Transcript of head coach Rex Ryan's news conference Monday afternoon at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center:
Big thing coming out of the game that I was unaware of after the game, we always talk about trying to win the rushing attempts plus completions and then obviously the takeaway battle. The takeaway battle we won 2-0. Then the rushing attempts plus completions, we were at 65 and Buffalo was at 28, so really a great performance on both sides of the ball, offense and defense. I thought our special teams played well. I will say this, that [C.J.] Spiller is a player. He's going to be something. He's fast. Maybe next time we won't kick to him quite as often. I thought our special teams did a nice job. Obviously, we missed a field goal. I'm not sure why that was. Other than that, it was an outstanding performance by us and one I think we'll build off of.
Updates on the injuries, Shaun Ellis is going to get a MRI. We don't anticipate any ligament damage so hopefully he'll be fine. Darrelle [Revis] and Calvin Pace worked out today, so hopefully we'll get to see them play Monday night.
On how this 3-1 team is different than last year's 3-1 team…
First off, that's a great point, we were 3-1 last year and we lost six-of-seven. I don't anticipate doing that. The other thing is we won three divisional games, including two of them on the road, so I think we're in much better shape now than we were then last year. We're getting some of our guys back. Hopefully, we will get Darrelle and Calvin Pace back to our defense. Then adding Santonio Holmes obviously to our offense I think is going to be huge for us. We did let Patrick Turner and David Clowney go and we brought back Howard Green and we will soon activate Santonio. I forgot to mention those as well.
On if the loss to Baltimore was what his team needed as a wake-up call…
I don't think we needed it, to be honest with you. I would much rather be 4-0. We played against a good football team. We weren't at our best that day, without question, but again, you've got to give them credit. We're going to be talking about that until we play them in the playoffs, it sounds like to me. Either way, I don't think we needed that as a wake-up call. Did everybody think we were going to go through the season undefeated? I go into every game thinking that we're going to win every game, but did I think we we'd be undefeated? I don't know if that's a true statement or not. I never thought about it. I like where we are right now. We're right at the top of our division with a win over everybody in our division. I think we're in great shape right now. We've just got to handle our business. We get to play in front of our crowd on Monday Night Football and we're excited about this opportunity.
On Santonio Holmes being reinstated…
It's much better because if you trade, generally they don't know your system or anything else. When we get Santonio, he's been all through training camp with us. He was here in meetings, so we shouldn't miss a beat with him. To add a terrific player like Santonio to what we already have, like you said, our offense has really been rolling, it's good. Mark [Sanchez] can just throw it to the open guy. Whoever is open, throw it to him. He has a tendency, "Well I'm going to get Braylon [Edwards] this many passes, Santonio this many, Dustin [Keller] this many, J-Co [Jerricho Cotchery] this many and all that." That's not how you do it. You go into the game, you just play what's called and you throw it to the open guy. It should be a lot of fun to watch.
On if he liked the communication in the secondary yesterday…
I thought it was much better even though it's never perfect, for sure. We messed up a couple of times. Overall, I thought it was a great effort. I thought our coaching staff did a tremendous job getting our guys prepared. Then on third down, the key was how we got off the field. I know statistically it looked like we got gashed in the running game, but I mentioned to [Ryan] Fitzpatrick after the game that I thought he was trying to break the all-time rushing record for a quarterback [smiling]. The kid made some good runs. I think I also mentioned Cookie Gilchrist to him and I also mentioned that to our team the night before. Everybody is like, "Who is Cookie Gilchrist?" I remember, "Lookie, lookie, here comes Cookie." He ran hard and made some big plays for them.
Of if he thought Brett Favre was going to be a part of his team when he took over…
No. When he announced his retirement, that would be a true statement. If we never drafted Mark Sanchez, there would have been some major recruiting done. I can just say that. Absolutely. If we never got Mark Sanchez in the draft, we would have recruited him. Maybe nobody knows it, but I can promise you that's how I was feeling.
On having a good poker face…
Well, I was hoping we would be able to draft Sanchez and we did.
