Transcript of Jets head coach Rex Ryan's news conference following Wednesday's midday practice:
I'll tell you what, the weather was nice out there today. It was a little different than last week. It was kind of crazy. I felt our team was a little off today. Something just wasn't clicking today. I mentioned that to them. We're in need of a win, bad. We've got to prepare. There is only one way to get that done and you've got to prepare your tail off. You've got to go out and out-perform the guy on Sunday. That's what we've got to do, but it just felt a little off today. It wasn't like the energy wasn't great, it just never seemed dead on. That's all right because the last few weeks it seems like it's been dead on, so we'll see if that's a good thing [smiling].
Injury-wise, we've had guys that never participated in the team drills. That would be Jerricho [Cotchery] with the hamstring, Lito [Sheppard] with a quad, Brad Smith with a quad, Damien Woody with a knee. I knew it was a foot but it's also a knee. The guys that were limited in practice were Braylon Edwards with a quad, Shaun Ellis with a knee, Marques Murrell with a head. I think it was a slight concussion that he had in the game, and then Donald Strickland with an ankle. Guys that were full-go today: David Harris with a wrist, Larry Izzo, hamstring; Kerry Rhodes, knee; Bryan Thomas, wrist; Wallace Wright, knee.
On when Braylon Edwards got hurt…
It wasn't in practice, it was during the game. He's been getting treatment but it's a quad. I think he's going to be fine for the game but he is getting treatment on the quad.
On the status of Jerricho Cotchery and Brad Smith…
They never participated in any of the team drills. They did do some individual things, so hopefully they'll be ready to roll.
On if Donald Strickland will play this week…
I think so. We'll see how he responds. We're pushing him through the drills, and I'm hopeful he can play this week.
On if Lito Sheppard had an injury setback in the game…
Yeah, he did.
On if Sheppard's injury is back to where it was before…
Maybe not quite as bad, but I don't feel confident that he'll be playing this week.
On if he regrets any of the bravado and building up expectations now that the team has lost three games…
No, because I've said it from day one, if I don't believe in the team who is going to? To come out 3-0, a lot of people jumped on the bandwagon and they're breaking their backs getting off the bandwagon right now. I understand that. I believe in this team and I haven't waivered one bit on it. I think we're a good football team. We just have had some tough breaks. The fact that we're in a game when you throw six interceptions is pretty good. I think you've done a lot of good things in that game also with 318 yards rushing. That's hard to say that it's all bad.
Again, I'm just going to be myself and I've said that from day one. I'm definitely going to be true to myself and maybe I look a little foolish because we're 3-3 right now. It still hasn't changed how I feel about this team. My focus right now is to go 1-0 this week and that's our team's focus.
On if conflicting signals are sent by playing a rookie QB because this was perceived to be a win-now team...
You look at the Braylon Edwards trade. I think he's going to be an outstanding player for us moving forward, not just this year. He's got a chance to be a good football player for the Jets for a long time, that's the present and the future. We have a rookie quarterback, but I believe he can help us. He can help us now and I think he'll be able to help us down the road. The expectations, and I've said it many times, I don't see how anybody, not just me but anybody, goes into a job or takes a position that every single team operates under the same budget and for anybody's expectations to be, well, we got a five-year plan, I think is ridiculous. If you're paying some team with twice the money, then yes, that might be a little loaded. When everything is dead even across the board, then I don't see how or why your expectations wouldn't be high, and mine are high.
Maybe that's not the normal line that somebody takes that maybe isn't secure in himself, and maybe to make sure to get that fourth year and maybe worry about getting another contract. That's not me. I want to win. I came here to win. I came here to win a championship and I want to win multiple championships. If I get egg in my face because we're 3-3, that's fine but let's see who has down the road. We'll see who is telling the truth and you can figure it out later.
On simplifying the offense for Mark Sanchez…
Brian [Schottenheimer] and his crew with Bill Callahan, Henry [Ellard] and all those guys, this is a talented coaching staff as well. I think we're just trying to make sure that we're looking at it from a coaching standpoint as well. Is there something we can do that possibly can make his life a little easier? He's still got to make the throws. He's still got to make the decisions. Is there something we can do to help him? Our guys have worked hard at coming up with some things. I have a lot of confidence in Mark, in our offense and in our coaching staff. I think we'll get it done.
