Transcript of Jets head coach Rex Ryan's news conference following Wednesday's midday practice:
I've got a list of the injured guys, so I don't forget. Kris Jenkins, Sione [Pouha], Damien Woody, Wallace Wright were all limited today. Wallace — hamstring. D. Woody — illness. Sione — ankle. And Kris Jenkins had a little low back thing. The other guys fully participated: Kellen Clemens, Shonn Greene, [Mike] DeVito, Bryan Thomas and [Jamaal] Westerman. That covers that little deal.
It was a good practice today. The guys were flying around. Typical Wednesday practice. We spent a little more time. The reason I'm a little late is you've got to go over corrections. It was good to see our guys flying around today.
On Tom Brady and the Patriots offense against the Bills…
He threw a ton of passes. I saw that and I saw him complete a bunch of balls. I think Moss had 12 catches. You can't allow Randy Moss to get 12 catches on you. He's close to breaking some so you've got to make sure that we tighten that up. I thought their offense moved the ball really well. The kid from Buffalo, [Aaron] Schobel, made a great play on that interception. Something like that happens — I hope it happens this week — but they looked really good on offense especially.
They've got a lot of character over there. They earned that victory. It wasn't like Buffalo gave it to them. I know he [Leodis McKelvin] fumbled, but it was a forced fumble. The Miami kid, [Brandon] Meriweather, did a great job of stripping the ball and then of course New England recovered it. I think we all were thinking that Brady was going to throw a touchdown and sure enough there it was.
But again, we're looking forward to it. I've challenged our players as you know. I've always challenged them and I've challenged our fans. I want our fans to be a factor in this game to help our defense out, make it loud and make the communication tough. I know Brady has seen it all before, but still, let's look like we have about 13 or 14 guys out there. It would be great. Sometimes, I've seen that happen where it gets so loud — it just takes one guy to miss a check. And so I'm challenging our fans to maybe be the difference in the game this week.
On the pressure Buffalo's defense put on Tom Brady…
Never looked like a whole lot of pressure to me.
On how important it is from a pride standpoint to get a win Sunday…
I'll take a win any way. We'll dial up anything. This is a new season, but obviously they've done a great job. They've got maybe 40 wins or 41-10 in the division since 2001, so they've got a lot of wins against a lot of people. They know they're going to have to earn this one. If they beat us, then they're the better team. So we're going to find out because our guys are going to play hard. I don't doubt for a second that their guys are going to play hard. We're both going to give it all we've got and we'll see if we can't come out on top.
That's why my challenge is going to out to our fans that hey we need a little hamburger helper here. Let's see what happens. We're looking to get an edge anyway that we can get it. If that means our fans stepping up and being as loud as we can be, making it difficult for them to communicate on offense, then so be it. We need an edge. We want an edge. We're going to find out. This is going to be a heavyweight fight.
On challenging the players…
I always challenge the players. I challenge coaches, challenge players. I've been doing that since I got here. I don't think I publicly challenged our fans.
On if he's concerned about Mark Sanchez going against Bill Belichick…
I think I know what he's going to try to do defensively. We hope Belichick plays because I don't think we'll have a problem with Belichick [if he "plays"], to be honest with you. But he comes up with some great schemes. I've stolen from him in the past. We have a Patriot coverage we've played for years. He traps, he'll put traps out there and things like that. But of course he knows his quarterback is going to be facing the same thing and sometimes with the experience and all that kind of stuff, obviously Tom's been around the game a lot but we'll still try to, hopefully will come up with some coverages he's never seen before neither.
On sending a message to the team as underdogs…
No, I'm not doing that because I don't believe we're underdogs. We've got our fans behind us and all that. I think New England's a good football team, I think we're a good football team. We'll find out who the better team is on that particular day.
On sending a message to the team…
I just tell the truth, facts. This man's won a lot of Super Bowls and he's a hell of a coach. I've only got one win. I thought about retiring because I'm, you know, retiring at 1.000. I'd be ahead of him in the percentages. But my wife said, 'No, you're going to work.' That would be interesting, though, wouldn't it?
On calling Belichick the better coach…
The thing is I'm not here to kiss his ring. We're going to play. We're not conceding anything from a team standpoint. I'll concede he's a better coach than me but that's it. I'm not conceding, you know, people say, 'New England, that's a win for them.' Oh, yeah? They've won eight in a row at the Meadowlands so you have all that information you have the history and all that, but I'm not conceding anything.
