Transcript of head coach Rex Ryan's news conference following the Jets' Friday midday practice at the Atlantic Health Training Center:
Everybody's probable. So this whole list — Willie Colon, [Quinton] Coples, [Antonio] Cromartie, Kenrick Ellis, Clyde Gates, Stephen Hill, Santonio Holmes, Austin Howard, Jeremy Kerley, Garrett McIntyre, Bilal Powell, Sheldon Richardson, Geno Smith, Mo [Muhammad] Wilkerson and Kellen Winslow — all those dudes are probable. The only guy that's out, and I'm only going to say this because it's not a serious injury, is Oday [Aboushi], but I'm sure that's a huge impact one [joking]. Oday Aboushi is out for this game. It looked like a dislocated knee or something, but he's going to be fine. But he is out for this game, obviously.
But with that, like I said, we're healthy. Pretty amazing, looks like Quinton Coples will play. We'll see. I'd say he's probable for the game. That's probably a story in itself, young man that's coming off surgery, what, three, four weeks ago. I don't know what to say. I don't know how he's doing it, but he's done it. We'll see what he can do.
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On if Coples will play fully…**
Well, now, is he going to play every snap? No, he's not going to play every snap. I don't anticipate that. If he couldn't run out there and take care of himself and be at or near 100 percent, then he wouldn't be out there. But we feel probable [joking] that he's going to play. In other words, he's playing.
On if Coples will have a limit on playing time…
Well, we'll see how it goes. The fact that this team's a no-huddle team, we're going to be rolling guys in and out anyway. And generally you like to rotate in series. Here's a series off, Garrett, you're in, [Antwan] Barnes, you're in, Calvin [Pace], you're in, whoever it is. But it's about keeping your guys fresh and all that. But you try to rotate. It's hard to rotate in the course of a drive because they snap the ball so quick and all that. But you go with your fresh guys and certainly that will be our plan.
On if Dee Milliner will start or if he'll start a player with more experience…
Well, I'd rather Dee have more experience, five years from now [joking]. He'll be ready to play. There's no question he'll be ready to play, and he'll be part of that rotation we just talked about.
On if he is concerned about Clyde Gates' confidence…
I get it. I definitely understand the question. But no, this guy, just go out and have fun. That's the main thing — have fun and attack the football. Go get it. Is it going to be the last time he drops the football? No. The last time somebody else drops one? No. We believe in him, we know he can do it. I see him. He catches everything. The main thing is here's a young man who knows how to run routes and catch the football. Go do it. Play relaxed, have some fun, go get it.
On if Dee Milliner is a starter in his base defense…
I don't know. He's going to start some of the defense, maybe not all of it. I don't think he's in there on goal line, I think Kenrick is in there on goal line [joking]. How do you say, is Quinton Coples a starter? Is Garrett McIntyre a starter? Is Calvin Pace a starter? Is Antwan Barnes [a starter]? The answer is always yes. These guys start. Is he going to be trotting out there in the first snap? I don't know what they're in. So I don't want to say that and then all of a sudden I lied to you guys. I don't want to do that. But he's going to play a great deal for us.
On what has changed in the game that has allowed him to change his offensive philosophy to attack…
I think opportunities, you look for opportunities. You want to have a rushing attack that's ever present that you may run the football. You want those guys to respect that run. I think that opens up opportunities down the field. There's different ways to attack. You can attack on the perimeter, you can attack through the tackles, you can attack down the field. That's what we want to be. We want to have that kind of offense. Before, your personnel a lot of times will dictate what you do. When we were ground and pound, that thing has come with me forever. That was based on our personnel. If you look at the backs that we had, we had three great tailbacks with Thomas Jones, with Shonn Greene and with Leon Washington. That was pretty good. We had [Danny] Woodhead, things like that behind him. That was a pretty darn good backfield, Tony Richardson.
On whether you can still win in today's league with a strong rushing attack…
Yeah, if we had those backs and the line and all that stuff. And D-Wood [Damien Woody], I'm sure you could.
On whether Gates' dropped passes where technical or mental…
No, I think he had a couple of those, where he let the ball get back to his body. And you [have to] go up with your hands and get it done. Some of them, the ball could've been thrown in a little better spot, but again guys, every receiver has drops. I know he's going to have a big day. That's kind of how I feel about it and I'm comfortable with it. And you know what, if he drops the first one, go catch the second one. I think that has to be his mentality. It has to be our mentality, ok that, 'Now hey, I'm going to [catch it].' But that's the confidence that we have as a football team in each other.
On Kellen Winslow…
I think I saw him drop a ball two weeks ago. No, I'm just kidding. I tell you what, it's a great question because you want him to be Kellen Winslow like you remember Kellen Winslow. And then when he got here, but you weren't sure, he hadn't played, he gets here and you're like, "Oh, wow." I see the skills, I still see the great hands, the great route running and he moves better than I thought. I mentioned this before, because you know everybody makes fun of the warrior deal, like, 'Hey I'm a warrior.' He is. He really is a warrior, there's no question and that's what I see about him. He loves to play. You wish every one of these guys, 53 of them, were like that. You wish your coaches were like that, but it's hard to be. It's who he is and I'm proud he's a Jet.
On whether Ryan Spadola could get a chance to have a bigger role…
I don't think so. That's about as honest as I could be, I think.
