Transcript of Jets head coach Rex Ryan's news conference following Tuesday's midday practice at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center:
These are the guys that were held out: Kenwin Cumming, shoulder; Calvin Pace, foot. He had the surgery, he's doing good. Charlie Tanner, Donovan Warren, Josh Mauga, Brodney Pool. Brodney has an ankle, Josh with the head, Donovan with the head and Charlie Tanner, knee. It says questionable, but [Damien Woody] will not play, low back. Shaun Ellis, it says probable, but obviously Shaun's not playing either. None of those guys that I mentioned are going to play in the game. Also, [Antonio] Cromartie had a little hip thing so he missed two plays of team. That'll be a big story. I figured I'd float it out there, "Now they need [Darrelle] Revis more than ever. Cromartie missed two plays of team period." I'll just give you guys that little tidbit. I know the way it is, "Hold up. Let me go report that quick. Cromartie misses team period." Don't let the truth get in the way [laughing].
We had Summit High School out here today putting in plays. We had [head coach] John Liberato, the defending state champs. I don't know if I've mentioned that before [smiling], but they're the defending state champs. Every grade was undefeated last year. That's varsity, JV and the freshman team, which Seth [Ryan], of course, was one of the main men on. It was good to see those guys out there. It always takes you back. At least it does for me. Back to when I was high school kid wearing the jersey, thinking you look cool — excuse me, knowing you look cool [laughter]. That was part of it. They look pretty good. Jimmy Leonhard had a big question for Seth. He's wearing number 20. I don't understand it. Is it Kyle Wilson? Is it Ed Reed? I don't know, but he's wearing jersey number 20. I think Seth told Jimmy a lie that 36 was not available [laughter]. It was very questionable why he chose that jersey.
On No. 85 on the Summit High School team looking like a good prospect…
I think he is a prospect. I'm not allowed to talk about other prospects other than my kid [laughter]. That is funny when you look at them. It's like "Man, I wish we were playing those guys." I thought the same thing last week when the little Pop Warner guys were on the sideline. I'm like, "How bad would the score be?" [laughter]. Redskins? Them? Let's play these guys. I don't think they want to do that.
On if he thinks the Ravens will be a little better than Summit High School…
I don't know. They were undefeated and I think the Ravens are undefeated. I've been reading the stuff. They're clicking on all cylinders. We get to play them soon enough.
On if there is an update on Calvin Pace…
The trainers will tell you he's going to be out the season and then when he comes back much earlier, they look like heroes. He's doing really well with it. We don't really know exactly when he's going to come back with his injury, but the doctors seem to think the surgery was really successful. They were excited about the surgery. Now, we all know how that goes though. Anytime you have surgery and you come out, it was successful. We'll see how it happens. No infections. A lot of things go into it, but we feel confident. He's definitely going to miss the first week. We'll see about the second week. I'm not sure.
On how different Baltimore's defense is from when he was the defensive coordinator…
They're not as good [laughter]. Plain and simple. They're pretty darn good, though. They are special. There's no question about it.
On if it helps the offense that they go against a similar defense every day in practice…
No doubt. Absolutely. They'll throw in different wrinkles just like we will. The two teams are very similar to each other, we're both physical football teams, both teams like to run the football. They probably throw it more than we do. Two defenses built on the ability to stop the run and get after the quarterback and challenge him mentally, as well as physically, and have passionate players. Carbon copies of each other, except I feel our defense is better and I'm sure they think theirs is better.
On if placing Pace on the physically unable to perform list is an option…
Oh, no. We don't want to do that. I would say that is definitely not an option. He is going to be back before that.
On why Kevin O'Connell was waived today and not after the game…
I think we're getting close to Baltimore, quite honestly. With the more things we put in, we don't need that information going out. I think that's one way of doing it. It gives him an opportunity. There are some teams looking for quarterbacks. It's going to give this young man an opportunity to catch on with somebody and try to beat it to the punch. If there's somebody looking for a quarterback, bring this guy in and see what he's got.
On what didn't click for O'Connell…
I don't know. I was high on him. He's a big, smart, athletic guy. At the end of the day, we went with Kellen [Clemens], who may not be as tall or pretty, but he outplayed him. That's why, quite honestly, we went with Kellen.
On what the move means for the game on Thursday…
It's going to be [Mark] Brunell and Kellen back there.
On if there is anything positive Mark Sanchez can learn from watching on the sidelines on Thursday…
We're going to have him call plays this time. I think that will give him a different dynamic, to quote Brian Billick, which we use for everything. It doesn't make sense here, but we'll throw it out there.
