Transcript of Jets head coach Rex Ryan's conference call with reporters Saturday:
On Larry Izzo making the roster…
First off, I think Larry Izzo is a special guy as far as what he brings to the table on special teams. Quite honestly, Larry did a great job, especially in the practices, as a backup inside linebacker.
When we first brought Larry on our team, we envisioned his role being a special teams guy and almost very little as a defensive guy. The more we played him, the better he looked. Now he's a guy our defensive staff has a lot of confidence in to be a guy that can go into a game and finish a game out for you at inside linebacker. The interesting stat about him is that in his entire NFL career, he has never been on a losing team. Let's hope that trend continues.
On Danny Woodhead making the roster…
There could be some changes before the season. There can be players placed on the practice squad. I don't really think this is a final roster, but it certainly is today. We'll see what happens. Maybe on Tuesday, there's a possibility our roster could look different. As of today, this is exactly how it is.
I think Woodhead earned the right to make this football team. I don't know what else he could have done, especially in that last preseason game. I understand Leon Washington is the back that is going to get a lot of those carries, but I thought Woodhead earned a roster spot, I really did.
On if Woodhead was on the bubble before the last preseason game…
Yeah, I think so. I think he's one of those guys who really earned a spot. Again, our final roster eventually down the road may change, but this is a guy that I thought clearly earned that spot. He works every single day. He practices as hard as he can every single day. From a toughness part of it and a competitive part, I thought he earned that spot.
On Reggie Hodges and the punting situation…
Right now he's our punter. Does that mean he's definitely going to be our punter for the whole season? I'm not sure. Anytime we can improve the roster, we'll always be open to look for different things. For now he's our punter and we'll see. That's not exactly a glowing recommendation, but you know me, I'm just speaking the truth. We will be monitoring that situation.
On if he kept Woodhead because he was concerned that another team would sign him if he was waived or put on the practice squad…
No, I think Woodhead earned that spot. I don't know what he could have done more in claiming a job. I thought the guy did a tremendous job for us. Like anything else, if Gale Sayers gets cut or something like that happened, you might consider picking another guy up on the roster. I thought Woodhead, with our current roster the way it is, I thought he was a guy who definitely deserved to be on it.
On the tight end position…
We will be looking at different players. If all of a sudden an opportunity comes up where we can help our team, then we'll certainly look at that possibility.
When [Ben] Hartsock became available, we hadn't even targeted him. We thought for sure he was going to be on that roster for Atlanta, but he became available and our guys knew enough about him. We reacted quickly. We weren't the only team who wanted his services, but we were fortunate enough to get him. We think we have one of the better blocking tight ends in the league right now, so we're excited to add him on our roster.
On Kenwin Cummings…
This is what's tough. There are guys that we cut that can play. There's no doubt. Whether we sign certain players to the practice squad or not, we'll have to wait and see. Kenwin wasn't the only good football player we let go. He definitely had his moments.
It's tough. I think the guys we have on our roster deserve it, but I even told the guys the night before the game, there's going to be guys we let go that can play in the National Football League. It's just the way it works right now. Maybe they just couldn't make our roster. You consider that the defensive MVP [James Harrison] in this league last year was cut several times before he ever made a roster and maybe there'll be a similar story with some of these young men.
On if Jehuu Caulcrick received an injury settlement and if any other injured players got waived…
To be honest with you, I'm not sure on any of those situations. I don't know of anybody that had an injury situation. Obviously, with Aundrae Allison we had to place him on injured reserve. He's the only injured guy that I know of specifically, so I'm not aware of any injury settlements or anything like that.
On Baltimore once cutting James Harrison…
Yes, but I will say this and I want to make sure that everybody knows that I've always said it, he never made it to a defensive meeting [laughing]. Because I'll tell you what's funny. That's a young man that clearly plays like you want a guy to play. I understand he was in one special teams meeting and then he was released.
On Aundrae Allison's injury and if the Jets are set at receiver…
The first one with Allison is unfortunate because the young man was really coming on for us. We felt really good about him, but he had a, ACL injury. So that's why he'll be put on injured reserve and I'm not hiding the fact it's a knee injury.
It was unfortunate because the kid was coming on. I used to call him "88 and out the gate" because he had blazing speed and I thought he did a good job in the return game for us. He was coming on as a receiver. He was hard to cover. We'd go 1-on-1 and our back ends struggled to cover him. That's an unfortunate thing. But adversity to some, which is strange in this business, becomes opportunity for somebody else. We'll see what happens.
And your next part of that question is that we will be looking at other rosters. If we think that we can help our football team regardless of the position, then that's what we're going to do.
On if Allison got injured on a kick return…
Yes. He got hurt on that one return. He kind of got tied up and three guys hit him. Unfortunately, that was when he got hurt. It's just an unfortunate thing. A lot of people can come back from that injury but it is a severe injury.
On if he's frustrated with Hodges' inconsistency…
Yes, I'd say that's a fair statement. He's had plenty of opportunities. He's had some good punts, but if you've got the ability, you've just got to do it. It's only going to get tougher. Those winter conditions, it's much tougher so you'd like to think you can go out there and kick it 45 yards.
Again, we're going to be looking at different people's rosters and if there's an opportunity that we think we can upgrade that position or any other position, we'll look at it. But certainly punter is an area where I think we need to get better, quite honestly, whether or not Reggie is going to be punting. He has to punt better. We've had different guys come in and so far he's the guy to hold that position.
On if it's exasperating that there have been a lot of punters brought in and no one is showing enough…
Yep, and Reggie outpunts those other guys that we bring in. He's outpunted the rest of them. Yes, it's something that is Reggie versus the field, so we'll see what's out there.
On if the decision to keep Matt Slauson and cut Stanley Daniels was because Slauson was a draft pick…
I don't think that was the reason. You can look at really the preseason games. The one holding call [on Slauson], which was disappointing, prevented us from getting the first down. It was on third down.
But other than that, this young man is really playing well. His primary position is right guard, but he's learned left guard and he's learned how to play center. I feel very good about his long-range potential. Quite honestly, he was one of the most impressive guys we had the first week of the preseason and he's just getting better each week. He definitely won that position. Regardless of whether he was a draft pick or free agent or not, he won that position.
On the Jets' roster going forward...
We will be looking at everybody's roster with all the cuts. Again, if we think that we can pick up somebody that can help our team, then we're definitely going to be looking at that. Is our roster complete or final? I'm not sure right now because we will be really looking at everybody's roster. We think we've targeted a couple of guys that may or may not get released. We'll see here in a couple of hours who becomes available to us.
