Transcript of Jets head coach Rex Ryan's conference call with reporters Tuesday evening:
Hello, everybody. First off, about the schedule, I'm excited. We have five prime-time games coming up this season and that opening-night game against Baltimore ought to be a triple-chinstrap game. I know Harb [John Harbaugh] is going to have his guys popping out of their skin. I have a funny feeling we're going to play with some emotion also that game, but that one's going to be a great game.
Really, you look at the schedule, the only disappointment is I was assuming that the Cleveland Browns game would be a nationally televised game because clearly everybody wants to see the Ryan brothers do battle. So I was a little surprised by that not being a nationally televised game.
Overall, this is not a surprise to us. We expected a lot of prime-time games because we're a team that people want to watch. The expectations now throughout the league and through the football fans are becoming closer to our own expectations, which is to have an outstanding football team and a team that can battle for a Super Bowl.
On Jason Taylor…
First, my expectation is that Jason will be a Jet tomorrow. We feel great about that. Clearly, this is one of the premier players in the game, one of the premier pass rushers in the game. You look at the acquisition of Jason Taylor, along with the trade for Antonio Cromartie, and Brodney Pool is a young man that people forget we signed — we expect great things from Brodney. You get a healthy Kris Jenkins, along with, oh, by the way, the No. 1 defense in the National Football League last year, we're really excited about our defense. It's going to be on and the great thing is we're going to get to play soon enough, and I can't wait for it.
On what he expects from Taylor…
We expect Jason to play a bunch and be a major contributor to our defense. We have an outstanding group already at that position in our base defense, but you can expect Jason to be out there a bunch. Quite honestly, we want to take some snaps away from Calvin [Pace] and BT [Bryan Thomas] because it's a long season and you want to keep everybody fresh, you've got to be able to rush the passer in the fourth quarter, and I think those things are something that we really wanted to get better at this year. We lost a lot of close games late in games in the fourth quarter. So we've got to stay fresh, we've got to be able to get people off the field in critical situations, and I think adding Jason Taylor to what we already have is really going to be something for us.
On Taylor being a hated rival while with the Dolphins…
Well, I look at it this way: What was the kind of impact that Roger Clemens had? He was a Red Sox. He went over to the Yankees and helped out there. I look at Johnny Damon, the same type of deal. If Jason can have the same impact on the Jets as those players had on the Yankees and we win a championship, I think we'll all be happy.
On if he was concerned about Taylor's age…
No, We watched every tape on him. We even got input from our players about Jason and you know we brought him in. We actually had him on a tour. Several of our players talked to him. My thing is we're just trying to get our team better. I think with Mike Tannenbaum, he does a great job of giving us as a coaching staff the players that we need to be successful.
The great thing about Jason is he's coming in here to be a part of something special. I remember telling Jason, I was kidding him, I said, "Hey, Jason, you know what's great? If you come here, we think we're going to have the No. 1 defense in football. If you don't come here, we think we're going to have the No. 1 defense in football." That's just the way we feel.
The great thing is Jason is a very talented player, been that way for years. He's got great length and the experience I think is really going to help us. Like I say, the ability to finish teams off in the fourth quarter is going to be critical. Jason's going to be a major contributor for us this year.
On playing divisional games at the end of this season after teams rested their starters at the end of last season…
I think one team really did. I'm not so sure Cincinnati sat too many guys in that game. I guess that can be debated, if they would have played all their guys, if we would have been successful or not. Hey, it's on this year. We know the schedule is tough, but when people are looking at this schedule, they're looking at the Jets like "Whew, this is going to be tough." We think it's going to be tougher on them than it's going to be on us.
The great thing is we get to go out and prove it. We're excited about it. The additions we've made to this football team, already an outstanding football team, have been a huge positive for us. Obviously, we've lost some really good players as well. Again, we're going to be out front, in the national spotlight in five prime-time games. We're looking forward to the challenge. We know we have an outstanding football team and I think the rest of the league is realizing that as well.
