Transcript of head coach Rex Ryan's news conference following Wednesday's midday practice at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center:
Injury report: David Harris did not practice today. Back. He was weightlifting and something happened to his back. He did not practice. Guys that were full: Calvin Pace, foot, [Darrelle] Revis, hamstring. I expect to get David back, but he did not practice today. Other than that, I thought the practice was good. A beautiful day outside. It was long. We call it a "man's day" practice. That was the best skelly [skeleton drill] we've had maybe since I've been here, a 7-on-7 drill. Mark [Sanchez] was very accurate with the ball. They ran great routes. That was encouraging to me. I challenged our guys to practice even better tomorrow even though it was a good practice today.
On if David Harris' back injury happened in the game…
No. It was just in the weight room this morning. He just did something, I have no idea what, but his back wasn't feeling good, so we just kept him out.
On if he put any consideration into putting in a claim for Randy Moss…
First off, remember my comment is there is no comment until he clears waivers. I'll get fined for something. I'm not going to say anything until he clears waivers, him, [Shawne] Merriman or anyone else.
On what he's seen from Mark Sanchez…
I think, really, if you look at his numbers in that game and you add the drops that we had, five in the fourth quarter alone, I think his numbers looked pretty darn good in the second half. It was just in the first half I don't think he was as accurate as I would have liked him to have been. I thought he really responded in the second half. You're not always going to have a great day, but we just need to make one play in that game and we'd be sitting here all fired up, but it never happened. I just think he's ready to get back on the field. I think we all are. The thing you have to be careful of is sometimes you're looking forward to playing the game the next Sunday and you forgot that, oh by the way, you better practice. You better prepare. You better do all that, not just wait for Sunday to show up or it will happen again.
On Sanchez's fundamentals…
I think his fundamentals have been outstanding. He's had better footwork. I thought he was poised in the pocket last week. He wasn't as accurate as he normally is.
On if he talked to Sanchez about running for a first-down…
That kills a defense. When you have a quarterback that can run for a couple of first-downs, that's extra possessions. That's what he has to understand. From a defensive perspective, I'm telling you, you hate that. That's the thing with Aaron Rodgers. You had to be mindful of him taking off with it. Some of these quarterbacks, Michael Vick, kill you will their feet. Mark can run well enough. He doesn't have to be Michael Vick, which is not going to happen, but he can still be effective running, especially when teams are dropping guys like they were in that situation. They're almost giving you the run.
On if he thinks there were opportunities where Sanchez could have run against Green Bay…
I thought so. Absolutely, I did.
On the total number of dropped passes in the game…
It was eight or nine, I believe. I called the two interceptions drops. I never knew how else to look at it. I know we had eight or nine as a total.
On if they did anything at practice to address the dropped passes…
It was a bad day, but I'm up for suggestions. These guys caught everything today. I don't know what happened. It's just one of those things. I don't think I've seen J-Co [Jerricho Cotchery] drop three balls since I've been here, every practice and game included. That was uncharacteristic. One he got a big hit on. Everybody took their turns.
On if the wind impacted the passing game…
It could have, but to be honest with you, there was only one ball I saw that got affected by the wind. I think that was the one that Braylon [Edwards] caught. Both punters had 50-yard punts going opposite directions. I never really thought there was that big a difference. It wasn't like it was a cross wind blowing 50 miles an hour where you can literally see the ball change [direction]. At the old Meadowlands Stadium, we've seen days like that. I remember going in there thinking we're just going to play a certain coverage because a jug machine couldn't complete a ball going this direction. I haven't seen it in the new stadium yet. I don't think the wind was a factor as far as the passing accuracy. I really don't.
On if he would consider practicing at New Meadowlands Stadium…
It's funny. Mr. Johnson and I talked about it and Mike Tannenbaum. We talked about even having our kickers go there. That's certainly an option. It's our stadium. We really never thought that was necessary.
On if they would consider practicing at New Meadowlands Stadium moving forward…
We would definitely consider it.
On if he ever sent anybody over to New Meadowlands Stadium last November or December to see the wind patterns…
No, I did not. Maybe somebody smarter than me did that, but I never did.
On if they are learning on the fly about the wind patterns…
I'm just saying that we've been in there. It was a lot windier outside than it was in that stadium. Whether it's because of the size of the stadium, I'm not sure.
On if it will take all season to get used to the wind patterns…
It possibly will, but in the old stadium, I don't think there was any getting used to that, you know what I mean? With some of them it was like "What was that?" I remember seeing Randall Cunningham punt a 93-yard punt in that stadium. Then I've seen the ball almost go sideways. I have not seen that in this stadium.
