line started knocking them around a little bit.
On his decision to activate Tebow...
I thought as the week went on that Tim was looking good. I told you guys he had a lot more reps this week, so I felt comfortable with that. I never felt comfortable enough to go with him in the Wildcat, but I felt in our base package, I was comfortable with that. That's why we never really played him in the Wildcat this week.
On what he would have done if Mark Sanchez had been injured or struggled...
Then Tim is in the game. I wasn't going to put a backup tackle in. So absolutely, if something had happened. What do you want me to say? I felt good about Tim. He worked out great today. He's been getting better. Like I mentioned last week, he is our backup quarterback."
On the turning point in the game...
In the second half, the way we ran the football, the way those two guys [Shonn Greene and Bilal Powell] ran the ball, it was a huge lift. But let's not forget the defense. We might not have liked the way we closed out the game defensively — we actually did get an interception there at the end — but I don't think they had a first down in the third quarter. It was a combination of us running the football effectively, obviously, and all the 3-and-outs we had in the third quarter.
On Sanchez's performance...
I thought he was good. Obviously, he made the huge clutch throw to [Jeff] Cumberland at the end of the game. That was obviously a huge play for us. I liked the way he played. Unfortunately, he had the strip sack against him. [Jason] Babin made a great play coming from the blind side.
QB MARK SANCHEZ
On the victory...
This was a great win, one we needed to dig out at the end and the defense came up with a big stop. I thought overall we were efficient running, throwing the ball and special teams put us in good situations.
On his confidence after being benched last week...
I feel confident every week. That doesn't change. We have to keep rolling. I tried to put extra emphasis and be smart with the football. I thought it was a good, efficient day for all of us. It was great to see our offensive line control the line of scrimmage. I approached it ready to win and it was great.
On his third-down pass late in the fourth quarter to TE Jeff Cumberland...
It was a great play call by Coach Sparano and Jeff made the right read for us and made a big play down the field. At least it took time off the clock. It slowed it down for the defense and they came up with the big stop in the end.
On the Tim Tebow fans in attendance at EverBank Field...
It was great and I know he enjoyed coming home. Tim has nothing but good things to say about Jacksonville. He's been here for many years. It was also great to see [former Jets backup QB] Mark Brunell before the game. Bru's the best.
On Coach Ryan's decision to start him...
Take care of the ball, that was my approach. You have to go have fun and play. Go confident, smiling and have fun. That's what we did today and we got a win.
QB TIM TEBOW
On returning to Jacksonville...
It's definitely special coming back. The Jacksonville fans are always awesome. It was fun for me. Obviously, I love the city of Jacksonville. The fans are great, but I'm a New York Jet and we're happy to get a win today.
On if he thought he would have the opportunity to play today...
I didn't really know. I honestly didn't know. You want to play, you want to help your team. It can be hard. I had some great memories in this stadium from Pop Warner to college. If there was an opportunity, I would love to play, but I'm just happy we got a win.
LB CALVIN PACE
On the win...
We had a good pass rush with Quinton [Coples] and Muhammad [Wilkerson] and it was a group effort. Today we started out a little slow. Some of that you have to give credit to Jacksonville. They had a pretty good little scheme coming out, but we found a way, which is always good. The offense helped us out with some ball control and got it done.
On winning two in a row...
Hopefully we could ride this wave and carry it on in and hopefully get some help . A lot of people counted us out and you play the game, any given Sunday, you never know what the other team is going to do. We kind of got ourself in the hole the first few weeks. We just have to play hard these next few weeks.
DE QUINTON COPLES
On the Jets' defensive effort...
It's great and we want to come out and we make sure to close out this year with wins each and every week. It's a big win for us.
LB BART SCOTT
On the defense setting the tone...
We knew that if we do our job and they don't score, they cannot win. Our defense played well and it was good to get out of here with a "W."
