Transcript of head coach Rex Ryan's news conference following Friday's midday practice at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center:
Here we go — injuries, Logan Payne, out, wrist. OK, these other two, Ropati [Pitoitua] with his knee and Isaiah Trufant with his hamstring, did not practice. Guys that were limited in practice were Nick Mangold with his ankle and Donald Strickland, concussion. Strick never had the red [jersey] on, either. And then everybody else is full, and that includes Tanner Purdum, who was limited yesterday with a low back, and LaDainian [Tomlinson] with his calf, he was full. Marquice Cole, hamstring; [Marcus] Dixon, shoulder; [Garrett] McIntyre, concussion, Bart Scott, toe, MTV [Martin Tevaseu], low back, and Muhammad Wilkerson, shoulder. All right, so that's the injuries. Let's have at it. I'll open it up.
On if Pitoitua will play this week…
I'm not real sure. You know, unless he's really, ready to go this week, this is a physical team, you need to make sure he's 100%. And I'm not sure right now. You know, really questionable on that.
On if Strickland will play…
Strick is actually doing really good. He had the head thing and concussion or whatever, but he's actually been doing fantastic, and like I say, he wasn't limited through contact or anything today. So we'll see how it progresses.
On Brandon Marshall's comments about wanting to pick a fight with Antonio Cromartie…
I'm just happy that he's not picking on me to fight him. We had that issue before and quite honestly I was a little nervous running across that field. So I feel good, at least he never called me out. If he wants to get kicked out of the game in the second quarter, I think he should.
On his reaction to the Daily News back page two days ago…
Really? [laughing] Man, oh man. Well, hey, not everything's going to be perfect or the way you want it or something like that. But you know, dumb, maybe. But "Dumb and Dumber"? Because that way you can make it either Tannenbaum or myself depending on who you ask. But man, they took a shot at both of us, I don't know. But hey, you can write or print or do whatever you want. You know, I wish it was would say smart or smarter. That would have been a nicer one. But hey, I've been here for three years now, I know how it goes.
On if he's heard comments like Marshall's before…
I've heard it before. Chad Ochocinco always used to say he was going to beat up Bart or beat up Ray [Lewis]. Those things, that's just part of it. No big deal.
On how integral the kick return game has been this season…
Well, not important enough, I guess, because we lost both those games [after having long kick returns]. But really, you know, that's huge, and when you look at it, special teams since I've been here with Mike Westhoff, it's always been a huge plus for us. You know, the kicking game is always a huge plus. And I think Joe [McKnight] was averaging like 45 yards a kick return, and my thing is, hey, guys, we have got to start expecting onside kicks and everything else. If we are going to return it, if we have got a 45-yard average, we have to be alert for that.
On the reason the Jets have consistently had good kickoff returns despite changing return men…
Well, I think it starts with Mike. I think Westy does a great job of scheming up the kickoff return. He's got guys that totally buy in, do a great job in blocking and things. He's had returners that are fearless and trust their blocking, and I think that's where it starts. You know and Joe is doing a tremendous job right now.
On if he remembers the atmosphere following the last home game against the Dolphins…
Oh, yeah, I remember that.
On what his reaction was to that…
I understand the way it works. I mean, when things don't go right, then there are people that are going to try to pile on to whoever. You know, whether it's Schotty [Brian Schottenheimer] or whether it's myself, the quarterback, whoever it is. You know, that's kind of human nature, because I think as fans, you want your team to win so bad that, well, it's somebody's fault, and that's the beauty of sports. You're going to get criticized when you're not performing well and things and you might even get a "Dumb and Dumber" comment, I don't know. But you do get criticized. That's part of it. We always talk about having a skin like an armadillo; that's what it is. If you don't want those comments, win.
On not having to deal with a lot of negative comments from fans in Baltimore because of how their defense performed…
I mean, you know, if you got lit up like a Christmas tree there would be, which never it happened too often but it would happen.
On if it happened in the game he called timeout against New England in 2007…
I totally forgot about that [laughter]. Thanks. Time out.
On if that was the most criticism he took as a coordinator…
Yeah, probably. I mean, look, you get heat all your life, my dad is Buddy Ryan. I've grown up with that.
On if the fans have become obsessed with Schottenheimer's performance…
Well, it's funny, because you've been criticized two years in a row, we have gone to the AFC Championship Game, I understand we have not won it but there are a lot of teams that will sign up for that. So we must be doing something right, and Brian is an excellent coach, I can tell you that right now. One of the hardest working guys I've ever been around. And we have complete confidence in him, and all our coaches.
