Transcript of head coach Rex Ryan's news conference following Wednesday's midday practice at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center:
First off, we have two injured guys. Calvin Pace did not practice. He's going to be out for this game. Brodney Pool was limited. We'll see how he is. That's it as far as the injuries are concerned. We signed Howard Green. He's out there. Everybody's favorite big guy is back out there.
I'm just happy to be focused on a different opponent. I've been dwelling on that last game, but as a coach I think, you can't wait to get out there again and play somebody else. Now, the unfortunate part is we're playing New England who probably looked as good as anybody that played last week. It's going to be a huge challenge for us, but I think this is going to be a great opportunity for us to get back on track. I'm calling out, we need our fans. Just like they were for us that first week, we need them again at their best. We know it was a difference between, when two teams are evenly matched sometimes that home field advantage makes a difference. Last year, the second week of the season, our home crowd made the difference in my opinion. I need a great effort. I'm calling out to the fans. We need a great effort. They're going to get our full effort for sure, I can promise you that.
On the problems with the passing defense…
Basically it's not how we play pass defense. Last year we led the NFL in fewest big plays given up and New England, by the way, was third in that category. That was uncharacteristic of the way we play the ball down the field. It wasn't like it was certain route combinations. It was he [Joe Flacco] felt pressure and got rid of it. We know going into the game Flacco is a very accurate quarterback throwing the deep ball. He made some nice plays in there. Their guys came down with it. The biggest disappointment too is guys are going to make plays, but it's the fouls. We had way too many penalties in the back end. That's something that we're working hard to correct.
On if he has talked to Brian Schottenheimer about why Shonn Greene played sparingly in the second half…
Really, I never got to that specifically. We were talking about, more or less, looking ahead of what we can do to get our offense on track. Schotty and I met about some of those things.
On if he was curious as to why Greene never carried the ball after his second fumble…
Not really because when you look at them, we have two excellent backs. The other guy that was in there is a pretty darn good back. We're going to rotate both of those guys. In some games, guys are going to get more carries than the other. Ideally, you'd like to give them 15 runs a piece at least, but it wasn't to be that day. When we're running the football only 21 times in a game, that's not good enough because that's not who we are. You've got to give credit to the opponent, but I'm tired of talking about it. We did average 5.5 a carry. We should run the ball more. You can look at it that way as a lot of things we probably should have done differently. That thing is behind us now.
On the different styles between him and Bill Belichick…
He is who he is and that's worked for him obviously. I know the only way things are going to work for me is if I'm myself. I can't go out and try to clone myself into Bill Belichick. I'd love to have his record, the Super Bowl rings. I'm working on it, so we'll see when it's all said and done how many I can end up with.
On his relationship with Belichick…
Good. I know I respect him and I think he respects me. At least he respects the kind of commitment I have to football and the way we play. Period. That's it. We talked after our first game. My brother was there with New England for years. He has two Super Bowl rings. As soon as your twin brother is at a place, you basically meet those coaches. You're familiar with those coaches. Obviously, you guys know the kind of respect I have for Belichick but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to go out and try to beat him because that's my job. We've got the same position. Trust me, I'm going to try like crazy to beat him.
On if he's concerned that he's giving Mark Sanchez mixed signals by telling him to throw the ball more…
I have more confidence now than I ever did. Last year if we would have said, "Take shots down the field," he's going to throw it up regardless of what he sees." I think now you're seeing where he would check the ball down. If it's not there, then obviously check the ball down somewhere else. Don't just throw it recklessly down the field. We can take more shots down the field on people. If they present it themselves to us, then we'll take advantage of it. This football team that we're playing is one of the hardest teams to accomplish that against. Like I said, third in the league in fewest big plays given up in the passing game last year. They'll play off. They'll do whatever it takes to keep the guy in front of you sometimes so obviously, you don't want to be reckless. If we have an opportunity to give our guy a chance at making a catch, then let it rip.