On if having players calling plays is something he normally does…
We used to do it with the defense all the time in Baltimore]. We'd have Ed Reed call them. We'd have Ray [Lewis] call them. Ray always pressured. Ed always covered [laughter]. That's the way that would go most of the time.
On if Sanchez is going to call passing plays the entire time…
We're going to have to definitely say we're limiting your passing game. There's no question. I think everybody wants to get this game over with. I mean, everybody wants to see us run the ball [laughter]. We'll see how that goes.
On if Sanchez will call all the plays…
No. We'll see how it goes. The first time we ever did it with Ray and Ed, because they thought they were defensive coordinators, we actually let them call a series. We were playing the Redskins and we let them call a series when they were on the field. The team was no-huddling. It was hilarious. They kept looking over. We were like, "No, you've got it." I just sat there like this because they were all questioning me like they always do, "No, no. You got it. Go ahead." It was brutal. They finally came back and they went right down the field and scored on us. They came back and said, "That's it. You call it." I was like, "Are you sure? You really want to? OK." I had them admit it wasn't as easy as they thought. After they did that we called them, and of course Washington went down and scored again [laughter].
On if Sanchez will want to start calling his own plays if he does a good job…
Let's switch Sanchez and Schotty [Brian Schottenheimer]. We all saw Schotty play quarterback [laughter]. Let's not go for that deal.
On how he felt about "Hard Knocks" showing the depth chart on the last episode…
That was interesting because when someone said there was an X by Kellen, maybe we should have looked at that board a little closer. I don't know if someone put that in there. The only way Kellen Clemens was going to not be on this team was if someone was going to give him a chance to be a starting quarterback — I would have traded him. I told Kellen that before. If he had a chance to start, I would do the right thing for him and give him that opportunity to be a starter. He was going to be on this football team. He was playing too well. That's unfortunate. I don't put the X's by guys, so I know that wasn't my handwriting.
On if "Hard Knocks" crossed the line by showing the depth chart…
Each office has those charts. You can see it every time. By no means does that say who [will be on] the final roster. There are names in different orders. A lot of times, I know on my board, I just list the guys in no particular order. I'll list the particular order when it is time to do that. Somebody told me there was an X by his name, or I read it. I never picked that up when I watched it. The board, at that time, doesn't really mean who's here or who's gone. We'll go over numbers. The X could have been he's on the team. I don't even know. At that time, I know we were looking at how many quarterbacks you keep, so three, how many offensive linemen, right down the line. We were trying to get our numbers. In that particular episode, I remember saying that we still had room for good players. It's not set in stone. We might be the only team in the league ever to have two fullbacks and four tight ends. If that's the case, then so be it. Keep the best guys.
On what roster spots are open before Thursday's game against Philadelphia
Quite honestly, just a football player spot. Can this dude can help us? Is he a good football player? That's what we're looking at. Danny Woodhead. The more I'm around Woodhead, the more I'm like, "Is this in pencil or is this in pen yet?" That's how I look at it. The kid is a player. We throw him out there at wideout today he's killing us. Two days in a row. He can play running back, wideout and special teams. Maybe there are particular roles that he can't be or shouldn't be on special teams. Mike [Westhoff] and I were talking. He goes, "I screwed up, Rex. I shouldn't have had Danny in that role, but I see him and he can be a factor in this role and that role." First of all, I was taken aback when he did say he made a mistake [laughter]. That's what shocked me initially, but it was good. Danny, it's hard not to pull for that dude.
On telling Kellen Clemens that he would have to take a pay cut or be released…
Well, that's because of the way the roster thing was. That's the truth. Obviously, he'd be cut if he doesn't take it, absolutely, because you can't have all your quarterbacks and X amount of dollars. You know what I mean? That was the issue. From his skill, from the type of player he is, we were not looking to cut Kellen. No question, we were not looking to do that. I also did tell him if he could get a starting role that I would not stand in his way.
On if there is an update with regards to Adalius Thomas…
No, I think we're on the wait mode right now. Let's see how we get through this game and let's take a good look at our roster and evaluate it. We're not going to do anything right now anyway.
On Kyle Wilson…
He's got to play 100 percent of the snaps on defense, so that's the way it looks right now to me. That could change. Then he's going to play a ton of the snaps on defense and be a punt returner. That's a very valuable guy. Like I said, he's so good, my kid took his number. We all know it was Ed [smiling].
