Transcript of Jets head coach Rex Ryan's Monday afternoon news conference:
First off, everybody knows we placed Leon on injured reserve. We think he's going to make a full recovery, so we're certainly hopeful of that. We're encouraged by that.
Looking at the game, I was really impressed. I thought our offensive line created a lot of running lanes, our backs did a great job of hitting it and our guys did a nice job of blocking down the field, as well. Any time you can rush for 300 plus yards, you know it's going well for you. There's no doubt. That's a big front seven, big, physical front seven, and we were able to get some movement. Our backs did a great job of seeing the holes and hitting it.
As far as on defense, I thought it was a good game. Calvin Pace with the three quarterback sacks, two forced fumbles, two passes broken up and I think seven other tackles, there's a pretty good chance he'll be giving the game ball back this week, so we'll see if he gets some award. I would anticipate him getting some kind of award this week. He had a tremendous game. Really, I thought it set the tone. The first two plays, the first one on defense where Calvin had an outstanding bull rush, was able to go over the top of the tackle, almost like superman over the top, force the ball out and Marques Douglas pounced on it. I think he knocked the air out of the football when he jumped on it. That was a big play.
Then our offense, I thought Alan Faneca in particular, that might have been as good a block as I've ever seen, pulling around on a power play, blocked the linebacker from the Raiders, pinned him in the end zone. That was what you wanted to see right there. Our offense punched it in on a fourth and one and Thomas [Jones] took it in. I think that was huge for us to start fast against that football team that had some momentum.
On if they have a plan for how they will replace Leon Washington…
I think we've got a plan. We'll see what it is going forward. We've certainly looked at all those options. We're going to make the best decision for our team moving forward.
On if Washington is a tough guy to replace…
Yeah. Maybe three or four guys have to replace him. He's so versatile. He is a great returner, a Pro Bowl returner. Then you've got a back that can run the ball inside and outside. He's not just a change of pace type back. He can do it all. He's great out of the backfield. He can protect the quarterback. He can run the Seminole package or Wildcat and you can flex him out wide as a receiver. He is an incredible, great, versatile player. It's going to be hard. There's no way one guy can replace him. There's no way that can happen.
On if they can continue to run the Seminole without Washington…
Yeah, maybe change the name to Missouri when Brad Smith comes back. Brad is a talented guy, and I think his numbers probably match up well with the young man from West Virginia that Miami took [Pat White]. I think Brad's numbers probably match up with anybody's, so that's certainly an option.
On people thinking it is better that Washington got injured so Shonn Greene can have an opportunity to play…
No, I definitely would not agree with that. Shonn Greene is an outstanding player. They're different kind of players. Leon Washington is a special guy and all the things that he can do. He's a special back. There's no doubt. I think Shonn is just a different kind of guy. He's more of a bulldozer type, great vision, great feet, a bulldozer, where Leon is kind of a home run hitter/catch the ball. They're different kind of guys.
I understand where the fans are coming from or people are coming from that Shonn Greene is an outstanding player. That's what we've been trying to say since we drafted him in the third round and traded up to get him. There's a reason we had him rated as a first-round running back, first-round talent. That's why we made the move. I thought it was a great move that Mike Tannenbaum made. When we looked at the players left on the board, he was the No. 1 guy left in our opinion. Sometimes it costs a lot to go get a good player and it doesn't matter how many guys you've got. That's what we were wanting to do, just bring in a good football player. You can't have enough of them. It looked like a stacked thing, you've got two Pro Bowl running backs and you add Shonn Greene. Now, I think everybody is thankful we did that.
On if he had any idea that Greene could explode in the running game the way that he did…
Yeah, I thought he could run. We talked about it. Anthony Lynn [RBs coach] and I talked about, if this game goes a little bit better against Buffalo, we were hoping we could have maintained that lead that this kid could have gotten 100 yards against them in the fourth quarter. He's that kind of guy. He has that kind of vision that I talked about before where you rotate those carries with Thomas and Leon and in that fourth quarter stick this kid in because he'd be a big strong back that's fresh. That's something you don't want to see on defense, somebody that just comes in fresh, and he's hitting 100 miles an hour. He's a big-time talent.
On if Mike Westhoff's job just got a little tougher…
Yeah, I think all of our jobs did with the loss of Leon and he's a great teammate to boot. He's going to be lost for a while. Hopefully, we can get him back in our locker room as fast as we can so he can be around.
On his initial reaction to Washington's injury...
I thought he had an ankle injury when they were taking him in initially. When somebody said that they saw the blood coming out, that meant compound fracture, and obviously, that's a serious injury. It just devastates you. You feel for him. You're not thinking about yourself at all and the impact it's going to have on the team and the game. You just feel for that young man because he gives everything he's got. He's an award winner in the weight room. He's a great teammate and he's a heck of a football player. He's a great person, on and off the field, so you really felt for him. Then, after about five minutes, you realize, oh, boy, you just lost him. And now you're thinking more selfishly about how it's going to affect you, how it's going to affect the team. He's going to be missed, that's for sure.
On if he has spoken to Washington…
I talked to him last night. He's in great spirits. He was so happy for the team. He was just raving about his teammates. It was typical Leon fashion, no doubt.
On if there is a timetable for Washington's injury…
No. I think Bruce [Speight, senior director of media relations] probably gave you that information. You guys know as much about it as I do, more so really. Clearly, he's going to be lost for the season.
