Transcript of Jets head coach Rex Ryan's midday news conference following Friday's morning training camp practice:
On Mark Sanchez's two-minute-drill touchdown pass…
He threw that touchdown pass with the game on the line and he just plopped it in there to Brad Smith, and I'm sitting back there going "Boy." I will admit that I jumped our defense because, that's what I'm talking about with closing out games that we have to be better at. I thought we addressed that issue. I don't care if it's at practice or where it is and who you're playing. I don't care if you're playing our offense, you can't give up those points. Maybe that's the defensive coordinator in me, but I was not pleased with that. I will say I always win in that situation, but it felt like I lost. We've got to do better than that. We have to do better than that.
On Jeff Cumberland and other injuries…
He has been doing a great job until he got hit in the head today. He missed the last two periods at the end. I don't know how serious it is. We have to check it out. Anytime you get a head injury or get your bell rung, obviously we and everyone else in this league are going to err on the side of caution. We'll see how he does. He has been tremendous. Hopefully this is just a little, minor setback.
Other things that I should have said, I'm bringing out the official report here. Looks like Marlon Davis was out today with a knee. That kid's a pretty good guard. We got him from Alabama. He looks like a guard. All his weight is in his lower body. He's got that big bubble in the back, but apparently he's got a big bubble on his knee right now, so he's out. The kid from Hawaii [Brashton Satele], he's a good player, but he's out again with that ankle. I don't think he'll be at the scrimmage. He's trying like heck to be out there, but I think he'll probably sit out that scrimmage. David Clowney wasn't there today. He's got some personal business he has to attend to. Other than that, that was the injury update, which has been good. This really is the first day we really even had anything to talk about as far as the injury front is concerned.
On when David Clowney will return…
I believe David will be gone all day. I would hope he's back for the team meetings tonight.
On the skirmish during today's scrimmage…
Just make sure he [Jason Taylor] doesn't pin his [Mark Sanchez's] arm or something. That's just fun. It's the fun part of the game. I was impressed with Sanchez's slide. There's no question that was impressive. The fight was what we thought it would be — Rob Turner. It didn't disappoint. Everybody who had the odds on favorite of Dig [James Ihedigbo] getting in the fight with him, which is hard when you've got a safety, so the odds were incredible, but no, it was Jamaal Westerman that got in it. That was newsworthy.
On what the fight was over…
Who cares? [laughter] It was coming. Remember last year when I had mentioned that we had to grab the other color jersey. And we had all of them in a line probably for the first time of the history in the NFL. It was madness and we saw a little of that which was good. But really it wasn't that big of a deal. Both guys were smiling afterwards.
On Nick Folk's preseason…
Remember after that he missed two kicks or something, which you guys reported on — which was accurate, like always, not saying you guys are ever not accurate. Today he was just nailing them, despite guys rushing, pushing like crazy and all that. He's just "boom" — right down the middle. He reminds me right now, the more I'm around him, of Matt Stover, who I was around for 10 years in Baltimore and it was similar. I go back and think Stover couldn't make a kick in the first minicamp. He couldn't miss when the season was going, and he couldn't miss when the game was on the line. I'm hoping that's the way Nick is.
When you look at him, it's like "no problem." Just lines up, he's got that little earring in and all the jazz, and "boom," right down the tubes. He adjusted. [Special teams coordinator Mike] Westhoff, instead of just saying, "Okay, you're lining up this way three yards and this way two yards," he had this ... it wasn't a triangle, but it was close enough. A big apparatus, would barely fit in here. He just lays it down — "Here's where you stand," and he [Folk] just got used to it. Apparently it's worked. Another Westy move. Really, ever since that time he has shortened his steps and all that jazz, he's nailing them. He's been great.
On Antonio Cromartie filling in for Darrelle Revis…
We know we have a great corner. That's why we traded for him. That's a comfort level, knowing we got a big-time corner here. Obviously, he's one of the elite corners in this league. Does it make it easier? We're business as usual. We're trying to put a great defense and offense out there regardless of who's here or who's not here. I wouldn't look at it that way.
Darrelle's issue is a different thing. We're just happy that Cromartie is getting better. He's trying to do it our way. He doesn't have the know-it-all mentality. He knows Dennis Thurman is a great coach and he's leaning on him. That's exciting to me because you can see that he has been at this level, but he has an even higher ceiling. We're really excited about how he is coming along.
