6/3/10 Organized Team Activities
Transcript of Jets head coach Rex Ryan's news conference following Thursday's midday OTA practice:
I thought the offense got crushed yesterday. We had a little move-the-ball and it was six straight three-and-outs and we left the No. 1 defense out there for all six of those and the No. 1 offense for five of those. The offense had a much better day today, which was good to see. You knew the pride would come back.
I actually replaced the first offense with the second offense. I was hoping they'd get a first down yesterday. They'd been out there 18 straight plays. The idea was that they would get a first down and keep going and have those guys start bitching at each other, but that never happened. That's a pretty good unit over there. The offense came back and responded well today.
That's about all I have. The weather's great. The rain held off.
On Darrelle Revis not being at practice today…
What can I say? My responses about Darrelle Revis are well documented. I pushed for him to be the Defensive Player of the Year because I thought he deserved that award. I love him. He's a great guy. The fact that he wasn't out there today, this is a voluntary camp, so you'd have to ask him the reason he wasn't here.
On if it frustrates him when contract issues affect participation in practice…
It's just part of the business. We'll see what happens. When there's time to react or be frustrated, I'll react. With Darrelle, he's been here every day up until this. He volunteered to be here every single day and now he wasn't here today. These are voluntary camps, just like there are voluntary workouts, and he's made every one up until today. I've been impressed with him, to say the least, the way he's worked.
On if he knows if Revis plans to skip more workouts…
Again, you would have to ask him.
On being irked earlier this offseason when Leon Washington missed workouts…
I was. I think the big thing was in Leon's situation he was coming off an injury and you know I've said from day one that I think we have the best facilities to help injured players. Our training staff is top-notch with Sal Alosi in the weight room. There's no better place to be to rehab from an injury than right here and that's why I was really upset with him. I still loved him but I was upset with him.
On Mark Sanchez's progress…
I'm seeing that he really knows this offense well. All of that time rehabbing the injury has been a blessing because he's been here with the coaches all the time. He's been with Schotty [Brian Schottenheimer] and [Matt] Cavanaugh. He really knows our offense. It shows. You see him in the 7-on-7 drills, he looks fantastic.
It's funny because you can go back to last year, he was coming in as a rookie, you saw a lot of positive things, but you also some negatives. Right now he's throwing the ball great. He just has a great grasp of the system and that's so encouraging to me.
On if there's a timetable for Sanchez's rehab…
I'll leave that to the experts. When they tell me he's ready to roll and he's ready to go, then that's when he'll be out there. He's chomping at the bit. You can see him right now. He wants to get in those 11-on-11 drills. Right now, doing the 7-on-7s and the individual things is good. He looks great. We'd hate to have a setback right now.
On if he's seen the quarterbacks coaches telling Sanchez to keep the nose of the ball up because his left leg is locking…
Nope. I'd be lying if I said I saw that. Matt is obviously an expert at that. That's why he's here. You rely on Matt, just like any coach, to get them better and be an expert at that position. He's throwing the ball as well now as he did at any point of the year last year. He looks tremendous to me.
On if Revis has been in touch with him…
I never talked to Darrelle. I can't speak for the entire organization, but I did not talk to Darrelle.
On Jim Leonhard sitting out practice…
We benched him [smiling]. No, really, what that is, we put him on the second team and that's to get Brodney Pool to communicate more. Right now Brodney relies so heavily on Jim that it's like "No, you can do this. I want you to be more the captain of your side." That's why we put him with Eric [Smith]. I just don't want him to get that comfortable where he has to have Jim out there. I think he responded with several plays.
Brodney's got a chance to be a good one. The thing that I love is the fact that he studies his tail off. He's not coming in here with a closed mind. He's come in here with just the opposite. He's studying after Jim. He knows Jim. He knows this defense inside and out. It's just trying to get him to open his mouth a little more. Somebody told me all they see Brodney doing is smiling. If you had the chance to leave my brother [Browns coordinator Rob Ryan], you'd be smiling, too [laughter]. He literally picked off a pass yesterday and was running with it smiling. I don't know if I've ever seen that before. It was great.
The other news that I forgot to mention, the big news of the day, yesterday my son got MVP of his baseball team. I'm very impressed. I'm sure that will make headlines [smiling].
On Bart Scott being on the punt return unit…
You're not supposed to notice that. We're going to put an all-star squad out there. We really are. Westy [Mike Westhoff] said he won't be on every snap, but I know Westhoff better than that. Bart will probably be on every punt return team. Just to use him three or four times a game could make a difference because he can rush, he can block, he can make blocks in the open field. That's why he's out there. You also saw [Antonio] Cromartie and Jason Taylor out there. We're going to do whatever it takes to win. I think we're going to put a unit out there that will be special.