On how he is addressing the penalties and if he still has a penalized player watch his teammates do pushups at practice…
Well, we're still doing that. Up until that game, we hadn't had a false start for four weeks. At home, it's just the focus and everything, we've harped on it forever and there is accountability to each other. We've got to get rid of those self-inflicted wounds. Penalties are a huge contributing thing. If you need an example of it, you had it right in front of you when we played Green Bay. Obviously, nobody is trying to do things intentionally, but we've just got to keep the focus and keep the attention to detail.
On how much the team evaluated Matt Stafford leading into last year's NFL Draft…
We did our due diligence [laughter]. We did. We had him come in even. The fact that he came in was impressive because he was supposed to be the number one pick, but the kid came in anyway. I thought that showed a lot about him. He's a great guy. I enjoyed visiting with him. We knew he had a ton of talent. Probably as much arm talent as a quarterback has had in a long time. All precincts reported, we thought he was an outstanding prospect.
On if he had Stafford rated higher than Mark Sanchez…
I'm not going to get into our ratings [laughing]. I'll say this, we felt good about both those guys. I'll let you know after the game [laughter].
On the improvement of Sanchez from last season…
It's a ton, guys. When you look at it, the footwork, his decision-making. He threw two interceptions this past week. Both of them I thought were completions, but they're interceptions so I don't think that was his fault. Just the way he's protecting the football, I think has been good, his feel for it. I see huge improvements from Mark.
On if there was a problem with blocking from non-offensive linemen against Green Bay…
Yes, absolutely it's accurate. We got beat on a sack. LT [LaDainian Tomlinson] got beat on a sack. Then Shonn [Greene] had a holding call. When you talk about the pressures, I thought our offensive line, for the most part, was outstanding. D-Wood [Damien Woody] got beat on that one spin move. It was a quick pass, so the guard actually will favor inside on a quick pass because all day long we had done a great job on Clay Matthews. Damien Woody in particular did a great job. Two guys I thought were absolutely outstanding in that game were Brandon Moore and D'Brickashaw [Ferguson]. Those were as good a game as I've seen an offensive lineman have in a long time. Both of them were absolutely outstanding.
We did give up some pressure. I think you hit right on the head when you said that sometimes the offensive line is doing a great job, but we were a little loose on the others. I know on the one sack, LT, the kid beat him with a swim move. Those things happen, but they don't happen very often to LT.
On the Detroit Lions…
I think when you're drafting that high, it's just a matter of time before it pans out. You look at the talent that these guys have. You've got the quarterback who is clearly going to be an outstanding quarterback in this league. You've got Calvin Johnson, high No. 1 — outstanding. [Jahvid] Best, the kid they took this year, has got 36 catches. This offense, the Lions are sixth in the league in scoring. They average over 37 points a game at home. They're second in red zone scoring. They're definitely capable of moving the football and we know it. They play better at home.
On defense, I think they're fifth in the league in takeaways, like sixth or seventh in sacks, sixth in tackles for loss. So they're making big plays on defense. Yet they're 13th in the league or something like that on first-down run defense. You come up with stats all over the place, but they are a big-play defense. They get after it. They play hard on defense. It's like very similar to Tennessee, obviously having Jim Schwartz there. They bring in coach Gunther Cunningham with him. [Kyle] Vanden Bosch is there. You think of Tennessee defense, you think of Vanden Bosch. Now he's there doing the same thing he always does with Detroit. I think Ndamukong Suh is an outstanding player. That's going to be a great matchup to see this young man who I think is extremely talented against the best guard in football in Brandon Moore. That ought to be a great matchup.
On if it will depend on the game situation whether Darrelle Revis or Antonio Cromartie plays Calvin Johnson…
Yes. I'd say yes to that question. [Revis] will generally be lined up on him. There'll be times when he's not, but he'll generally be lined up on Calvin Johnson.
On Johnson…
The thing that gets me: his size, speed, strength, athleticism, the kid's got it all in one package. He's bigger than Braylon Edwards. Braylon every time we see him it's like "Man." He's huge, fast and he's just an excellent competitor. He competes for the football. He blocks. He's really a tremendous player.
On if Johnson is similar to Brandon Marshall…
Yes, I would think so. That's probably the best comparison that there is right now. He might be faster. I think he is faster than Brandon and what did we hold him too? 15 catches? [laughter] We've got nothing to worry about.
On Ndamukong Suh…
I watched one tape and I called my brother: "If he's there, you've got to take him." But he wasn't there [laughing]. That was a no-brainer right there because the kid does it all. Pass rush, athletic, he's tough. He can play the double. He plays with his hands. He strikes with his hands. It was like when I watching Haloti Ngata coming out of college. I'm like, 'Oh, please there is no way he's going to be there when we pick.' He was in Baltimore, so it's just one of those things. That was one of those guys that there is no way this kid is failing. No way.