On Santonio Holmes' comments yesterday…
Well, I think sometimes, and I'm as guilty as anybody, sometimes when you make comments and maybe things are not interpreted exactly how maybe they show up in black and white. I know certainly I'm sure I've made comments through the years. But the thing I can tell you about Santonio is that I've been around him on the practice field, meeting rooms, game field and all that. Nobody is more supportive of their teammates than Santonio. Whether these comments, you can interpret them any way you want. I don't think, you know, he planned on it being a negative, or how it came out negatively.
On if he worries how his offensive line will interpret the comments…
No. They've got skin like an armadillo.
On if there is more criticism that comes from being the son of a coach…
Yeah, I think you do inherently have a little more pressure on you when your name is Schottenheimer and things. Or growing up Buddy Ryan's son, you'd better be good, and if you're not, you're going to be criticized and all that, and not to mention you'll be out of the family will [laughter]. But the thing that I look at is sometimes you have that, but it's my opinion that your best coaches have that kind of lineage.
When you look at them, you look at Mike Pettine, it's very similar. You've grown up around the game all your life. Brian's grown up around the game all his life. I have. I think you get a lot of advantages with that. You look at Saban, Nick Saban, you've got Lou Saban. It seems like there are a lot of guys that come up that way, the Moras and whoever, the Shulas, a bunch of them.
But sometimes it gives you a big advantage because you've been around it all your life. Like I'm not intimidated by a comment, by a player, by anything else. And I think part of it is, I grew up as a ballboy around Alan Page, Joe Namath, whoever. And I think that's why you're kind of used to the game and you know what it's all about.
On the importance of being able to pass downfield…
Well, I think that's always a big part of it. You want to back people up. The old thing, throw it deep and all that kind of stuff. But you know, I think the running game opens up a lot of that, vertical passing game as well. A lot of times you just want to turn out and throw it deep, I don't know how much that really helps you. But when you tie it into everything else that you're doing, certainly it can be a big weapon. And for us we do have guys who can stretch the field.
On if he feels they have not fully utilized Holmes' strengths this season…
Like I say, sometimes you've got to give the defense credit for what they are taking away from you. And you know, we go into every game trying to get the ball to Santonio and to Plax [Plaxico Burress] and whoever. But sometimes teams have done a good job of taking some of those things away from us.
On how you access when the game is slowing down for a quarterback…
Well, I think sometimes an obvious one would be interceptions, completion rate, stuff like that. Those would be kind of obvious I think. And outside of that Raven game, which you can't dismiss, but we talked about that, I don't care who was back there, the pressure was going to make it tough on anybody. Outside of that, I think he's, what, 60 percent completion rate which would be his highest total, maybe right around a 90 quarterback rating. So I think he's done well statistically when you look at that. So again, you know, I think the big thing now, we lost three games in a row, so obviously there's going to be criticism, and generally, it always starts at the coaching thing and at the quarterback spot.
On things outside of the statistics that show a game is slowing down for a quarterback…
Sure, being able to go to your second reads, third reads and all that, and we have seen him do that. In fact, the touchdown was off his second read that he threw to Santonio and was actually a different coverage than we anticipated. And you know, he stayed with it, was patient and made the throw to Tone [Holmes] for a touchdown.
On how much they need to win the game this week…
Oh, we need it. There's no doubt about it. We need to get back to winning and we know this team is gunning for a win, as well. It's not like, oh, the Jets need one. Well, so does Miami. We are going to get everything they have, there's no doubt. But yeah, we don't need to loss another game. I mean, everybody knows what our goal is, and what we expect from each other. We need this win.
On if has changed anything in his routine because of the losing streak…
I've been bouncing in and out of individual meetings a little more than maybe I've done in the past. And just, I don't know, maybe to change it up or whatever. You look for how we can change things up and all that. Obviously our guys have a huge sense of urgency. We know we need to win. And that's just not me, this whole team feels that.
On how some of the veterans who were brought in have handled the losing streak…
I think you roll your sleeves up and let's go. I mean, this thing's not over. And you know, the thing about professional football is, I mean, every team is good. You've got to compete. And it's not like baseball when some team spends X amount of dollars and somebody is spending [less]. It's a level playing field. So everybody has good players, and it's tough. This league is designed to be 8-8, so it's hard. But again, this season's far from over.
On Bart Scott…
Well, I think the last week in particular, we are playing New England and we tried, and we have done this several times, you try to get more speed on the field, and you know, you play a smaller lineup. That obviously backfired on us that last drive. But that's basically how we play New England a lot of times. I expect to see Bart play a ton this week. They're a different team all together. But it's more situational than it is anything else.