On the challenge Wes Welker will present for Kyle Wilson…
We're going to mix it up. Obviously, he's going to catch a lot of passes. He does against everybody. He doesn't have to break the record like he almost did last time we played him [laughter]. He's that kind of guy. He's the guy that if pressure comes, [Tom] Brady throws it to him. He's got great faith in him. He runs great routes. He's tougher than nails. They'll also throw those bubble passes to him.
On what he's looking for from Wilson…
I don't think it's a rebound deal. He got beat on one long pass to Anquan Boldin and he had a couple of fouls that he shouldn't have. For a rookie playing corner and that nickel spot, it's tough. I thought he played relatively well.
On if they brought back David Clowney to have another deep threat in the passing game…
One thing David can do is flat out run and catch the deep ball. I thought he was coming on as training camp went on as a receiver. I was a little disappointed in his special teams play, but we just felt, at the end of the day, that we need that other receiver up. That's why we ended up bringing David back.
On if they are still thinking of bringing Laveranues Coles back…
It's not going to happen right now. We decided to go with David.
On his meeting with Adalius Thomas…
We did bring him in for a physical. We wanted to see where he was at. Right now, we don't have immediate plans to bring him.
On if Brodney Pool will able to play this weekend…
It's too early to tell.
On if the team has lost any of its swagger…
No. We got beat. Our goals stay the same. I think the energy on the practice field was good. I think we're excited about the plans. We know it's a short week. The focus has got to be there. I challenged our guys to get more film work. We'll see. Our guys want to play. Any time you get beat, you can't wait to get back out there and compete again. We know we have an outstanding opponent in front of us. Quite honestly, we've got to do a better job in our own division. Last year we had a poor record and shoot, we want to win our division. New England stands in our way.
On if he worries about Sanchez's confidence…
I think our plan going in, I definitely made it a point of emphasis that we can't turn the ball over against that bunch because those guys are a very opportunistic group. When you say they won 45 out of 47 games when they win the turnover battle, that should be a high priority. I never wanted to cripple him. Maybe he was getting rid of the ball too fast [when] we had some opportunities down there.
On Patriots rookie TEs Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez…
Both of them are big targets and they both run, so they're athletic guys. They're not just guys that are big blockers. They can compete as blockers, but they're both receiving threats, especially in the red zone.
On the Darrelle Revis-Randy Moss matchup…
It ought to be a great one. There is only one corner in the league that would dare to go against Randy Moss 1-on-1 and that Darrelle. That's the only one that should try to compete.
On if he's seen slippage from Moss…
I saw him drop a ball, which was uncharacteristic of him in that game because normally you see him make those plays. He's probably the best vertical receiver in the game. That's probably pretty high praise I guess.
On if he's surprised that a lot was made of the team's loss to Baltimore…
No. We know we're going to get criticized if we don't produce. It's as simple as that. I'd rather it be this way where people expect you to win every week than "Well, hey, they played hard. They did this and this." Most guys would be talking about they had 35 rushing attempts and you held the team to 49 yards. That's pretty decent against a Pro Bowl fullback, Pro Bowl tail back. Again, I don't expect that. Here? No way. We opened up a new stadium. Our fans were into it beyond belief. That was the most disappointing thing to me. You can overcome a loss, but that was just a special night and it never turned out that way.
On if he has talked to Antonio Cromartie about being more physical…
Yes I did. I'd like to see him play more physical at the line of scrimmage with his hands and use his God-given athletic ability past 5 yards, understand that he doesn't need to grab. He's got such great length. He can make plays on the football. He's got rare athleticism for a guy that big. I want to see him more use those hands and long arms at the line of scrimmage. That's one of the keys to Darrelle being so good. He gets his hands on you and he's strong and powerful. That's it. If you can win at the line of scrimmage on defense, that's huge. It disrupts all the timing and everything else off the routes. That's the main challenge that I to Cro.
