Transcript of head coach Rex Ryan's news conference following Tuesday's midday practice at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center:
Dwight Lowery — out. We talked about that. Concussion. Never passed my finger test [smiling], but it's a serious thing. He's doing better, but he's out. Guys that did not practice today are Jerricho Cotchery with the groin and Damien Woody with his knee. Both those guys, I'm not ready to list them as out yet because we do have two full days of treatment. Let's see how they are. They're both getting mental reps. They're doing everything they can to play this game, so we'll see. It's not that they're missing a whole lot of physical reps anyway. I'm throwing it out there. Just put it out there. They might make it. Who knows?
Guys that were limited in practice: Marquice Cole [hamstring], Drew Coleman [groin]. Shaun Ellis [knee], Sione [Pouha] [ankle] — notice that I never say Sione's last name — Brad Smith with his back. Full: David Harris [calf], James Ihedigbo [neck], Nick Mangold [shoulder], Calvin Pace [foot], Darrelle Revis [hamstring], Mark Sanchez [calf] and Matt Slauson [knee]. Those are our injuries right there.
On the results of Damien Woody's MRI…
It was positive. It wasn't anything too severe. He's got swelling down there. MCL sprain. Did we figure that one out? Sprain? Strain? Same thing. He hurts. It hurts him. He's here as long as anybody, so he's trying like crazy to get on that field.
On if there was any structural damage…
No.
On if there is any thought to not playing Woody so that he can get rest…
No. I guess there's always risk of further injury, but our focus is winning this game. It's not about resting players. If Damien can go, then we're going to play him.
On if Woody or Jerricho Cotchery has a better chance of playing on Sunday…
I think D-Wood has.Jerricho looks great. I say Damien because I don't see him sprinting a whole lot, D-Wood. But Jerricho, obviously having to get in and out of breaks, all that kind of stuff, there's still a chance. Not ready to rule him out completely. But if I was a betting man I would say D-Wood would have a better chance.
On Mark Sanchez and his clutch play…
Just playing great. You mention that our last four wins, and really the loss to Green Bay, he played great in the second half. I don't know what we had that game. He's playing great. He's doing a tremendous job. It's just the preparation. I'm excited about where he is. He prepares like a pro. We said that's all he did in the offseason. This really is his offense. It's his team. It's great to see.
Last week, Santonio [Holmes], Braylon Edwards and I were talking, the owner was with us, and we're sitting around there and he's got some guys on the far field during a special teams part of practice. Mark's like, "Hey, come on over here." "No, no, I'm just here talking with the owner." "No, no, you're coming over here." Santonio was like, "OK." That's the kind of clout this guy is carrying. It was kind of neat. I ran over there, too. I'm just kidding. Nice day with Woody [Johnson].
Really, that's him. The message is strong. They know he's the guy and he's the boss out there. He's doing a great job, even though we know that great experience he's had, 25 games, as a starting quarterback. 24 years old. The kid doesn't have a whole lot going for him to be honest with you, [laughing] but we'll settle for him.
On if Sanchez goofs off behind closed doors…
No question, he fits right in. He's really our kind of guy. He's all business when it's time to be business-like. He's himself, and that's a guy that is passionate and prideful as anybody you'll see, totally committed to this organization, but also doesn't take himself too seriously and he can have fun. That's who he is.
On why he calls Sanchez "Cool Hand Luke"…
First off, a great movie, but that's who he is. It doesn't get too big for him. The stage here, he plays on this stage every week and he can handle it, where a lot of guys can't. A lot of guys can be great quarterbacks, but on this stage, not so fast. He can handle it. That was what was important going through the process of finding our quarterback, that we made sure we got the right guy.* *
On getting the defense to play better the rest of the season…
We challenge ourselves. I challenge me, the coaching staff. How can we get better? We're always asking ourselves that. How can we make this player better? How come we're not understanding this, or whatever it is. Yeah, of course. We're headed where we were last year when we closed out and led the league by almost 50 yards a game. No reason we can't do it. All we go on is history. Our history is that we're built to win games in December and January. I'll take this other one here in November also, but we are built. Everything we do is about winning in December and January. That's where we've got to be at our best. I have all the confidence in the world in this defense of doing exactly that.
On what he means by saying his team is built for December and January…
Everything we do. Absolutely. I'm talking about how we prepare in the offseason. One hundred 100 percent attendance — I know you guys love hearing me say that over and over — 100 percent attendance rate in our offseason program. That's commitment to each other. We work our guys. We push our guys in the weightroom. As noted by you guys when, remember we were concerned about some of the injuries we were having with the squats and all that type of stuff that we do? That's so we can be stronger in December and January.