On John Conner…
The Terminator. He's beaten up almost everybody we've got on the team. That's good news, bad news. We've still got guys that are still on this list here, and not being able to practice because he's knocked them out. You look at him. All the films will show that not only is he punishing people as a fullback on offense, but he's doing it on teams as well. Last week, Westy [Mike Westhoff] comes up and he says, "I'm going to put him on the punt return team." Now, Conner is not the ideal guy on a punt return team, but all he did was bury the wing two times in a row. One time he put him on his back about 15 yards down the field on Joe [McKnight]'s long return. Another time he had the guy back as far and Joe, I think, was shocked — he signaled fair catch. Westy is still trying to get over it. This guy is a player and he's going out there and smashing people. Will he throw and miss a couple? Throw a no-hitter? Every once in a while, but if you get in his way, this guy, he's punished people.
On if he's worried about Conner taking guys out on the team…
Well, not in a live contact drill. That's part of it, but usually you never have to worry about an offensive player taking out a defensive player on an isolation block. That just shows you the kind of guy he is. The Terminator hits people. That's what he does. I never thought I'd see him knock out a linebacker on an isolation block. I don't think I've ever seen that. I never have. I saw Lorenzo Neal cave in Kelly Gregg's facemask on a wham block one time, but Kelly made the tackle. But this, I've never seen a guy get knocked cold like that. Not on an iso block.
On what Sanchez will learn from calling plays…
Just to understand that there are reasons why we get into to play-calling. What are you trying to accomplish here? What mode are you in? Is it red, yellow, green? What are we trying to do in this game? I'm hoping that he sees the big picture and let him have at it.
On how long Sanchez will call plays…
We'll see. I'll ask Schotty what he wants to do. I just like the idea. I haven't even told him yet. I just want him to go. "OK, kid, here you go." I want to see what he looks like, see if he gives me the Ed Reed look. I do think you can get a lot out of it. I will say this, after that first experience that Ed and Ray had, I think they had a bigger appreciation of what you do as a coach.
The other thing is the next year they couldn't wait for the same opportunity like, "I'll show you. I got it. Give me the paper. I'm ready. All I need is the paper. If you would have gone out there with the game plan, and would have gave me this, I could have gotten it done." I'm like, "OK, here you go, all right, kid," and there he'd go. We had one of them signal, one of them give the play. It was good. We did it for different guys. Last year, I think in this game I had [Jeff] Weeks call part of it and my kid was the guy that was signaling. I want him to be a great coach one day. Weeks, too [laughter]. I was really talking about my son, but I think Weeks needs it also.
On if Santonio Holmes will play as much as Calvin Pace did last season in the final preseason game…
I look at the situation the exact same way. Calvin was killing people in that last preseason game [laughing]. He was going against guys who aren't playing in the league anymore. I still want him to. I even told the whole team we get to see Tone [Holmes] play. He was smiling. He doesn't care. He loves playing. Tone will go out there and play against anyone. I do want to extend him and get him playing because we're not going to have him for four weeks. We're going to send him off and we have a great little thing we're going to do. I'm excited about the plan we have for Tone and how he's going to work. With him, here's his thing, "I'm going to be in the best shape of my life." He's already got that plan. He already has that mentality of, "I'm going to get better. I want to help my team this way because when I come back, I'm going to be in ridiculous shape." He knows. He already told his teammates, "Hang in there. Hang in there for four weeks and then help's on its way."
On if he thought David Clowney would be further along in his development…
You'd like to see that. With that great speed, you want to get that speed on the field. At times, this guy's flashed some big play ability. We haven't really seen it like we did last preseason and the preseason before I got here. We're just waiting to see how that works. We were laughing about it last year when we played Philly in that last game. I said, "Hold up. They're blitzing everybody. Where's Clowney?" He hadn't played for two quarters. I said, "Can you run right now? Can you run a 9-route for a touchdown?" He said, "I haven't played for two quarters, but OK." I'm like, "Get ready." We put him in there and he went right by the guy for a touchdown. Come on, let's see it. That's what I'm looking for. There's no way he should be able to get blocked in single press on the punt team. There's no way that should be possible. He's way too fast, big and physical. He needs to be a dominant teams guy. That spot is there. We need you to step up and take it. That's what I'm looking forward to seeing.
On Holmes' plan during his suspension…
The plan is the conditioning and doing other things for his benefit off-the-field. He's going to be involved. He's already talked about Skyping with Mark every day about going over the offensive plays.
On if Holmes is allowed to Skype with Sanchez…
Well, I hope so. Let's hold off on that for now [laughter]. Let's make a phone call real quick.
On Holmes not being able to contact the coaches…
We have no contact with him [laughter].
