Transcript of Jets head coach Rex Ryan's Monday afternoon news conference:
I think everybody thawed out from last night. It was a little cold, I think. Looking at the tape and everything else, it was a great team effort, like we talked about last night. What a way to get in the playoffs in front of our fans. It was really a terrific evening. But we know that Cincinnati is going to come back, look at that tape, and make some adjustments, so we have to get ready. We're going to face a different team. Even though it's the same team, we're going to face a different one. We don't have our fans sporting us in front of us, behind us, so that's going to be a little more challenging offensively. I played a lot games in Cincinnati, and I know those fans can get loud. They do a good job supporting their team. Again, we're going take our team up there and give them our best shot again.
On if it is hard to explain that it will be a different Bengals team they will face next week…
This is the playoffs. I mean, I'm going to tell you this: We make no excuses. It was definitely our day. There is no doubt about it. It was definitely our day. If we take the Bengals lightly, we haven't earned that right. No chance. This is the playoffs. We're coming out there, and our focus is going to be on playing Cincinnati again and getting better each day, and then going to Cincinnati and give ourselves an opportunity to succeed. The only way you can do that is great preparation, focus, attention to detail, and that's the effort our guys are going give. I believe that.
On if the Bengals held anything back…
He pulled Chad [Ochocinco] and Carson [Palmer]. Scheme is what is it is. Defensively, they did a pretty good job of stopping our run, for the most part. We went for 200 yards, but Brad [Smith] had a couple huge plays on him early. Thomas [Jones] carried it 27 times. Those were some tough yards now, let me tell you. I don't know exactly how many he got, but they did a good job stacking it in there on us. There were two teams trying to win that game. There's no doubt. We felt good. We had a couple of big breaks. I think early in the game, when we were able to move the ball into the wind and have those two big drives in that first quarter, that's what really gave us great momentum. File that in the "no kidding" column. It's easy to play defense when you control the ball like we did offensively like we did in the first quarter.
On if he would have deferred if he won the coin toss…
Yes, absolutely. We would have definitely deferred.
On if the 37-0 win gives the team an "edge" for next week…
I guess it could go either way. Either you're going to come out. Maybe it does, or maybe it doesn't. I'm sure their players want to get back at it just like we would want to do if we got beat. If we got beat, we would want to get right back at it as well. Again, this is a new season. We're all at 0-0, and we're all competing for the same prize. There's just a lot less teams involved in it now so it is so special. What we did last night was give us an opportunity to be where we're at now. Now let's keep going.
On if the win over Cincinnati validates the defense…
We've given up a couple leads, but I think every team in the league has done that. When you look at it is a statistically and on the field, this defense has out preformed any defense in the league, every defense in the league. When you look at it at a yardage standpoint, I believe the next closest is like 35 yards away. We gave up 252 yards that year, and I think it's about 35 yards away from the second place defense, and that's per game. So that's not even close. I think our points allowed, it's incredible that we led the NFL in fewest points allowed when we gave up seven or eight returns for touchdowns. So that bodes well for us. This being the first year of a system, it took us a while to get our stride, but I think we're there now.
On if he thought the defense would be number one in the league after the injury to Kris Jenkins…
I don't know if I thought we would be No. 1 this year. I thought we'd be top-5 defense, certainly. I think that's really all I know for the most part. I believe in the system. I believe in the group of players, and I definitely believe in our coaches. When you combine all those factors, that's why I have a lot of confidence in it. When we lost Kris, this is a unit. It's not just about one player, although Darrelle Revis was pretty darn good. But it's about the unit and how they play together. The understanding of how to practice, how to prepare, and knowing the system inside and out. Like I said, this is the New York Jets defense. Period. Simple. They all buy in. Kris Jenkins, if he's not the best tackle in football, he's certainly one ever them, one of two in this league. That was a huge loss to us, in more ways than one. He's still out there with us. He's still part of our team. It's just that we don't get the benefit of him rolling off that ball right now. I think our coaches have done an awesome job. Mike Pettine, Jeff Weeks, and Chuck Smith working with that D-line, I think they've done a great job getting our guys ready each week.
On what has led to Brad Smith's recent success…
The quad injury was one thing, that's for sure. When we had Leon [Washington], Leon did a lot of those roles for us. This guy has always had that ability. The thing that's rare about Brad is you can use him underneath center and in the gun. You had Michael Vick and some great running quarterbacks, Steve Young. When you look at Brad Smith, what he accomplished on the college level, he was Tim Tebow and all those other guys before any of them. He rushed for over 4,000 yards and passed for over 8,000 yards in his college career. That's pretty good. The guy is a phenomenal athlete. Now we're really taking advantage of it.
On the name of the packages for Brad Smith…
There are so many different things. We call them all kind of different personnel groupings and all that. But we had the Summit package earlier, and I give the plug to the high school again, because my kid will be a sophomore and I want him playing on the varsity next year. No, realistically, we had a Tiger package. Schotty [Brian Schottenheimer] is one of the most creative guys I've ever been around as a coach. They do so many different things. We're multiple, yet simple. That's the thing that's amazing. As creative as he is, he comes up with different packages. It's pretty impressive to me. Now we've really started utilizing him.