I promise you we're going to give everything we have and I'm sure New England is going to give everything they have. If they don't, that's fine with me. At the end of the day we'll see who the better team is right now. Again, I have a lot of confidence in our football team.
On if he's trying to have it both ways because his tone has changed toward Belichick…
I don't think so. I think he's a better coach than me from a historical standpoint, I don't have any doubt about that, but I'm going to give him everything I have in preparation and everything else I'm going to give him. Historically, is this guy a better coach? I got news for you: He's better than most guys in this league too. Is their quarterback better than the best of them in the league? Yeah, probably. Maybe Peyton Manning, I don't know.
But I'm also saying that we're not backing down from anybody. Would I concede? Well, why don't I just go home, let you guys do your thing? Well, that's not me. I'm going to compete and we'll see. I know I recognize that he's a good coach. I think I'm a decent coach myself. But we're going to find out who the better football team is.
On if it was difficult when he got here because the franchise was trying to find its identity…
Well, it certainly helps when you have your fans believing in you and you have your fans understanding what you want as an organization. You know that you want it to be a rough place to play and you want your fans behind you. It's almost like they are an extension of the defense. That's the way you want them to look at it: "Hey, this is your defense out there."
I know in the past, being at Baltimore, I felt we had that. I think here with the Jets, I haven't seen it yet, but I think we are going to have it here. They are going to be proud of this football team. They are going to know the effort that we are going to give them each time out. I think that at least they are knowledgeable fans in this area, and I'm excited to see what it's like in a regular-season game here.
Because I want to win. I don't want to be the ninth game, ninth in a row. I want to win. This game, I look at it this way, too. Anytime you're in your own division, those games basically count for a game and a half. So it's important for us to get a win this week. And this is a heck of an opponent. You know, I don't deny that. I think they are ranked No. 1 in all of the power rankings and all that kind of jazz. I don't even know if we are ranked yet or if we are even on the monitor. You know, hey, we'll see. We'll see what happens.
On today's corrections…
Yeah, today, just some normal things. Maybe a guy blows a coverage or blows a blitz or maybe we don't pick up a blitz or something like that. Just the normal things you go through on Wednesdays.
On Sanchez…
No, this is an NFL quarterback. Mark is an NFL quarterback and all he has to do is just play. This is a regular game for him, too. I love the fact that, you know, we are facing New England, they are ranked No. 1 and all that kind of stuff. That's fine.
But you know, we are playing football, and they've got 11 over there and we've got 11 on our side. We're just approaching them like any other team. We know that they are an outstanding football team. They are well-coached fundamentally and all that kind of stuff. We know who they are. But you know, it's a game. So you just go out, play quarterback and have fun and let's see what happens.
On concerns about playing New England so early in the season…
Probably have a little more experience in catching us in Game No. 2 if we had a new head coach and all that kind of stuff. Hey, I know they're not worried about us. That's why they were looking at us in March, throwing at our defenses in March. I know the way the perception is out there that who cares about the Jets, but apparently they did. We're going to see what happens this game. That's all I'm going to say.
On how he knew they we're looking at him…
Hey, I'm no dummy. I talk to the quarterback [laughter]. He's our quarterback, he's not New England's quarterback. [Kevin] O'Connell is our quarterback. So I know they've been working on us.
On how Brady looks…
I don't know. Did he set a record for completions in the first game or something like that? If he didn't, that was a bunch. So I don't know what the record is, but he looked like the same Tom Brady to me.
On specific things O'Connell may have helped with…
Well, we picked his brain. You know, there's no question about that. But really, you have everything they do really on tape. But he may be able to help you with a different adjustment based on a coverage, if maybe you have middle closed or you have middle open or something. Maybe you thought it was a route like this and "No, Coach, that would be if it was middle closed. If it's middle open, it would convert to this or that." He's been a big help that way running our scout team.
On O'Connell putting in extra time with Sanchez…
No. I mean, I don't believe he's done any extra work with Mark.
On if O'Connell will be with the Jets next week…
No, we are going to release O'Connell after ... [laughter] I told you before that we didn't bring him to be an assistant coach, but do you really think I wasn't going to at least have him come in and when I'm going over our game plan or whatever to see his take on it? Of course I'm going to.
On Jenkins' back…
No. This was just a little thing. He only missed a little bit of practice. You know, he was getting the chiropractor and all that. But because he had a little bit, he missed a little of it, we put him on the list.
