Transcript of head coach Rex Ryan's news conference following Monday's morning workout at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center:
First off, we always say the same thing after a game, win or lose, "That it's pretty much like we said it was last night." Great game. I tell you, the secondary played really well. When you look at the way [Antonio] Cromartie played, he was great, physical, got his hands on guys. I thought the way he played and the way Kyle [Wilson] played, that was tremendous. The other corner [Darrelle Revis] played OK [joking]. Eric Smith had a big game for us. So I really liked the way they responded. Calvin Pace was a monster in that game. He was physical in the way he was rushing the passer, setting the edge. Calvin, I think, is having the best year he's had since I've been here. I don't think it's even close. So he's really doing a tremendous job for us.
I'd also like to congratulate Marty Schottenheimer on winning the championship. I think that's big, the UFL. I want to congratulate him on that.
And the big news of the day is from now on, somebody gave me a great idea, I'm not going to mention her name, Jenny [laughing]. She said, "You know, Rex, every time you use 'rings,' you get in trouble." So I will no longer say the word "rings" anymore, because of the "kiss Belichick's rings," the rings here with San Diego, all that kind of stuff. So I'm not going to use that word anymore. No more of those things. I get crushed every time I say it. No votes, because I do get crushed every time I say it. Any questions?
On if he can say "Lombardi Trophy"…
That's a possibility.
On if he can use the phrase "Super Bowl"…
Super Bowl? I can use that one. Yes. But it's just "rings."
On Chargers TE Randy McMichael's negative comments about the Jets secondary…
"Stay classy, San Diego." [joking]
On if he heard that quote before…
I think I've heard that a time or two.
On the injury situation…
I think we're OK. Going forward for Buffalo we'll see, but [Mike] DeVito, if we played this coming up Sunday, I don't know if he'd be able to play though. So that injury is a real one. But again, we probably expect him to play against Buffalo. Kenrick [Ellis], I think it's just an ankle sprain, not a high ankle sprain. And the same thing for David Harris.
Kenrick will be here all week. Part of being a rookie, you have to make sure you finish that game. When you have a bye week coming, you have to finish that game. He made a rookie mistake, he will be here all week [joking]. LT [LaDainian Tomlinson], obviously, we haven't seen him, but it's an illness thing. I'm trying to think of who else do we have? Anybody else?
On Tomlinson's status…
LT with the illness, I haven't seen him yet. When I saw him after the game I was like this [covering his mouth]. [joking]
On if the team showed its championship ability in the Chargers game…
Absolutely, if we play like that we're going to be tough to beat. There is no doubt. And we've played against the best out there in the AFC, you look at New England, we'll see Buffalo in a couple weeks and obviously playing San Diego. But you play defense like that, they were 1-of-7 on third down, and this is the No. 1 third down offense in football, in the second half, that'll help you. You get the takeaways, you get pressure on the quarterback and you do a good job stopping the run.
That's what we expect from that defense and then our offense, the way we controlled the ball, controlled the line of scrimmage, I think bodes really well for us. And we're doing a good job in the red zone this year. One thing that we've improved on and we targeted in the offseason was doing a better job in the red zone. And I think, at least it feels, I don't know about it statistically, it just feels to me like we're much better in the red zone than we've been in the past.
On how the team showed improvement Sunday…
I just thought our defense really stepped up. I thought our offense was moving the ball well in the first half. That turnover, obviously, hurt us. I thought we moved the ball, I thought our running game was really coming. Obviously, the way we converted on third down offensively and the way we stopped them on third down defensively I thought was it, because they were the No. 1 team. We were the No. 1 third-down defense in the league, which I always think gets lost, because people are saying, "This defense is not the same." Well, this defense is pretty good. We've given up more rushing yards than we'd like to, we've obviously given up some huge runs on the perimeter, and that's still something that we have to get better at.
On if he saw those improvements during the New England game…
Those are things that I saw specifically yesterday that we've gotten better at, but I think even playing New England, I saw that our running game was coming and I think that's where, if we can run the football and win that time of possession, we always talk about winning the runs and completions battle—that's how our team's built. When we can do those things, we're tough to beat.