We actually make some gains in the season. It's not just about staying where we are. We actually try to make gains. We think that's an advantage to our football team later in the year. The way everybody loves to get on us about we're 0-2 after the bye. That's unfortunate. We are but I gave them the whole week not just to prepare for one game but to prepare for the season. When we give them that week off, that's to be fresher in December and January, not just for one game. If we were going to play one game, I'd practice them all the way up. When we get ready to play the Super Bowl, we're going to practice all week up. We will have two weeks preparation, so that's on the schedule [laughter].
On Bengals TE Jermaine Gresham…
He's bigger and faster than all the other tight ends we faced. We're not worried that much about him. I saw that kid when he came out. I loved him. I was like he's from Oklahoma, obviously, so that was a huge plus. I mean, he's legit. There's no question about it. You've got those two dudes [Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco] on the outside. This kid from Texas, I'm down on Texas a little bit, but that [Jordan] Shipley is a good receiver also, but Gresham is a load and he can block, too. He can really block. All you have to do is watch that Ravens game and see how he can block.
Oh, and by the way, a Pro Bowl quarterback [Carson Palmer] and a running back [Cedric Benson] who had 100 yards against us in the postseason. That's impressive. Somebody gave me this stat. I think it was my wife. It said that in the last 64 regular-season games a defense that Mike Pettine, Dennis Thurman and myself, guys that have been around, we've given up 100 yards rushing in 64 regular-season games. Now I laid it out there. This kid had 100 yards in the postseason against us, so that's pretty impressive. But we'll see if he can get it this week. I don't think so.
On if he's surprised at how Cincinnati has struggled this year…
Things happen. They've had a lot of injuries. They just have been coming up short in some of these games. Again, we don't need them to get well this week, but we've had ups and downs too. I've been involved in years like that to where, Baltimore one year we were 13-3. The next year we won five games and we knew we were a lot better team than that. The next year, with the new head coach and all that, we win 12 games and we go to the AFC Championship Game.
So that team, where are they closer to? The team that won two games or closer to the team that was in the playoffs last year? I think they're closer to the team that was in the playoffs, but again we don't need them to get well this week.
On if Cincinnati is a lot different offensively with the addition of Terrell Owens…
They're back to what they used to do which is throw it all time. I think they run the ball 38 percent of the time. That's been part of their issues, I think. They got these great weapons. There's no question that it's hard to match up with them. So I think it's probably pretty tempting to just throw it. Unfortunately, they've thrown some interceptions and Carson, he's still got as good an arm as there is in this league.
On the defense having only five interceptions this season…
I appreciate you bringing it up, but you're right. For us, we can get five in a game, but they happen in bunches. I would like to have some. This week I hope we can get some. I think we will.
On if there have been a lot of dropped interceptions…
Not too many. Cro [Antonio Cromartie] almost made a great play on the one and Braylon had the one at the end there. We just need to get something. We've had a couple of drops, and we've got to get on [Mike] DeVito and Sione [Pouha] about that [smiling]. That's about it. It's a weird thing. I don't understand it. Hopefully we can get some.
On Bart Scott not being interested in talking about the defense…
I think we're all kind of licking our wounds a little bit. Like Eric Smith said, it felt like a loss. Right after the game that's how it felt to me. I was so happy that we won, but your pride's a little hurt. We pride ourselves on having the best defense in the league and then let them go down there. It wasn't like, we made like three mistakes. That team, you've got to give them credit. We made three mistakes we're not accustomed to making, communication, dropped coverage, whatever it was.
The great thing is our fans' expectations, New York's expectations of us is that we're number one in the league because I say it all the time. But I believe it that we have the best defense in the league. Well, the fact that we gave up those things is kind of [like], 'gosh, shoot.' We're focusing negatively on a part of our team that really going into it we think that's the strength of our team. Well, we did talk about one goal that we had for this football team. That's to lead the league in wins and I think we're right on pace for that, so the numbers will be where they are. I know we'll have the best defense in the league. I've said that over and over. Whether it's statistically, whatever, I don't know. We'll see, but I believe that.
So it hurts. It hurts a Bart Scott who knows the tradition. We brought him in to help build the tradition here. It probably hurts a little bit that for whatever reason the numbers aren't where they are. Let's face it. Most teams in the league would love these numbers. Hey, we're seventh in the league in defense and we're fifth in scoring. That's great, but for us no. The worst I ever finished was sixth in the league, so I'm not used to it. The year's not over, so I think we'll be okay.