On if Kellen Clemens will get any reps with the first team this week…
No. The way we do practice is sometimes the ones are up and sometimes the twos are up. He does get reps during the week but the majority of the reps won't change. Our structure is what it is, so Mark will be getting the majority of the reps. I can't give you an exact percentage, but I'm sure Schotty [Brian Schottenheimer] could, but that hasn't changed since we named him the starter.
On if Sanchez's performance at practice today was a little off…
No, not necessarily. I don't think that was the case. He couldn't wait to get here. He couldn't wait to get out there with his enthusiasm. He could not wait to get on that practice field. It just seemed like it. Again, I'm honest. I'm just not going to say, 'Hey. Everything is fantastic.' I just felt [the team] was a little off. I can't put my finger on it. It just felt a little off.
On knowing that Sanchez couldn't wait to get out to practice…
I could tell. I'm not going to use the term that I would use with him, but he was ready. He was ready to go.
On if he's concerned about Sanchez's emotions…
That's the beauty of him. I want him to be himself and that's part of it. I know he's "Cool Hand Luke." He normally is. If you throw five interceptions in a game, I think all of us would be affected. Again, he was ready to go and he never wavered. He just knew he was going to lead his team down the field and we were going to kick that field goal and win the game. He knew he was. I don't think there is one guy on our football team that didn't believe it. That's kind of the feeling I got on the sideline. We all felt that Mark was going to help lead us down the field and kick the field goal. I think that's where we know we've got the right guy.
On if he's talked to Sanchez about not trying to make up for what happened last week….
That really is a great point. You don't want to force the issue, just go play. Play the game. That's behind him. That's behind us. We just have to go 1-0 this week, be 1-0 this week and that's the mindset that we have.
On if the team is more likely to play 4-3 defense now that Kris Jenkins is out…
Well, we're multiple anyway, we'll mix in 4-3s, 3-4s, like we always have. The true zero technique, the three-technique, I'm not so sure that's going to change that much in what we do. Obviously, Kris is a hard guy to replace, but we have a lot of confidence in the guys behind him. I think that D-line is going to rally around each other and I think we'll play well.
On Richard Seymour saying that he thought the Jets would run the ball more…
Right [laughter]. They're going to run it, too. We're going to run it, they're going to run it. That probably makes sense.
On Sanchez needing to throw the ball…
It's funny, because Seymour knows we're running it. Everybody knows we're running it, but where do you make plays? When your running game is clicking, you make plays in the passing game, and that's what you do, and vice versa. You set up play-action now. When you look at Mark, he does an outstanding job of working off play-action. He can make big plays.
The Raiders are going to be in eight-man spacing on defense. There is no surprise there. They like to get up in your face, challenge you. They've got two of the better man corners in the game. Nnamdi [Asomugha] is probably the second-best corner in football, maybe the third. He's a tremendous corner. The other kid from Louisville [Chris Johnson] has great cover skills as a man-cover guy. They're built that way. That's the way Al [Davis] has always played that Raiders defense.
We know what they're going to be in. There is no surprise and we're going to run and play-action. There is our game plan and they know it and guess what? That's their game plan against us, too. We'll see what happens.
On if talking big is an issue if the team isn't winning….
That's probably true. It can't be an issue for me. I'm not flinching one bit. That's who I am, that's what I believe. I think you open yourself up for criticism, but my thing is, I'm trying to establish a mentality and a belief in this football team, so with me, I'm never flinching. If I came in here to look good in the papers, I would have undersold myself and our football team and we could be raving about how great that we're 3-3. That's not what I came here to do. I came here to win Super Bowls and win championships, and if that puts added pressure on our team, maybe so. I will say this, I don't think you can win it without having that mentality. I know my family has been through a few of these Super Bowls, won a bunch of them, so I think that's how you get it done.
On if it has been hard to change the culture here..
No. I'm not saying anything was wrong with the old culture, but I'm just telling you my belief is that we expect to win. That's basically what it comes down to. We expect to win every football game, one at a time. The fact right now, we're 3-3. We'd feel a lot different if we had won our last three and lost our first three, but right now we're still 3-3. At the end of the day, we still have a chance to accomplish everything that we wanted to as a football team. It's right in front of us. There are 10 games left.
For us to get there and to reach those things, we've got to win one in a row. Our focus has to be on the Oakland Raiders and that's it. You can't look down the road. You can't make an assumption here or this or that. You just have to focus on this football game and go out and do whatever you can to win this game.