On if Danny Woodhead can help replace Washington…
I think the great thing about Danny is that he's smart. He knows those positions. He's been working as a receiver, as a running back. Late in the game, we said, 'Hey, let's put him back in there at running back,' and he never missed a beat. In fact, he almost broke one from about 80 there. He's certainly a talent. Remember, this young man ran a 4.3 something in the 40, so he's got plenty of speed. He's just short, but he's a talent. You don't run for the type of yardage he did in college and not have some talent. He's also got great hands. So we can certainly do some of the things that we did with Leon with Danny.
On if Woodhead is going to keep 83…
I don't think we have a choice. I'm not sure on this, but I think once you change the number once, you're pretty well done. So "Hey, they've got a receiver in the backfield. Match him up with a corner." That would be fine with me.
On the running game being successful the past two weeks especially with a rookie…
Well, I'd sign up for that every day. I mean, there's no doubt. If you can run with that kind of efficiency, oh, yeah, that's exactly how we had planned. Not in my wildest dreams would I think we could go back-to-back weeks in the NFL rushing for 300 yards. I knew we could run the ball, but there's no way I could have envisioned this. As confident as I am in us, that just doesn't happen in this league.
On if the emphasis from the coaching staff has changed…
Well, we ran it 54 times. We actually ran the ball more times than Oakland had offensive plays. That's another thing I'll sign up for.
On if it helps that the defense played Miami three weeks ago…
I don't know. That Wildcat is something else. We'll see. They're coming here. We're hosting them at our place, so we'll see. That's an excellent scheme and I said that before we played them. I wouldn't be surprised if they do it every snap. I might want to do it every snap if I was them because they had that much success with it.
On if part of the focus is not lose a second time to Miami…
Well, yes. We certainly can't play the way we played the last time or it'll get ugly. It was one of those things, and you guys wrote about it yourselves and we couldn't stop them. We think that they're going to come out with the exact same game plan, and so we'll see what happens this time.
On if the absence of Kris Jenkins is even more highlighted in a game against Miami…
Yes, that's not good. Again, we're going to show up. I think we'll show up.
On how soon after the Miami game he said he wanted to play Miami again…
About three seconds after the game.
On if he took the Miami loss personally…
Me? I always take it personal, always. Again, we're going to show up. We'll see what happens.
On the Ravens containing the Wildcat last year…
I thought we did. I don't know.
On if Miami has gotten that much better with the Wildcat or if they are doing some different things this year…
They're really good at it. When you can put two Pro Bowl running backs back there, that might have maybe a little more to do with it than anything else. They've got two big, powerful runners. They're smart — you get them both on the field. Again, you have to get off blocks. It's no magic formula what you do on defense because they have the numbers. It's equal numbers. That's what makes that thing so effective. I think their offensive line is playing well. They traded for Jake Grove, an excellent center. So again, this isn't going to be easy. Do I want it back and is it personal to me? It absolutely is. I'm man enough to admit it. I'm sure it was personal. We'll see. If we played Oakland in two weeks, I bet you it would be personal to them.
On moving Calvin Pace to the other side…
Well, I think what you've got to look at is each week there's different match-ups. Part of coaching is trying to put your guys in a position where they can be successful. When you talk about Miami and they've got the wildcat, they're using both Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, it makes sense, two Pro Bowl running backs, premier running backs in this league. That's clearly what they do, and that's something that we have to really look at doing, look at our roster, see if we can't utilize our people better than we did the last time we played them.
On the tempo change during practice…
That's true, because I don't think I ever liked our tempo. Guys, two steps and stop, that doesn't cut it. We've got to simulate better tempo, especially when you're not in pads. You've got to simulate it better. You've got to play off each other. Again, that's 11-on-11 football, that you'd better know where your teammate is going to be, and if you get out of that or you're not sure, then you can get gashed in.
On not liking the tempo of practice last Wednesday…
What it was is we were with our pads, and it was more of a thing where just something was missing. I think it might have been the enthusiasm on the practice field. I think maybe we probably carried our pads a little too much. We were probably the only team in the league that had been in pads every Wednesday and Thursday. So we just decided to take the pads off them on Thursday, and I think our guys responded. It was a good tempo, it was enthusiastic, and I just think we needed it. I think we were worn down a little bit.
On if he is following the World Series…
That would be a good football thing to say: I'm just dialed in on this, but of course I'm following the Yanks and going against the Phillies. We've got Mike Pettine is a Philly guy and we've got Kevin O'Dea, and I'll be wearing my Yankee stuff some of these days, there's no question.
On if baseball is different in New York than Baltimore…
"Ryan takes shot at Orioles." [laughter] Obviously baseball is huge. Yankees are going for their 27th title. We've got a lot of titles to make up to catch them. That may take a couple years. I'm not sure [laughing]. We plan on winning a bunch of them, but I don't know if we can catch them. That's what's great about this town. How would you not say that this area isn't a football town, because it is, but it's also a huge baseball town. That's the beauty of this area. Everybody is into baseball, into football. I mean, it's a great sports area.
On his reaction to the first Miami game…
We had practiced the plays and things, but they out-executed us, and we've got to find a way to do a better job. Is it a miracle call? We'll be searching for that. There's no question we'll be searching for it. But I don't really know if that exists.