On what the peaks of the schedule are to him…
Oh, man. New England twice, Miami twice and Buffalo twice. Those are the ones that really get you. We want to win our division. You've got to win those games. We have three of our first four games against divisional opponents. Those are the ones that get you.
Obviously, I'd be lying if I said that there's nothing special about playing the Ravens. I spent 10 years there, getting passed over as a head coach. That one's going to be special to me and we're opening up our stadium, first prime-time game ever in the history of that stadium. That one's going to be a big one. Then you go on and you play the Cleveland Browns. Eric Mangini? Who cares — I want to play my brother [Rob Ryan] and that one's big to me for that reason as well.
On if reports are true that the Jets are going to release Alan Faneca, Shaun Ellis and Bryan Thomas…
I'm just shocked that David Harris, Bart Scott, Jim Leonhard and Damien Woody weren't on that list as well. I guess you can throw enough names out there that maybe you hit on one, so whatever. Nice report.
On the validity of that report...
I can say this, Bryan Thomas I'll say right now, he's not going to be released. I'm not going to talk about any other players, but Bryan Thomas is not going to be released.
On if Faneca or Ellis will be released…
Just put any name you want in there. I mean, I'm not going to speculate on somebody throwing out a story with no validity. You just take that for whatever it's worth.
On if the approach going into the draft will be affected with Taylor signing…
No, not at all. I think we look at it as we have an excellent football team. There's no "You absolutely need this or you need that." We're set up. We're in an ideal situation and that is we have a great team. We're going into the draft where we can take the best player. That's where you usually make the best decisions. Usually when you make mistakes in the draft, it's all about reaching for a guy or a need and you let a better football player go by. We're in position where we can take the best player regardless of position and just strengthen our football team. We have a great team right now without the draft. The fact that we have the draft coming up and we already have a great team, it's going to be a real positive for us.
On if Taylor will be participating in the offseason workouts…
Oh, yeah, absolutely. He's going to be here. We've discussed it. There's some things on the schedule that he's already had. He's got quite a few foundations in Miami, so there are some things. Those are voluntary workouts but I have a funny feeling Jason's going to volunteer to be here.
On meshing all the personalities in the locker room…
That's easy. They're here for a reason. One of the goals that we had as an organization is that every player will want to play for the Jets and every coach will want to come coach for the Jets. I think we're well on our way. The fact we're bringing in these type of players is fantastic. Again, these guys are part of this football team. They wanted to be part of the Jets. That's what we're excited about. You come out here and you watch these guys work out. Our football team feels proud of the guys that we've added. I just can't wait till we're kicking this thing off for real in our new stadium and it's on. Like I said, we're not hiding. We never hide. It's on. I'm excited about the team that we've acquired so far.
On if he feels that teams will be gunning for the Jets…
They'd better be. We're gunning for them. So what's the difference?
On the chemistry being the strength of the team…
Yeah, absolutely. That's a great point. I think that was the strength of our team last year. I think without question the chemistry of our team, it will always be the strength of our team. That's who we are. That's what we're excited about.
You talked about some personal issues that people have had, but I've had my own issues. I'm not perfect. Our players aren't perfect. That's just the way it is. We're going to try to be perfect together. That's the way we are. I care and I respect every player we have on our football team. Again, the proof's going to be in the pudding, and I'm proud of this football team. We're not perfect, but like I said, we're going to do our best on and off the field.
I'm just glad that hopefully people don't judge me the way they judge other people. I think we know that that's not the case. I've had my own issues. Again, hey, we'll see. You talk about adding people to the locker room. We do have two former Man of the Year award winners, but I think people want to focus maybe on an incident here or there and that's unfortunate.
On the comfort level he has with the group of veterans in the locker room…
Well, we have a team. Like I say, the fact that we have some veterans, we have some young guys, these are New York Jets and we feel great about it. If we weren't comfortable with all the individuals that we've acquired and that are on our football team, we wouldn't have picked these people up. We feel great about all of our guys.
Again, we're a football team, we're the New York Jets, and do we think we're not going to have a bump in the road here or there? I'm sure we will. But I think as a unit, this is an awful strong unit. I believe we'll have the closest football team in the league.