On any new information about Revis…
No, not that I know of.
On who was responsible for the number of batted passes today…
Well I think each one is different. It's always the combination there. If you can keep Matt [Slauson] at the line, it's hard to get your hands up when you're attacking him. The defensive guy does a great job because he gets in the throwing lane, gets his hands up. That's a nice play there. If it's a three-step drop pass, or a shorter pass, you've got to throw through Wayne [Hunter]. You can't throw over guys in this league. It's probably a mistake by the quarterback and the offensive line could do a better job. One in particular, Brick [D'Brickashaw Ferguson] had two guys and I don't know what he's supposed to do.
The defensive guys are doing a great job getting their hands up. We teach our guys to tip the ball up, not to knock it down. The old thing, knock the ball down? We do the opposite. You'll always see our D-linemen trying to tip the ball up. When you do that, it allows your defensive guys to react to the ball. It's an advantage to the defense. The offense, you would think would have just as good a chance, but it's not true. They're running specific routes. Our guys are reacting and can see the football. It's easier to break up on the ball than go away from it, like receivers do. That's why you always teach them to tip the ball up.
On Ryan signing "2010 champs" on the ESPN training camp tour bus…
Absolutely, what do you think? That's what I'm saying. That's our mentality, that's our goal and I've got confidence to put it up there. I believe we'll do it, so why wouldn't we say it, go for it. I don't care if people don't like it. "Just shut up and win some." I've don't a lot more than that person, I can promise you that. I've been there. My family has been to a bunch of these things. I know how to get there. The first step is if you don't believe it yourself, your team damn sure won't.
I'm not apologizing, I just know what's going to happen. In my crystal ball, I'm seeing a Super Bowl trophy. I could be wrong, but that's what I see. Every time I go to work, that's what I look at. We'll see what happens. I'm not embarrassed to say that I believe it will happen. The great thing is we get to prove it soon. That's the beauty of it.
On what he wants to see in the team going into the scrimmage…
I want to see guys be Jets. We don't have our roster set, who's going to be here. We have a bunch of them. I want to see some of these young guys compete. The cream will rise to the top and we are looking for Jets. Guys have to be willing to lay it out there and have at it. I see John Conner everyday flying through people. I think we're heading in the right direction. Are we there yet as a team? Absolutely not, but we're getting there. We have a lot of work to do, but we're trying to make slow and steady progress.
On Joe McKnight at camp…
We always get an explosive guy who can really fly. What I'm hoping we can get out of Joe is we need him to step up on special teams. He has an unbelievable amount of athleticism. He has to put that over on special teams as well, at least be a major back up if he's not a starter on those teams. He's got a lot of ability. He's just got to keep pushing and working hard. I think he's moving in the right direction.
On if Matt Slauson has an edge at left guard right now and what he wants to see from Vladimir Ducasse…
I would say that's accurate. I think Vlad, with his background, we never expected him to be, right now, ahead of anybody. It's a battle, certainly. The thing that I want to see from Vlad is [that] I want him finishing. Your technique might not be perfect right now, but just the mentality and the attitude [needs to be] because if you don't have that, you really don't fit in with the other linemen. When you look at Brandon Moore, Damien Woody, and Nick Mangold — D'Brickashaw [Ferguson] is in a league of his own anyway — but those other guys in particular, you're going to stick out like a sore thumb if you don't have that mentality.
Right now, with Vlad, it's almost like he's going and then he'll look back to see if, "OK, did I do that right?" Just finish, guys. I saw it a little bit today. I challenged Vlad to do some of those things. I saw him do it today. He was shoving guys and doing all that. That's what we need. That's not a glamour position. You have to get down and get after it. I think that's what we need. Slauson has that. That's why I think we'd put Slauson ahead of Vlad right now, just because he's a tough, nasty guy. Vlad is also, but Bill [Callahan] is going to coach you after the play. Don't' worry about looking back. Just go knock the heck out of somebody and we'll figure it out after.
On what he's learned about Braylon Edwards and what he expects from him this season…
What have I learned about Braylon? That he's unselfish. He does a lot of the dirty work for his teammates. Never once has he told me that he needs to catch "x" amount of passes. We'd probably be smart to throw him a bunch of balls because he is a talent. I'm expecting a huge year. I've had some private conversations with Braylon. I don't need him to be the best receiver in the history of this game. I don't need him to be that. I'll leave it at that. He knows what I expect from him. He can answer your question better than I will.