On if Smith is a threat at passing…
He's definitely a threat. He threw for 8,000 yards in college. He's one-for-one, his percentage is pretty good this year on that fake punt. He's got poise. He can do it. There's no question about it. We have several plays where he passes. As far as anybody knows, we've got several pass plays in there.
On how much he allowed himself to enjoy the win and if he has talked to his dad…
I haven't even talked to him yet. I got my usual criticism from my mom out of the way early this week. It's just business as usual. We know it's a short week and it's a quick turnaround. You're just moving along. Making the playoffs is special. There is no question about it. It is special. The way we did it with the ups and downs we had during the season, it feels pretty good right now. We had to win five out of our last six. Which is what I was telling you the whole time, all we needed was five out of six. I don't understand it. Somebody probably should have told me that before I had that press conference because that's all anybody talks about. It is special. Again, our goals were not to make the playoffs. You guys know what our goals are as an organization. We're just one step closer.
On Calvin Pace saying this is a team that others are starting to hate…
I think people hate me, which is fine. That's it. I want to be that guy that comes into your town. I want the negative focus to be put on me, that's fine. Our football team is respected. I think that's the biggest thing. Respect who we are. This is a pretty darn good football team that plays the game, in my opinion, the way it should be played. Any true football fan appreciates the way we play. We play great defense and we can run the football and we're efficient in the passing game and, by the way, we play pretty good special teams. I think people respect that. If they dislike us, maybe it's that I'm not afraid, I can be myself, then that's fine and dandy. I truly believe we're building a team that I want our opponents to respect. I think we've earned that this year.
On guys like Pace going to the playoffs for the first time…
It's great. When you realize how good a player Calvin Pace is, how good a player Braylon Edwards is, and this their first taste of it. You can try to explain being in the playoffs, but until you get in there and you get that feeling, it's awesome. Once you get that taste, you have to go back. That's just that feeling. Whatever friends tell you how good it is to be in the playoffs, it's actually better than they can describe it. I know it's better than I can describe it.
On how far he thinks they can go in the playoffs…
I know what our goal is. Our goal is we're trying to win the thing. That's our goal. To get to this point and not have that as your ultimate goal, I don't think you're going to be successful. I think you have to visualize yourself succeeding and then go out and make it happen. I know that's my goal.
On David Harris' injury…
We'll have to see. He's got an ankle sprain. He did not play in the second half. We're hopeful he can play. Obviously, that's a huge loss if David's not in there.
On if they can advance in the playoffs with a quarterback that isn't making a lot of plays…
He played a heck of a game last night. He really did. If we catch that long one, the numbers are going to speak for themselves. Those were some tough conditions to play in. It's not just managing the game. He's a threat to throw it. I thought he did a great job. The thing about protecting the football, we had gotten ourselves in position where we had built a lead, and I think that's becomes, without question, the most important thing. I don't think we asked him to do a whole lot, but he was so confident and comfortable back there. He was excited. That's great to see in a young quarterback. That's a lot of pressure. You had to win to get in, and I thought he did a great job.
On if he's concerned about Harris..
Of course. I'm definitely concerned. Absolutely. I know if there's any way possible to play, he's gonna play. We'll see how he is. Do I expect him to be full-go tomorrow for practice? No, I do not, but hopefully he'll surprise me.
On if Ryan Fowler would replace Harris…
Yeah and we'll see about him. He took a blow to the head. I know he finished the game. Hopefully, he's okay. If not, then Kenwin Cummings is going to have to step it up for us.
On the team being 5-1 since he took a more active role in the offense…
I'm an offensive guru. I try to stay out of the way. I'm trying to be in there, be more familiar with it. If I can be of any kind of assistance to Schotty, then that's what I'm there for. Being a head coach, I'm taking on more of that responsibility. Trust me, I don't call a single play. I don't do anything. Schotty and I talk. To be honest with you, I'm a little afraid we're going to lose Schotty after this year, so I'm trying to enjoy him right now. I know with some of those jobs coming open there's a good possibility we're going to lose him. He deserves to be a head coach. I'm going to enjoy the ride right now. We're definitely on the same page. He'll tell me something about, "Well, we got this, this, this." I'll just sit back and say, 'Sounds good,' but I'm getting better. I'm almost in French class, the second level now. Not the introductory, I think I moved on to the second [level].
On if he and Schottenheimer have a common understanding because they both had fathers who coached in the NFL…
Yeah, I think also the thing that isn't really talked about as much is Brian could have gotten this head coaching job. He interviewed for it. He interviewed for several jobs. It's a very similar to the path I traveled. He chose to say here. A lot coaches don't want that. They'd rather go somewhere else and almost feel slighted. He wasn't that way at all. He took the same approach I did in Baltimore. He's not just going to do the job, but he's going to do a great job. I think that's what he's done here. Is he better for it going through this process? You'll have to ask him. I know I was much better prepared for coming here after spending that year under John Harbaugh and seeing a different style than I would've been if I would have maybe gotten the job. So, we have that in common is a well.
On if any teams have contacted him about Schottenheimer interviewing for their head coaching positions…
No. You would have to ask Mike Tannenbaum. Nobody's called me directly about anything.