On how soon after becoming the head coach did he think about drafting Mark Sanchez…
At first we were thinking about the kid from Kansas State [Josh Freeman]. Then I got to see other film, we saw all those things, we did the workouts, then it became clear Sanchez was our guy.
On his thoughts of Favre at the time of his hire…
I thought he was one of the best in the history of the game — still do. You look at him. He makes all the throws at any arm angle [laughing]. The guy is amazing. He is amazing and he takes shots and he keeps getting up. He's an ultimate competitor. I think I was part of one of his best games he ever had against me and probably one of his worst, that Monday Night game or Sunday Night game against us when I was at Baltimore and then we went to Green Bay one day and he must have thrown two incompletions out of 35 attempts. This guy is ridiculous how good he is.
On if he thought Favre was sincere when he retired…
I thought he was sincere. I did think he was sincere, but I was ready to do it. I definitely would have done some recruiting I think.
On if he thought he could have convinced Favre to come back…
Yes, I do. He would have seen how sincere I was and the kind of passion I have. I'm not going to say it is equal to his, but maybe it is. We both want to win. I know that.
On the advantage Minnesota has coming off a bye week…
They can get rested, more preparation time for them. They have two weeks to prepare instead of one week, but clearly that's a talented football team over there so any advantage is not good. But I think our advantage is that we're playing at home. I'll take the offset there.
On if he had any contact with Favre to let him know that he was thinking of asking him to come back…
No. I left it alone.
On if Favre's shoulder was a concern to him…
I never really knew about any of the shoulder. The guy played all the time.
On Favre's performance towards the end of the 2008 season…
You look at the body of work and he was impressive, led the team to nine wins and one game out of the playoffs. He looked like Brett Favre to me.
On if Sanchez wouldn't be here if Favre hadn't retired…
I think that's a fair statement. I'd say it worked out for Brett and the Jets. We got a guy that is going to be a quarterback here for the next 10 years probably. Brett Favre's a great player. Last year, those statistics, I kept looking at it — 'That can't be right.' What did he throw, 30-some touchdowns and maybe six interceptions? The guy is a once-in-a-lifetime quarterback.
On if he would have tried to convince Favre to play if they Jets had drafted Josh Freeman…
To me, the organization wanted Sanchez as the quarterback. If we didn't get him, I don't want to say we would have done this or we would have done that. I just know we're happy by getting Mark. It is a fact that if we never got Mark, I definitely would have tried to go recruit Brett Favre.
On if he got the impression that Favre enjoyed his season with the Jets…
I think he came here to try to win the Super Bowl. That's why he plays, period. Any great competitor comes for the same reason, to try and win a Super Bowl. If Brett Favre doesn't think the Minnesota Vikings are that team, he wouldn't play. This guy is a great quarterback, a great competitor. I never really talked to Brett, just for a few minutes. He knows the kind of respect I have for him, as any coach does, any fan does.
On if he talked to Favre…
Yes, the day he announced his retirement. That's when I talked to him very briefly.
On what he said to Favre…
I can't really remember. I just let him know how much I respected him and the kind of competitor he is and the kind of quarterback he is. I think that was a tough time for him. He basically announced his retirement from football. I wasn't going to stay on the phone with him. He doesn't know anything about me. I'm just some random guy talking to him, so I felt kind of uncomfortable. I'm sure he did also.
On how much Holmes has been able to do with the team in the past four weeks…
He's able to work out here and he's in meetings. Like I say, I don't think he's ready to play [smiling]. I don't think you even consider defending him [joking]. Maybe that's the best way to do it, then let him light you up for 200 yards.
On if Holmes benefits from an extra day of preparation since the team doesn't play until Monday night…
You'd have to ask him that question. He can't wait to play. That much I know for a fact. Everybody knows that about Santonio. He is a great competitor and competitors want to play. He's going to do whatever it takes to get on that field and contribute to this football team.