On what role he'd like to see Joe McKnight take on special teams…
Well, he's got to earn his roles, so I don't see him on any right now. I'd like to see a guy we can use at anything, whether it's gunner, whether it's covering a kick, anything. He has so much talent, so much speed, and he's strong. He's bigger than he looks. He's 208 pounds. We should be able to use those kinds of physical traits. I'll tell you this, this guy really cares. That's why I'm thinking he's going to get it. I'd just like to see it a little sooner rather than later.
On if McKnight is not living up to his potential…
No, I wouldn't say that. He's just going through it right now. It's tough because he's the third tailback, and trust me, you're going to still end up being the third tailback with those two guys [Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson]. You're not beating those two guys anytime soon. He can still have a major role in the offense, but his biggest role should be on teams. When we drafted him, I had Mike Westhoff call him before we took him. I said, "Mike, I want him to tell you that he would play on teams and be willing to do that." He absolutely said yes, and I'm waiting to see it. I know Mike's working him in right now on it. Westy on that last kickoff drill — I love that drill when we go down and we do that kickoff and there's three blockers, a guy returning the ball, and three defenders. He chose McKnight in that last group. He put McKnight in there, so that's encouraging to me. We'll see how he does.
On the biggest surprise in camp out of the returning players…
Well, I think Mike DeVito has made huge steps. I think Mike DeVito is ready to be a starter in this league. Those are the steps you wanted him to take. Obviously we lost Marques Douglas, [who] went to Miami. There's no telling how many snaps Marques played for us last year. Well, that has to be DeVito now. He's going to have to play those snaps this year. We should have a four-man rotation with Shaun Ellis, Kris Jenkins, Sione [Pouha], and DeVito. We should have a four-man rotation and then guys like Vernon Gholston, Ropati [Pitoitua], and whoever else steps up. I expect Vernon to play a lot, I expect Ropati to play a lot, but the four main guys, the grunt guys, the dirty-work guys are those four guys.
On if Tomlinson has been surprising in camp…
Nothing's surprised me. It might've surprised others, but not me.
On if Gholston is guaranteed a roster spot…
I would say he's guaranteed a roster spot. [Joking] I'm waiting for someone to replace him. I mean the guy does everything. He plays on special teams, he does a good job on special teams. As we've seen on the practice field, the guy's earned that right. He's playing well. I think it's just, now, it's easier. It's hard to make that transition to outside linebacker. I remember we had Adalius Thomas [in Baltimore]. He struggled. We had to move him back inside. Jarret Johnson was the same way. It sometimes takes a little time.
Now, we moved him on a permanent basis. He's really starting to get it. He's flying around. He's making plays, which is great to see. When you see the athleticism, that strength and that speed that he has, you're seeing him play to it now and that's encouraging.
On if he has a choice of Gholston making the roster…
I've got a choice. The best guys are going to be here. I'm just telling you he's going to be here.
On if Rodrique Wright could beat him out…
That's not happening. Rodrique Wright isn't going to beat out Vernon Gholston. Number one, he doesn't even play the same position.
On the roster being a numbers game…
Well, it's a numbers game, but you have to backups, which is where I have him. I don't know what the deal is, but when we're going to pick the roster, we'll pick the best guys. I'm paid to win, I'm not paid to say "This guy has to be here" or whatever. Vernon Gholston has got to play better this year.
On if they would be willing to cut him because of the money situation…
I guess you would have to ask Woody [Johnson] that question.
On if Johnson has ever told him that a player has to be on the roster…
No. All I do is coach, that's the beauty of it. I just coach. ... I know you have something better than that [laughter].
On what role Kenwin Cummings has with the team…
He is still competing for, how I look at it, the third inside linebacker spot. Nobody has really taken that thing yet. When we go to the scrimmage, we go to these preseason games and all that, we're hoping somebody steps up. Clearly, Kenwin is a different guy. He's moving a lot better than he did. We got to remember, he had his hand in the dirt, now he's a projection to inside linebacker. He's got a much better feel for it, a much better grasp for the system. Right now, if we were to play today, he would be that third inside linebacker for us.