On how much he worries that will expose Scott to injuries…
I'm not worried. He's got some Gumby in him, Bart and all those guys. He's pretty flexible. He just has to go block one guy, so I think we'll be all right.
On if being on the punt return unit will affect Scott's snaps on defense…
No. He's still going to be out there a bunch.
On if Kevin O'Connell has jumped in front of Erik Ainge on the depth charts…
No, I don't think so. I think they're just rotating. That's definitely an open competition there.
On how important it is for Kris Jenkins to lose weight and be healthy…
It's huge. Kris, the best thing he can do is get that weight down so he can practice and run. That'll only help him. It'll also help the team because he's able to play. If his weight's up, he's not going to be able to play the snaps that he will when his weight's down. His conditioning will be better and he'll be able to give us more plays.
On how it affects Dustin Keller to have three good wide receivers…
I know where you're coming from because that's probably a fantasy question — "Do I take him because he'll get more touchdowns?" I think he will get more touchdowns. It should open things up. Playing tight end, it's hard to cover those guys, just like with Dallas Clark in Indianapolis. You have to pay so much attention to those three receivers that sometimes you have to isolate a safety or a linebacker on him and that's to his advantage. I think Dustin can give us the same kind of mismatch. That's what you're hoping for.
I think it's going to help them all. I know Jerricho [Cotchery]'s excited about it. I know Santonio [Holmes]'s excited to be in there with those receivers. I think it's going to open it up for all of them. You can't double them all. Whoever's open, we'll be able to feed him the ball a little bit.
On if they'll expand the Wildcat package this season…
I'm going to answer that question like you're New England. No [laughter].
On the versatility of having Brad Smith…
Clearly, he's a tremendous athlete. We saw him last year when we put him in that role. The thing is he can throw. We talked about it all year: "Hey, guys, he can throw that thing." We saw it in the Indianapolis game where the guy's able to get behind and throw it in there. Coaching is a funny thing. The kid threw for 8,000 yards and rushed for 4,000 yards in college, but now he comes to the NFL and he can't throw the ball or he can't run it. Surely, we're not that smart. Get him back there. He can make plays. Whether you put him as a receiver, a running back, a quarterback, I think there are a lot of things he can do.
The other thing he does is he prevents a lot of punt rush. When he's our personal protector on that punt team, that's a dangerous weapon back there. You never know when he's going to fake it or when Steve [Weatherford]'s going to fake it. It's hard to rush our punter consistently with a player like Brad in there.
And by the way, what'd he average on kick returns last year? He's a tremendous player for us. Obviously, we can do several things with him.
On Brandon Moore not being at practice…
That was an issue that he had talked to me about yesterday. It wasn't a surprise that Brandon was not here. I excused him.
On what he's seen in LaDainian Tomlinson…
When you talk about everything he's accomplished in his NFL career — really outstanding. He's committed to making this team better. He brings a great running ability, he can catch the football, and he's great in pass protection. He's a tremendous player.
The thing that really shows the type of dedication he has to this team is he's always had that tattoo with the San Diego Chargers lightning bolt and he's got a New York Jet one on his other [calf]. I think that shows the type of commitment he has. He's not satisfied with what he's done so far. I think he realizes that he has many more plays left in him and he's going to do it for the Jets. We're excited about that.
On Vladimir Ducasse's progression…
He's progressing some, but he's still making a lot of rookie mistakes. It's going to be a work in progress. So far, he's hanging in there. He gets a little better each day. He's clearly not there yet, but we'll see. I have confidence in him. I have confidence in Bill Callahan to get it done and he's also being pushed by Matt Slauson, who was at right guard today. I think it's still a battle there.
On how much he is looking forward to seeing Jason Taylor on the field…
I was giving him flak the other day when I said we brought him in to be a backup during walkthroughs. I was like, "Hey, [Mike] Pettine, can we at least put him in walkthrough so we can see him out there a little bit?" He can't wait to get out there. It's hard not to get excited about him when you see the guy you've had to go up against for all those years and you finally have him on your team. I think we're all going to be excited to watch him.
On what Taylor will bring to the pass rush…
He's definitely not a bonus guy. I think he can rush the passer as well as anyone we have on this team. He's earned those sacks. Last year our pass rush was a little better than advertised. That ball comes out of there pretty quick. The way you look at that a lot of times is how many big plays were given up on receptions. It was very few. I think it was the lowest in the league last season. I think our pass rush was a little better than those numbers say, but I think it's still an area we can improve.
