Transcript of head coach Rex Ryan's news conference following Friday's midday practice at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center:
Injuries, let's get this and get out. Fast Friday, right? Out: Logan Payne and Robert Turner. Questionable: David Harris with his toe. He was limited today in practice. All three of these guys were limited: David Harris, Santonio Holmes with his knee and quad, Eric Smith with his ankle. All those guys are questionable. Probable, the rest of them: Plaxico Burress, ankle, and they were all full practice. Plaxico Burress, Mark Brunell, calf, Marquice Cole, with an ankle, [John] Conner, ankle, [Jeff] Cumberland, hamstring, [Marcus] Dixon, knee, [Wayne] Hunter, knee, [Derrick] Mason, knee, Joe McKnight, finger, and Sione Pouha, knee and ankle. All those guys are probable.
I feel good about David playing. The other two guys, I think it's questionable whether they play. I'm hoping they do, but we'll see. I think if the game was today, it would be questionable that they would play.
On if Smith and Holmes would be more questionable than Harris…
David is questionable. I don't know. You guys fill in the blanks. You saw him out there [smiling].
On how he feels about Harris' chances of playing…
I do feel good about David playing. I think with Tone [Holmes] and Eric Smith, they're questionable. They looked good early in the week in practice, but right now, they're questionable. They did get kind of hurt in practice. It wasn't a game thing, I don't believe, with either one of them. Eric just rolled his ankle.
On if he thinks Jacksonville should not even prepare for Holmes playing against them…
That's probably a good message to send to them, and Plax, too [joking]. I know it says probable here. That happened to me one time, playing Dallas. I won't say who the coach was, but he was a big dude. Anyway, the guy was listed as out the whole time. Then, all of a sudden, not only did he play, he had 30-something carries in the game. I was like, "How does that happen?" That's the miracle of medicine. That was one of the all-timers [joking].
On Jacksonville WR Jason Hill saying Darrelle Revis was overrated…
He said he was overrated? Well, the good news is we get to find out. He's coming in here and that'll be fun. I can tell Jason Hill this, and anybody else. There are a lot of good receivers in this league and all that. The best corner in football, and it's not close, is Darrelle Revis. We'll see how he feels after the game.
On Jason Hill being doubtful for Sunday…
You're kidding, right?
On the notion of a reserve wide receiver calling out Revis…
We like it because Darrelle will take care of himself on the field like he always does. Chad Ochocinco used to call me out and would always call Bart [Scott] out and say he would punch him in the face and all that. Those were always fun. I don't know if that's this guy's humor or not. With Chad, you knew it was.
On how he thinks the offensive line might respond this week…
I think we've always prided ourselves on it. One of the units I'm most proud of, obviously everybody talks about the defense, but it's the offensive line. The first picture I ever had up there, and it's still up there, is that offensive line because I think you win games right there, your offensive line and your defense. I think it's a prideful group. The fact is we won the game, yet we know we'd like to win it in a different fashion, probably. That's a great offensive line. We're going against a tremendous front obviously, especially based on last week and what they were able to do to Chris Johnson. It's going to be a big challenge, but I have faith in our offensive line.
On how many hits he thought Mark Sanchez took against Dallas…
It seemed like he got knocked down about 10 times.
On how concerned he was to see Sanchez knocked down 10 times…
Right, you don't want your quarterback to get hit that many times, that's for sure. That's a true statement, no doubt.
On why he thinks the Jets still have a top defense in the NFL despite its performance against Dallas…
It's based on fact. The proof is in the pudding. You don't bluff your way into being the number one defense in the league two years ago, being 3 [in 2010] and having a history of being a top two or three defense in this league every year. I just know that's what we have, that kind of ability. I believe in our coaching staff, the continuity. There is no reason to doubt it. That team was like third of fourth in the league in offense last year and they got a lot of opportunities with the ball. They're going to move the ball on a lot of people.
On if anything went wrong with the defense against Dallas…
We made more mistakes than we're accustomed to making, that's for sure. I always think it's a joke when the other coach will be talking about a team and not give the proper credit to the other side. The Dallas Cowboys are pretty darn good and everybody that plays them will figure that out.
On if the "seven glaring defensive errors" he mentioned during Thursday's news conference were an exact number and if those were errors by the secondary…
No, I wasn't talking about the secondary. They made less mistakes than the rest of them. That was my unofficial number. [Mike] Pettine thinks it's more or whatever. I understand, but that's the number I had.
On what is classified as "glaring"..
Well, a mental mistake would be glaring. When a guy goes for like 64 yards, it's glaring. There were other ones, maybe even the first play of the game, there was a mistake. There were some of those things. We made mistakes as coaches, as well. We've got to get better and each week that's the challenge to everybody, not just the players, but the coaches as well.
On if the defense is more capable of rushing the passer this season…
I'm not sure. Our leading sacker, we're playing him this week, with Drew Coleman. He's on the other team. I feel good about our pass rush. I feel good about being able to stop the run. We're going to have to this week, so we'll see. But I'll take this defense.
On if Maurice Jones-Drew reminds him of anybody…
It's tough because he's part Jim Nance. I go back to that, because he's like a bull. Yet, he's got speed and little-man moves and all that. Jim Nance was huge, but a bulldozer-type guy that can run you over, and a neck. He's just short. He's kind of like that. I'll throw in, a combination of Emerson Boozer and Jim Nance. We're in the throwback mode, we'll go back a little bit.
On the key to stopping Jones-Drew…
You better have a bunch of guys on him. The thing is, too, he hits. You have to wrap him, because he's a spinner, too. He's got great body control and power and balance and speed. It's a great combination.
On if he's concerned that Darrelle Revis didn't know who Jason Hill was…
If you gave him his number, he'd know. I think that'll be it. That's how he studies film. He really doesn't care who he's goes up against. We've all seen it. Who are we kidding? He's the best in the league. It's not close. Jason Hill, [Kassim] Osgood, any of those guys that are out there, will find that out. Just like they do every week when they go up against this guy.
On if Kenrick Ellis will play this week…
That'll be a decision we'll make at gametime.
On if he's concerned of a letdown against Jacksonville…
No. There's no chance of this. When you look at it, I'm not denying it was a very emotional game last week, there's no doubt about that. But if we're not at our best, we won't win this game. The last time we played them, they beat us at our place. That's all we have to go back to. We were a playoff team that went to the AFC Championship game. That's a good football team. They've got the same record as we do right now.
On if their defense should've performed better against Dallas since the Cowboys had three new players on the offensive line…
I guess if you look at it that way, then sure. That team's loaded. You can say what you want. Look at any angle you want. That team is loaded up front. When you look at the way they protected against us, it was six and seven-man protections a lot of times. If you're just going to base everything on how many sacks you get or whatever, then you're looking at the game, maybe differently than I do. I look at it as an overall unit. That team is pretty good. You've got two good receivers. The one kid's got great speed. You've got one of the best tight ends in football, caught 100 balls. The running back runs about a 4.3 in the 40. That's a good group any way you slice it and they're well coached.
