Transcript of head coach Rex Ryan's news conference before Wednesday's afternoon training camp practice at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center:
I had to calm down a little bit since that game. Every single time, go ahead, we make our prediction, every single coach will say it's never as good as you think it is, never as bad as you think it is, and that's still true. We did a lot of good things, and then we had some things that we wished we had back.
Today was about the corrections, having all of those things and you look at the mistakes, whether it's a missed blocking assignment, whether it was somebody late off the football, a cadence was wrong, all that type of stuff, that was what today is about. We did all of the walkthrough, the list was a little longer than you wanted it to be, but that's what preseason's about. And the good thing about when you do that, your players look at that and it's like "Why didn't we do that in the first place?" That was what my mindset was when we didn't cover that "Woody Boot," as we call it. Those are things you grow from, you teach and the film's the best teacher there is besides that walkthrough. We feel good about going forward now.
As far as the injuries are concerned, and again I'm sure I'll miss somebody. Rob Turner did break his leg. He's going to have surgery later this week, and we'll find out the extent of how long it's going to keep him out. We're not sure yet. They have to go in, they got to look at different things, so we'll find out later. Certainly, that's unfortunate for us and we'll move on. The next guy, Brandon Moore, never played. He's going to be doing individual work, not going to do team reps. I will say that him playing against Cincinnati would be a doubtful, a slim chance of that. And he's progressing well, it's just that we're going to be smart about that.
I talked to Plaxico, he feels great, best he's felt since he's been here, so we'll see how that goes. Again, is he full? Is he going to take every single rep in team? I don't know about that, but he's going to be out there and he's going to be going. Nick Mangold, we'll see how he is, how he progresses through the week, if he plays or not. We think he will, we'll see, though. Joe McKnight, he did have a concussion. Right now, we're in an evaluation process. He won't be doing anything today, so he was out there for walkthrough, but he won't be doing any team work or anything. And then we had [Chris] Stewart, we'll see how he is, we'll let him go through individual and all that, see how he is.
On the result of Turner's MRI…
Well, again, he had the MRI and it obviously showed a fracture. To the best of our knowledge, you've got to go in there, my understanding is, on the ankle, they've got to fix the bone and then they'll actually stretch, some, I don't know, ligaments or something, in the ankle, to see if it's tight. If it's real loose, then obviously they'll have to go in and fix that. If it's not, if it's tight, then they don't. They're still checking on that, and the difference could be substantial in the recovery.
On what LB Aaron Maybin brings to the Jets…
Well, we're going to find out what he brings. He wants to be a Jet, pending a physical, if that'll happen. He's here, I believe, he's here in the building now. So, there were several teams after him to give him an opportunity. We will give him that opportunity to come here and see what he can do. I'm excited about him. I always spoke high of him in Buffalo. I thought he had ability to rush the passer. You might recall he went to the same high school that my oldest one graduated from, Mount Hebron High School, so I'm sure he's got that high on his résumé. We'll see how he does.
I think he's got some talent, some pass-rush ability, and if he sticks on our team, he's going to be a pass rusher for us. We don't need him to be a starter, we've got two excellent starting outside linebackers already. So we'll see, we're going to give him an opportunity to help on defense and help Mike Westhoff on special teams.
On if the Jets are looking to add another offensive lineman after the injury to Turner…
Again, we'll see how this thing goes, the surgery goes with Rob, and let's see what we have. I'll tell you, Matt Kroul, for a guy that literally only had one week of practice as an offensive lineman, which he played, I think, his freshman year in high school was the last time he played offensive line. I think he did pretty good, we're going to actually try him at center and let him go there and see what he can do. We'll see. We've got Robby Felix here, we've got some guys. We'll see what we have, give these guys an opportunity and again, we'll follow what happens to Rob, closely.
