Transcript of head coach Rex Ryan's conference call with Jets reporters on Monday afternoon:
First off, it was a great game. I thought it was a complete game. All three phases did a tremendous job. I like the way we came out of the gate early. I think the offense set a tone by having that big touchdown drive to start the game.
I was really happy with the way we ran the football. Obviously, Shonn Greene had a huge day for us. We talked about Mark [Sanchez] being the first quarterback in Jets history with two rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns, so that was excellent. I like the way our defense played in the first half. I've been around a lot of great defensive performances, but holding a team to 4 yards in the first half was about as good as I've ever seen. It definitely was as good as I've ever seen. So I like the way we're playing. We did a nice job, for the most part, with our communication. I think we only had four penalties for the game, so that was good.
Unfortunately, we lost Jimmy Leonhard for the season. He has a torn patellar tendon and that's going to be a huge loss for us. It's really an unfortunate thing. Jimmy made a great play on the interception and then has this injury.
Obviously, it's a huge blow to our football team, but it's one that we think we can overcome. We're very fortunate as a team to have a great player like Brodney Pool as a backup safety. Now he comes in, he's our starting safety with Eric Smith. We closed out the season last year that way. Brodney did a tremendous job as the season went on, so we're definitely in his capable hands to fill in for Jimmy. And Mike Tannenbaum's looking throughout the league to bring in somebody that might be able to help us, maybe not in the short term, but help us with some depth maybe in the long term.
On Leonhard suffering a season-ending injury near the end of the season for the second straight year…
It's something that you feel absolutely terrible for him, knowing how he overcame that last injury and what that meant. This team means everything to Jim and his leadership is obviously going to be missed without question. He's one of the guys that just elevates other players around him. Everybody respects Jim and he's definitely going to be missed, but I know Jim. I think he'll get this surgery whenever that is, he'll get it and I'm sure he's going to be around the building and be a part of us anyway. He just can't do it physically. It's a huge loss. Obviously, I feel terrible for Jim, but we're fortunate to have an excellent player like Brodney Pool ready to fill in.
On how willing he will be to give Leonhard another chance once he is healthy…
Obviously, we know Jim is an outstanding player. There's a business side of football, but we know Jimmy is a tremendous player. And the thing about Jim is, I know he's the hardest working guy around, so I think this is a setback. This is not going to be the end for Jim Leonhard. I think this is a setback. Obviously, he's not going to go out two years in a row like he wants, and that's holding that Vince Lombardi Trophy. I think he can still help us get there. I think his leadership, he'll be around. He's extremely positive and he'll almost take over a coaching role right now.
The thing about this business is it's 100 percent injury rate. Every single player is going to get hurt in this league. The game is a physical game. We all understand that there's certain risk involved, no question about it. It doesn't make it easier, I can tell you that much, but I don't think Jim Leonhard's done playing.
On how many personnel adjustments will be made following Leonhard's injury…
Well, we'll look into everything. I think, obviously, Dennis Thurman and Mike Pettine are talking about things right now. Each week is a different game plan specifically for your opponents. Obviously with the incredible speed that Philadelphia has and the athleticism that Philly has, we'll have to look at all those type of things and try to match up the best we can. Like I said, we're fortunate to have Brodney, because Brodney is a guy that has man cover skills. He's got range. He's smart. He's been in our system now. This is his second season, so we're fortunate to have Brodney.
On not having a winning streak of longer than three games this season and maintaining the team's momentum…
Well, the big thing for us is that we had talked about it after Denver. It's playoff time right now. We've approached it every game that we're not looking at what's past this week or anything else, this scenario, that scenario. We're looking at this team and that's it. We have one focus and that's to beat the Philadelphia Eagles. We have to travel to Philly. I don't believe the Jets have ever won in Philly, so it's a tough place to play. We understand that. So every bit of energy is going to be focused on playing Philly.