On where the Jets stand in terms of making a run …
We'll make our run. We're 4-3. We're behind where we thought we'd be, but we still have a lot of football in front of us and we're playing that we have to beat, they're still in front of us. So I think that's a good combination.
On if playing two divisional opponents following the bye makes it a crucial point of the season…
Well, they're all going to be that way, all those games will be from here on out, but yeah, you have to beat the teams in your division. If you're going to win your division, you have to beat all of those teams.
On what led him to the decision to go back to the "Ground and Pound"…
I just thought that we weren't being ourselves. I thought, as much as we wanted to expand our weapons, we felt good about our receiving core, maybe three wides was our base offense, I just don't think that was the best thing for our football team. When I met with Schotty [Brian Schottenheimer], I think he felt the same way and we just wanted to get back to really playing New York Jets style of football, because there's nothing wrong with the way we play offense. It's just, let's get back to doing it. I think maybe I got caught up in maybe being enamored with the type of personnel we had, but at the end of the day, we never waited till the whole season went by. We went back to being who we were.
On what type of impact the change in mindset has had on Mark Sanchez…
I think the confidence … he's back, this is offense that we built and he is so familiar with. Not saying he can't do the other, but it just seems to fit us better. I think we're ahead of the sticks a lot of times, and put in third-and-manageable situations. He's doing a good job. The [Jeremy] Kerley kid, I think we saw a little bit of that yesterday. He's a legit guy, and he's just getting better and better. So the emergence of our guys is really going to help us. I think our team's playing better as a team. We understand who we are and we're focused on getting the job done.
On Sanchez's comfort level with Burress…
I saw some of the same things that you had noticed. Maybe the ball was on this shoulder instead of that shoulder, or whatever it was. Those are the things we will talk about, those are the things we're constantly trying to get better at. I think as the year goes on, I think we're going to be like this. You're going to see us getting better and more comfortable.
On the offense getting Burress the ball downfield…
Well, he's a huge threat [in the red zone], no question about that. Even some of those shots we were taking down the field, he had two guys with him, so sometimes that is going to open up other people. The other thing is to get it to wear we can stick that ball in a certain spot, where the receiver expects it, where the quarterback expects. Those are things we're still working on.
On what this team's personality is…
Like it always is, ground-and-pound type offense, what we had talked about, all-weather offense. The ability to run the football and protect the quarterback are two things that we strive to do offensively. And the, play great defense. We want to be a dominant defense. And we're on our way.
On the interception on the pass intended for Burress…
It just looked off. Like we said, even the week before, it looked a little off to me and I'm not sure if somebody was expecting the ball to be somewhere or somebody was expecting the player to be somewhere. I'm not sure, it just seemed like it was off to me.
On the HGH testing being instituted by the NFL…
I'll pass the test, I'm not worried about it [joking].
On if anyone has been onsite or if they have to facilitate…
I have no idea. I really don't know what that is. I know they are testing for all that stuff, but I don't have any idea who is testing, when it is done or anything.
On Josh Mauga starting at outside linebacker vs. San Diego…
I think we kind of like a combination there, like we talked about during the week about that platoon outfield. It's not as much lefty, righty, but we could do it several different ways. We could put an extra defensive end in there. We can put Josh in there. Josh is just learning that position, but he has been learning it for a while. The thing that he gives us is a great cover linebacker. He has really good instincts. You can put him in man coverage. He can run quarter-flats, zone drops, he can run with the verticals, he has excellent cover ability.
On how different the vibe is now that the Jets are on a winning streak…
I think, there, you felt desperation, like "God, we need to win." That's it, and we also knew that all we needed was to win, get back to winning and doing things our way, and we thought wins were just around the corner. That's where we kind of are right now, but we have a long way to go. Obviously, we come out of the break facing two divisional opponents who, as we know, are ahead of us. We'll see. We'll see where we are.
On how often his message to the team is about playing a full 60 minutes…
We do a bunch. I think the big part was we have done it in spurts, but you're exactly right, it hasn't been a consistent thing where the offense has dominated, the defense has dominated and special teams has dominated. The only group that really has done it every game, it seems like so far on a consistent basis, would be the special teams.
