Transcript of Jets head coach Rex Ryan's news conference after Saturday's morning practice:
Today was a good day. You probably noticed that (Mark) Sanchez was running the majority of the snaps with the (first team) this morning and Harvard (Chris Pizzotti) was running with the (third team). We'll go ahead and flip that again this afternoon. I thought, looking at the scrimmage, (that) our tackling was really good. (It was) our first time tackling really live outside (of) the goal line and short yardage (situations). I thought that was really outstanding. We talked right after the scrimmage about Lito Sheppard's hit in the open field and (Donald) Strickland. Those are big things. If you could eliminate yards after contact and yards after catches, that is critical. I think we have an excellent tackling team. I talked about David Harris and how he played very well. That's the guy we thought we had and you see it out there when we started taking guys to the ground. He was all over the place.
Bart (Scott) has a little bit of a hamstring but he'll be fine. We're trying not to cut him loose completely but he seems to be doing well. Shonn Greene's ankle was a little swollen today so we held him out of most of these things. The great thing is that these guys can't wait to get back out there. He's trying to get in, he's pushing his way in. We're just being a little more cautious with him. (Keith) Fitzhugh, a guy that I thought would be out for a long time, may not practice today but he is getting close. So again, another guy that pushed himself. They want to be out there, they want to be on the field.
One of my goals coming out here (to SUNY Cortland) was that we get a team that finds out about each other and that becomes a close football team that really cares about each other. I thought it was interesting that someone asked Robert Turner if he was going to NASCAR. He said 'no, I'm hanging out with Batman (Ahmad Carroll) today.' A little bit of an odd couple there (laughter). But, that's just it. These guys are starting to understand what we want and that's really neat. You see them up and down here. It's not just guys driving one car. They are hooking rides with each other. That's what it is all about. I think the vision we had for our football team is really coming through. We'll see.
The great thing is that we are really competing well with each other. Sometimes the defense is ahead, then our offense and vice-versa. Each day is a little different. Competition is going to make both sides better. Hopefully we'll see that Friday when we compete against someone else. It'll be fun to go in and compete against somebody. We're getting ready now with each other (playing) full blown, not tackling all the time, but we're really competing with each other.
On Mark Sanchez's pass to Jerricho Cotchery getting past Darrelle Revis…
That was pretty good. You can tell the kind of corner that (Darrelle) Revis is. He came back and picked three balls the rest of the practice. He gave up the touchdown and got the next three. You're exactly right, Darrelle is so competitive. That is how you want a guy to respond. Forget about those plays. Corners have to have short memories and when you get beat on touchdowns, you have to go back right at it and work on your technique. That's what Darrelle did. He had two picks on the day.
On Sanchez taking a step forward…
I think he has. He is starting to really get the offense down. He's confident, he's always been confident. He's moving around. He's not moving around like a deer in headlights like most rookies have when they see all the stuff that our defense is throwing at them. He's poised and obviously he has all the skills to throw the ball. He can throw the ball. I think he is confident in that, the offensive line and the receivers we have. So now it is just a matter of getting the system down. I think, if anything, he is taking a big step forward that way.
On Sanchez's touchdown pass to Chansi Stuckey during the two-minute drill…
By the way, I called that play on defense (laughter). Actually, they pulled one over on me. I was expecting our offense to go somewhere else. I was going to try to trap everyone else in one of Schotty (Brian Schottenheimer)'s many formations. He never repeated the same formation. He did a good job there. Most of the time, in two minutes, the offense will repeat itself in the same formation. That way they can get all lined up. It's probably 90 percent of the time in the NFL. Schotty changed one on me and took advantage of it. (Mike) Pettine looked at me and I said "sorry" (laughter). To then be able to make a nice catch and split the defense, heck of a play by our offense.
On what to expect from WR Aundrae Allison…
Well, we're going to find out. He's got some return skills. He can flat out run. You have a chance. We think that he does have a chance or we wouldn't have picked him up.
On if the conservative approach taken by Baltimore in the AFC Championship Game reflects the approach the Jets will take with a rookie quarterback…
Well, you play against Baltimore, you play against Pittsburgh, you play against the Jets, hopefully it works out well. Sometimes the best move is to do that. You don't want to risk the turnover whether it is a 10-year veteran or a rookie quarterback. That's not a bad idea. You turn the ball over for a touchdown and that's a terrible thing.