On Vladimir Ducasse's play…
The big thing is, because I even went to Bill [Callahan, offensive line coach], I go, "Bill, is there a reason why Vlad's not in there at right tackle?" This was the start of the third quarter. He goes, "Yeah, that's because he's playing left guard." I'm like, "What? That wasn't the plan." But when Stewart went out, so now we had a bunch of injuries, so Vlad was moving all over the place. The one that he got beat, he got beat clean by J.J. Watt on, when he was playing guard, beat him inside for a sack.
The sack that he gave up on the outside, what happened, the young man [QB Greg McElroy] never got it communicated to the team. He thought it was, I'll give you an example, he thought it was on one, when he walked up and said "silent, one," and only him and the center, I guess, were aware of that, so he kind of got himself hit. What it looked like to me is that Vlad was really late off of the football, which obviously he was, because he was on a different cadence.
So those are the things that happen in preseason games that you've got to get ironed out. I talked to Vlad about it. I'm like "You have got to get off the football." And he just looked at me, never made an excuse or anything, but he was on a different cadence, so we we've got to get that corrected, because Vlad has been making strides, especially at tackle. Right now, he's having to play guard, and not just one, but he has to play both guards.
On the challenges for Plaxico Burress after sitting out with an ankle injury…
I just think getting out there. He's been doing the mental part, now take it to the field. Sometimes it can be a little hesitation that you think you have it down. I've seen guys get it down on the blackboard and then you go out on the field and there's that pause. I don't think he'll have it, but we'll see. That's the first thing, being comfortable—and even Derrick [Mason]. Like I said, Derrick's still not where he'll be totally glued in. It's still new to him, as well. So, those are things we have to get through, but I think the entire team's excited to see Plaxico out there.
On if there is any concern about having enough passes to go around for Burress, Santonio Holmes and Mason …
The thing that's great about this football team is that it's about the team, that's the only ego we're concerned with. When the team succeeds, we all succeed. You look at Santonio, he couldn't care less how many balls he catches, he just wants to win. And obviously, I hope Derrick Mason catches 90 balls, because that's what I said he'd catch, so I'm kind of hoping he does that [joking]. I think the ego's driven more from "I can help the team, give me the football," where as it's "Tone Time" as I'll always say it, get him the ball, give Derrick the ball, give Plax the ball, that's more it, but we're going to be happy no matter how we get it down there, how we get it down the field, how we get it in the end zone.
On if he feels the team is preparing well even with the lack of time…
I think so. I think we are. It just seems weird. You bring up the pace of the camp, and it is moving fast, but the days are moving slow, as we know. It's a little different when you're counting walkthroughs as compared to a higher tempo walkthrough. That's been kind of an adjustment. Guys are here from seven in the morning until 10 at night. The days are longer, but it just seems a little different.
On the long days of training camp…
It is. It's a long time. The way the schedule is set up, when you have a walkthrough and then there is three hours in between that, you have to take before your padded practice and then there is another three hours. It makes for a long day. Not every team is on the same schedule we are. I just think it makes more sense to walkthrough, then have your practice, then your meetings afterwards. There are some teams that are doing their padded practice in the morning, then their walkthrough, their corrections that night, so their day is not as long. I think, from a teaching standpoint, that it makes more sense to walk through first, then go through your pads, then the corrections in the night meetings. It makes for a long day, but I'm not ready to change that yet.
On what ridicule Mark Sanchez can expect from him after the GQ article…
I think you'll have to ask about a certain team meeting today. There might have been something that took place. It was a tale of the tape. We'll put it that way. There was a tale of the tape because I understand he wanted to fight me and things, so we just put all that stuff out there.
On what his tale of the tape said…
I put my record at 1,000-and-oh. My key to victory was the ground and pound. That's my style. We had a lot of fun with it.
On what Sanchez's record was…
Well, he's a Jet. He was undefeated, but his record clearly wasn't anywhere close to that. Now, Brick [D'Brickashaw Ferguson] did hit me. He goes, "Rex, 1,000-and-oh? That means you'd be averaging about 10 fights a year." [laughter] I appreciate that, Brick, but that means I'm really up there. It was good. We had a lot of fun with it.