On if he is confident in Jeremy Kerley as the team's punt returner…
We are confident. He was in this morning catching punts. It's not going to be by lack of effort, I can promise you. He has done an absolutely tremendous job. He takes it upon himself to get better. He catches over 200 passes on the Jugs machine every day, and I can't tell you how many punts. We know the work ethic that the young man has is terrific. I thought in the game he showed he ripped off a couple of big returns in there, so I think that was good. I think he had a 26-yard return and then he had a 14-yard return, as well. Then he cut off a ball that could've gone inside our 5. I thought Jeremy did a tremendous job. We drafted him to be our punt returner, as well. I think he has great ability to do that. Obviously, he has to do a great job of catching the football first, then worry about the return second.
On the Jets' playoff chances now that they control their own destiny…
The only thing we're focused on is us. We're not worried about anybody else. I've said it for the last three weeks, I know it's a broken record, but it's the truth. We're not worried about anybody else because it doesn't matter. If we don't take care of our business, it's not going to matter what anybody else does or doesn't do. That's where our focus is. We have to get ready to play the Philadelphia Eagles. This is going to be a huge challenge for us. I'm looking at it right now, statistically the fourth-rated offense in the league, the 11th-rated defense in the league, and they probably have as many explosive playmakers as anybody we'll face. Their defense is probably as talented as any defense we'll face all year. This is going to be a huge test for us.
On if he feels better about the team's playoff chances today than he did after the Denver game…
Yes, you have three more wins. I think, absolutely, you do. Again, we have to get into the playoffs. We know that. Our focus is this one week at a time. This is it. We pour everything into it and we think we're going to get a good outcome because of that. Obviously, nothing is guaranteed with that, but we feel that we can compete with anybody in the league. We're going to have to prove it this week because, as far as a group, this is as talented a team as we're going to face all year.
On if there is anything they can draw on from last year's experience without Jim Leonhard to help this year…
Yes, maybe that's true. I thought Brodney really stepped it up for us last year. He was a full-time starter last year, but I thought he really stepped up his game, his preparation, communication and everything when Jim went down last year. We expect him to take off just from there. Obviously, this is his second year in the system, so he knows the system. We do so much with three safeties and all that kind of stuff. I think that's going to be missed probably more than anything else.
On if they are looking for a younger player to add depth at safety in place of Leonhard…
I don't know about younger or anything else. We're going to try and bring in a good football player that would add some depth to us. That's what you're going to get. We don't need a starter. We have our starters in Eric Smith and Brodney Pool, but we need somebody. We have Tracy Wilson, a young, developing player also as a safety, but we need somebody else to come in there and add some depth to us.
On what has been the key for Sanchez reducing interceptions the last three games…
I just think his preparation has been outstanding. I think the way we've practiced these last three weeks has been exceptional. Everybody is holding each other accountable. Our routes, if the route is not run right, then we have to get it fixed. It's not about, "Well, we'll just push it up." "No, we have to fix it right now." That's kind of been where we are. I think the offensive line has done an absolutely tremendous job these past few weeks. The challenge in front of our offensive line this week — this team leads the league in sacks per pass. Obviously, this is going to be a huge game. We have to control those pass rushers and obviously that's no easy task for sure.
On the irony of Leonhard getting hurt on defense, not returning punts…
That's the way the game is, unfortunately. Injuries are part of this game and you can't control it. You think you have some kind of control, but things like that, it's a freak thing. He just makes a great play, the young man is trying to make a tackle on him, and just unfortunately he tears a patellar tendon. It's just really unfortunate.
On the head coaching change in Kansas City…
I think, as a member of the coaching community, it's always tough when you hear news like that. That's really an unfortunate thing. I never knew Todd [Haley] well, but when I've been around him, I have a lot of respect for him. I thought he did an outstanding job as a coordinator. Obviously, he took his team to the playoffs last year, but it's just an unfortunate thing. These things do happen, but I wish him the best. It's just really unfortunate.