Late in the game that's what happened. Against Pittsburgh we were down two points and they forced a turnover for a touchdown. You can't come back from those things. In those situations, it's hard to convert those. That was probably a decision that Cam (Cameron) made that "Hey, look, we'll play defense and we'll punt. The defense will force three-and-out and we'll get it back." That's not a bad decision. You don't always have to go for it. Sometimes you can run the ball on people. So that's something that whether it's a rookie quarterback or a big-time veteran, you have to make that move sometimes.
On how conservative he would be with a rookie QB…
Again, that will be up to our coaches. Our offensive coaches, Schotty (Brian Schottenheimer) and all of those guys (will call) what they think gives us the best opportunity to win on that particular Sunday. That's how we approached it in Baltimore and that's how we'll approach it here. I don't know why we would change it. If (someone) has them on their fantasy team, that really doesn't mean anything to me (laughter). I'd rather just win that particular game. If that means we are going to run it 50 times, we will go ahead and run it 50 times. If that means we are going to have to throw it all over the place, then so be it. Our offense is capable enough so that we can do all of those things.
On taking his time to get Kris Jenkins back on the field…
I'm going to lean on (head trainer) John (Mellody) and (head strength coach) Sal (Alosi). Those are the guys that know a lot more about it than I do. Kris loves to play and wants to be out there but you have to do what is best for the team. If that means holding him out some, then that's what we'll do. You are right that Kris is a difference maker. We have a lot better chance with him out there than we do without him. But that being said, there is only one way to get back into football shape and get your timing and that is to be out there.
On if the veterans are gaining more confidence in Sanchez…
I'm not sure. You've got to ask the veterans if that's the case or not. I know just from my opinion, I think you would have to start warming up to him a little bit because he has made some throws. He is poised. I think he is learning the offense. I'm feeling the confidence in him.
On the QB rotation during practice with the ones…
I think we'll rotate. Like I said, this afternoon Kellen will be with the ones and Sanchez will be back with the twos. For the competition, they've both earned that right to compete. They're both going to get snaps with the ones. Again, like we've said the whole time, we'll make that decision to start whoever gives us the best chance to win.
On starting QB for the first preseason game…
That will be Clemens. Clemens will start our first preseason game.
On practicing on the grass every day…
I'd like to be but I don't think we can say that. There's a front coming in that I was told by the grounds crew that probably we may have to practice (on turf) tomorrow. So we'll see. In other words, there's going to be a lot of rain through the evening or whatever. Again, we'll always put our players in the best situation where they can stay healthy. I prefer to be on the grass as much as possible, but if the turf is the safer place to practice, then we'll go on the turf.
On if the script will change if the team practices on a different field…
Not necessarily, only if we were tackling. If we had a live drill or something like that then obviously we wouldn't make it live on the turf.
On RB Danny Woodhead…
Well that's a tough comparison to compare him to Leon (Washington), but I know what you're saying. (You're saying) the same kind of back. He's a tough little guy. He really is. As productive as he was in college, you can see why. He's got great hands. He's got the best hands in the backfield in my opinion. He's got great vision. He's a little smaller than you would like. It's harder for him to pick up blitzes due to his size, but he's tougher than nails. He puts his face right in there so it won't be by lack of effort if he can't get something done that's for sure.
On if he was pleased by how the players responded at practice after a day off…
I really was. They came out and I thought we had a great practice. It was long, as somebody pointed out to me (laughing). We got a lot of things accomplished today. We moved the ball; we put them in different situations, two-minute situations across the 50. We had those fourth-down plays, the got-to-have-its. So we got a lot done, 9-on-7s.
We were working the big guy, Wayne Hunter, at tight end some today. That was fun to watch him run down the field a few times. I think we're going to put him in there and run some crack sweep with him coming in motion (laughing). We'll probably save that for an opponent. But, it does open up some possibilities and just the flexibility. Sometimes in games you can't get everybody up that you want and you'll have an injury or what have you and somebody's got to step in and play. And he's doing a good job. He's smart. He's an excellent tackle, maybe a starting-type caliber tackle. He just happens to be our number one backup there.