On being 3-1 despite missing players like Revis, Pace and Holmes…
We kind of expected it, but it was some work. There's no question about it. It's much easier to play well when you have everybody on your team. Having Santonio back, Darrelle and Calvin, this is the team we envisioned trotting out there every week. We're still minus Kris [Jenkins]. We were also without Wayne Hunter for two weeks. Hopefully, we get all of our guys back. Again, we don't make excuses. We just go out and try to get the job done. I was proud of the guys that had to step up and fill in. I thought the guys did a good job and we ended up getting some big wins and divisional wins. That's critical. It speaks of the kind of depth we have on this football team. Quite honestly, we mention it all the time, everybody on our roster is going to have to contribute to our success. We mention it and guys just continue to step up. That's been impressive about this football team.
On how he felt about Joe McKnight at Buffalo…
I felt great. I think we all saw what we were seeing on special teams. He was flying down the field, the first guy down on a kickoff, almost blocked a punt. That's what we've been seeing, that kind of effort and that kind of improvement on the practice field. It was just an opportunity for him to get on the game field. One thing you can't take away from this young man, well there's two things really. Number one, is his obvious athleticism. He's about as good an athlete as you're going to find out there. Then what I've been really impressed with is his enthusiasm. Since the season started, you just really see the kind of enthusiasm on the practice field, whether it's on the scout team playing corner, whether it's playing running back or being on the special teams. The great thing is it's been in a scout-team-type role. He hasn't even been given anything, but his enthusiasm has been terrific. I think you see his play. There is a reason we took him. This guy is a big-time athlete. It's just going to be a matter of time. The great thing is one day, who knows, maybe he'll play both ways.
On whether being listed as inactive was a wake-up call to McKnight…
Maybe, I think you'd have to ask him. It's tough to watch. There's no question. It's like a high school kid going to a college, being recruited and you're the greatest thing since sliced bread, and then you get there and you're not even dressing or you're not even playing. That's tough on any competitor, so maybe it was. I can say this, he's the guy that had to make himself a better player. His enthusiasm and everything else, when he hits the practice field, has been different. I don't know why that is. I don't want to say pressure, but maybe there's just something to it, where he decided that, "Hey, I know a way to get myself back on this team and to be active, and that's to do it myself." I think that's what he's done.
On if he meant to keep McKnight in suspense by not telling him he was dressing until Saturday night…
No, I would never do that [smiling]. The kid, he's earned it.
On where McKnight could play on defense…
I think he could play corner. I don't think there's any doubt when you see him. I think Dennis Thurman would love to have that opportunity to coach him. I was told when we took him out of SC [Southern Cal], I had a coach tell me that he was the best receiver and the best corner on their campus the day he showed up. He has that kind of athleticism.
On if he would seriously consider playing McKnight at cornerback…
Yes. Why not? It's been done. Guys can play both ways. Troy Brown was one. I think Cleveland had a guy with a receiver jersey last year. It's been done. We're pretty set now at corner, but it just shows you. He'll go out there now and compete. When our guys are running routes against him, he's competing like crazy out there. You see some natural corner skills.
On stopping the Bills on third-down…
[Smiling] We'll never get credit for doing anything good, but we'll rip the team for all those things. I see us leading the league in third-down efficiency like always. That's how I look at it. I think it starts with communication. It starts with communication and it starts with a pass rush. In whatever order you want, it starts with that. We had it all. We rushed the passer well. Our guys did a great job in coverage. The communication was much better than it was previously in the last couple of games. We had no penalties. I think we had the one offsides penalty on defense. Really, guys just did a great job. It took place during the week. I let you know that the focus was outstanding and the practices were outstanding leading into the game. It doesn't just show up on Sunday. I expected our guys to play well and they did.
On how Shonn Greene's performance helps LaDainian Tomlinson…
It helps out everybody. It helps out our defense. It helps out Mark. That's Shonn Greene. That's who he is, vintage Shonn Greene. He pounded it in there. It was 4, 5, 6, 4. That's the way he runs. He has a punishing style and it wears down defenses. I don't think there's any doubt. The combination of Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson is as good as it gets. I think we averaged six yards a carry and ran the ball 49 times. We'll take that every week.