On the plan for Brandon Moore in practice this week…
I think maybe, moving forward, because he did come out of it well, which is great, but I think we'll let him ease into things, maybe take off Wednesday's practice. We'll limit him on Thursday and maybe get him full speed on Friday. That's kind of the plan that I have for him right now.
On if he draws heavily from the game the Eagles-Cowboys game because his brother Rob is the Cowboys defensive coordinator…
No. I'll certainly talk to my brother. I don't know if he'll be answering the phone or anything after what happened. [joking] But his defense is a lot different than our defense. They're not even close to being the same style of defenses. His personnel is different than our personnel. I may talk to him about some things, but we're a lot different than they are defensively.
On seeing his team put the Chiefs away…
It was just great. I think we've been waiting for it to happen. We've had a couple of good games like that, but we just felt going into that game that we could control them in all three phases, and that was what our guys did. They did a tremendous job. The first kickoff of the game, I thought we had him at the 10-yard line. We missed a couple of tackles. The young man did a great job returning for them, but I liked the way we ran down the field. We were hustling like always. I thought we were physical.
And then on offense, I thought we executed extremely well. I was really happy with the way we ran the football. We had 42 rushing attempts which is always a good sign for us. And then on defense, without question we came out of the blocks good. I would have liked to have finished better, but I was happy with the way our defense played as well.
On if Pool or Smith shifts into Leonhard's role…
Well, the way we play our safeties, they are basically interchangeable. So we don't have necessarily have an in-the-box safety or a high safety. We are interchangeable and I think that it's hard to identify who is who. And I think that helps us on defense. Brodney and Eric can obviously handle both roles.
On if he saw what happened in the other games on Sunday to put the Jets in the driver's seat for the postseason…
Again, I'm like anybody else. I saw highlights of games, but one way or the other, whether we had a game lead on guys or not, it wouldn't have changed our approach one bit. Our focus is going to be on Philly and we're not worried about anybody else and it would have been the exact same thing, whether we were tied with somebody, behind, whatever, our focus is strictly on this week's opponent.
On his teams performing well at the end of the season…
I think the type of men that we have on our team is a big part of it, how we built the team. We do get better, we think we have a great coaching staff, I think that helps us, and even the way we train. Bill Hughan, our strength coach, does an outstanding job. We actually have guys improving as the season goes on with their movement skills, their strength and all that, so we actually improve as the season goes on. I don't think that is common in the NFL. Sometimes you get worn down, but our guys actually make improvements. So I think that helps. Our medical staff, our training staff, led by John Mellody does a tremendous job. So that's part of what makes the Jets great. We provide everything and we want our team to be successful and I think it shows as the year goes on.
And the fact that we try to take care of our players, even with the way we set up our bye week. We give them the full week off, probably two more days than anybody else. But everything is set that way so at the end of the year, we're at our very best and I think that's where we are. Obviously the focus and attention to detail is there, but it's physical, it's mental, it's everything and we're set up to win games. We always talk about you have to win when the snow flies, you have to win in December and January, and that's how we set up our team.
On if the head coaching change in Kansas City demonstrates the fickle nature of the NFL…
I think it's the way it is. This is a men's league and you have to win. I think we all know that as coaches. Obviously there are going to be some years that maybe aren't as good as others and some that are better than others. But with us, we want to be extremely competitive every year, and that's how we set up our team. We go into every season with the ultimate goal. Now we haven't reached it yet, but that's what we strive to do.
Sometimes I get criticized for putting it out there that these are our goals and our expectations are at this level. Well, that's how we are. We're not going to set our expectations low and say, "Hey, we overachieved at being .500." That's not who we are. We're trying to attack the thing, we're trying to accomplish the ultimate goal, and that's to be holding that Vince Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season, and that's it. But obviously this is a coaching business. I've been around the National Football League almost my entire life. It doesn't make it any easier, but we understand that this is the NFL.