On encouraging guys to be themselves…
I can't really speak on what's happened before. I can just say that we encourage our guys to be themselves. That way you go out there and just be who you are and they don't have to worry about, "Am I saying the wrong thing? Am I saying the right thing?" It doesn't matter. I also think it's good for our fans to find out who this person is. Learn a little bit about Kris Jenkins. Learn a little bit about this player or that player. I'm proud of the guys we have. I think we've got a lot of great guys with a lot of character. I think the more our guys get out in the public, the better light it shines our football team.
On if Clemens starting the first game is a function of him being No. 1…
We're going in there knowing he's going to start the first game. Again, Kellen is doing well. Does he wish he had a couple throws back? Sure. But I think everybody does. With Sanchez getting more reps with the ones, it's not based on Kellen's performance. It's based on Mark's performance. Kellen knows. I mentioned right away after we drafted Mark, "You knew you would have to compete against somebody." So, it doesn't matter who it is. To win that job, you've got to compete against somebody. That hasn't changed.
On the nickel cornerback competition between Dwight Lowery and Donald Strickland…
I think it's going great. You see the multiple packages that we play. There's a "Spartan" package with three safeties. There's "Dig" package that's got three safeties but three different safeties. Then you've got the "D-Low" package which has got all kinds of corners out there. That's what we do. We play team defense and we're going to take all those personnel groupings and we can do multiple things with them. That's what I think you're seeing. Both those guys are excellent football players. That's why they'll all have roles. There's no doubt.
On the importance of having stability with Brian Schottenheimer as offensive coordinator…
Initially what I wanted to do was get the most competent guy that I could find leading an offense whether that was going to be stable or not. The fact that I came here, because Brian would have been on my list anywhere I went and whoever I could have talked into taking a job as the offensive coordinator, then I would have done that. We would have gone that route. I was fortunate that Brian decided to stay. That Bill Callahan decided to stay, that [Mike] Devlin decided to stay. All these guys had opportunities other places. You know, [Mike] Bloomgren. And the fact that they wanted to stay absolutely puts us ahead of where we probably would have been.
These guys know Brian. They know the system. There's continuity there. We've got all five of our offensive linemen (who) are here with their offensive line coach. You've got Devlin here. This is an outstanding staff and the guys we added I think are tremendous coaches on offense. I was kidding Henry [Ellard] the other day. I said Henry may be the best receiver on the field (laughter). We watched a tape the other day (of) when he was in his prime. Oh my goodness. I was like, "Henry, you think you can still run?" He was something else. He really was. He's an expert. Not only was he a great player, but look at his resumé as a coach. Torry Holt was a pretty decent player. Isaac Bruce was okay (laughing). This guy is a phenomenal coach as well and a humble guy.
On being able to focus on defense because Schottenheimer is managing the offense…
You're exactly right, but I will say my stamp is going to be on this football team. I had one meeting with the offense and they can tell you how that went. This is my team, but this is our team. I'm not going to call one play on offense. Not one play. I've got great people over there that I trust. The reason I'm going to call the defense has nothing to do with Mike Pettine. Well maybe it does a little because Mike, Dennis (Thurman) and I have been through this together for many years. It's just so smooth that I hate to change somebody's job on gameday. I think it works well.
It's tough for me to be like, "Well why don't you just go over there and put your head coach hat on?" I'm not a traditional head coach. I believe in guys that we have. I've got Mike Westhoff. I'm just like, "All right, Mike, break this down. Do whatever. Do your thing on teams." I don't interfere one bit. I just know my job. The great thing that I did was hire Mike Westhoff. That was my contribution, saying, "Would you like to stay? OK." That was it. I'm not going in there. It's easy to manage that way. Let guys do their thing.
We all are pulling the rope in the same direction. We want what's best for all our guys. We want Schotty to get a head coaching job. We want Callahan to get another one if he wants it, which I don't think he wants (laughing). I can really say that loudly, but there are so many guys that eventually we're going to look down like "Wow, that really is a heck of a staff." Ten years from now, it will be interesting to look back at that staff and say, "That was an all-star staff." And I believe that.