On what he's seen in Aaron Maybin...
Great production. We need to get him on the field more. There have been 40-some snaps he's been out there and he's had three sacks and three caused fumbles, made a lot of tackles. The Mayhem thing, I love that deal because it fits him. You guys talk to him, you know what I'm talking about [laughter]. He's beautiful.
On if the team has shown him the kind of fight he expected from them…
No doubt, we know what we have in there. We know the heart that this team has. That's what we rely on. Trust me, I try to read everything and I try to see everything that I can because it drives me, it drives our football team. I love when there is a challenge out there to us. I think this team responds because they know it's like, "Hey, we believe in each other," regardless of whether people say they stopped believing.
I know there is a coach that was saying they don't believe what I say. Really? Oh, OK, I wonder who you talked to. No one in this locker room. They know I tell, it might not be the truth but I tell them what I believe to be the truth. There is a difference, but I'm telling you what I think is fact. Sometimes, it doesn't always work out that way.
On what yesterday's performance does for Shonn Greene's confidence…
It's just that we needed to get the ball into Shonn's hands. That's two weeks in row he's had 20 carries, and I think now you're seeing what we talked about, the guy that can just move those sticks. He's just that guy. By the way, did someone win an award in here, with all the pictures? I don't know who won that.
On when they will start looking at the Buffalo Bills…
As coaches, we'll look at them immediately, and we have been looking at them.
On how the players' bye week is scheduled…
We'll basically give them off and bring them back Sunday. I know everybody hates that, but remember, the bye is not just for one game, it's for the rest of the season. We'll do it business as usual, the only difference is, we're going to win coming out of the bye this year.
On if he is going to take his wife on vacation during the bye…
Let's just cut that right now. I don't want her to have any expectations [joking]. No, we'll just stay around here. We have some things to do.
On if they'd rather just keep playing when you have momentum instead of having a bye week…
You kind of do. Once you get rolling, you kind of want to just keep it out there. But again, it's still a good thing for us, for the rest of the season, it's a good thing. But once you feel like you've turned it and you're back to playing the way you expect to play, you want to be out there.
On if the coaches will be working all week…
No, I will give them some time off as well. Everybody will get three or four days off anyway.
On if they will be working on New England at all this week…
No, we're just going all on Buffalo. I always look at New England, but that's different.
On what makes him more proud, seeing a star like Revis rise to higher levels or an unheralded player like Maybin succeed…
You probably get more credit with your great players playing even above that, being in all-time conversations. I saw where Deion Sanders mentioned the other day that when it's all said and done, that he's going to go in there with the all-time greats, and I don't disagree with him. Because I think eventually you're going to end up mentioning Revis with Deion Sanders and Willie Brown. That's my opinion.
But I think that's great, but watching guys like a Douglas, a Marques Douglas, somebody like that. You mentioned Jarrett Johnson. I had Jarrett Johnson, he was a defensive tackle in college [at] University of Alabama, two-time captain. Then he went to defensive end then he went to outside linebacker. And he's tough as nails. But those are always good to watch.
And I think Aaron Maybin, it's just the situation's different. If you're looking at him as an every-down player, maybe that's not the guy. But for us, just being in a pass rush mode, he can do that. He only weighs about 225 pounds, but he's an explosive pass rusher. The thing that you love about him is man, he is relentless. And he plays with that heart and that motor.
On if this year's team is better than last year's team…
It's going to be hard to determine that now, but I think when we get going, all the experience this team has had over those two years, that playoff experience and being in big games and must-win game and all that, I think is really going to help this team. Is there a player, is there this or that? No, I think the continuity of the defense is going to help. You're seeing that with the interceptions we have, the way we are playing third down on defense. Those are the important things. There are some real positives.
I can certainly understand why people would say, "Well, they're not as good as this team or this team." I mean both of those teams went to the AFC Championship Game. Well see if this team can go to that spot or beyond. That's the beauty of having the second half of the schedule in front of us.