On if the ground game will have a different personality now with Shonn Greene and John Conner as the starters…
I think we're going to look at maybe doing a few things differently in the running game. Bill's always looking at doing different things, Anthony Lynn, but this is still just about knocking people off the ball and pounding it in there. I think our backs look pretty good. I'm excited about where they are right now. Maybe, we'll try it out of different personnel groupings and things like that and see what we have, but I feel very comfortable with our running game.
On Jeremy Kerley and Patrick Turner learning under similar veterans in Derrick Mason and Plaxico Burress…
That would be nice. We'll sign up for that, if they end up being like those two, we'll be really happy like that. I understand what you mean, one guy [Derrick Mason] is a great receiver, but in particular, a slot receiver and that's what we think about Kerley, he has that kind of ability. Then, we take a look at Patrick Turner, his size alone gives you the comparison to Plaxico. Obviously, those would be some great mentors. Then, guys that combine everything would be looking at Holmes.
On if he thinks Mark Sanchez is beyond the point where he throws multiple interceptions in a game…
Peyton Manning threw four interceptions in a game last year. Would I have pulled him? No, no way. The thing is, it is part of the deal, but hey, sometimes it is about the team. Do we mean that or not? Of course, we mean that. It's always about our team. Sometimes, if he's really struggling for whatever reason, if anybody's struggling, we've pulled corners off the field. One time, we pulled Bart Scott. He was struggling in coverage. I said, "Bart, I'm going to put a DB in there." We always do what's in the best interest of our team.
Now, do I expect to pull Mark? No, I never do, but if it happens, then there is going to be a reason that I think, for the betterment of our team, maybe we should give him some plays off. Then, we'd do it. I don't anticipate it. Mark, I think, has elevated his play enough to where I don't think I'll ever have to do that.
On Mark Brunell and Bart Scott's injury status…
Mark Brunell, I think, has a dislocated finger. I think we're going to be careful with that one. I'm not sure what he can do. As far as Bart, I think he was out [for a few plays]. Guys, I'm sorry. I guess we're going to find out, all of us together [laughing]. I think it'd be smart, if he has some soreness and swelling, then ease him off a little bit. That's hard for Bart to do, but I think we all saw that. I never saw it initially, but I saw it later and we were lucky that Bart didn't get hurt. We'll be smart. If he's hurting a little bit, then we'll pull him.
On if he felt that the team did not really need a big free agent addition this season…
I would argue on some of your points about major signings. I think Plaxico Burress is a major signing. I think Derrick Mason is a major signing. There are a lot of those guys. Some of the guys we brought back were major signings, even though they're not changing teams, the Wayne Hunters and all those guys that came back. I even said, after we played, that we wanted to bring our guys back because we had a great football team. We knew we had a heck of a football team. We won 11 games in the regular season, made it to the championship game and came up short. I would've loved to have that team come back.
Now, there were reasons why that entire football team never came back. But I look at the team we have now, and I've said it before, I think, on paper, and what I believe is that this will be our best team. Part of that is based on the growth of our young players. I expect them to elevate their game and that's why I said that. Now, I guess we get to see the season to prove if we are the best team in the league. We're going to find out. I know New England on paper looks like they've added a lot of guys to their football team, which was outstanding. You have Philadelphia, who's added a bunch. We're going to find out.
On adding Burress and Maybin on one-year contracts like Santonio Holmes had last season…
When we traded for Tone [Santonio Holmes], it was only for the one year, a fifth-round pick. It's like you're kicking the tires before you gave him the big deal. Well, he's an owner, you know what I mean? That's him. With Plax, maybe it's a similar deal to where it's like, his market is going to be where it is. It's going to go way up or we'll see what happens, but I have a feeling he's going to hit it. Now, we'll see who has it. Obviously, we'd love for it to be here. You give guys opportunities.
If Aaron Maybin comes in here at whatever salary that is, and all of a sudden he hits 10 sacks, he plays for us. If you play for this football team, on defense, the way our defense is going to play, you're going to get paid properly, whether it's here or somewhere else, I don't know. If a guy comes in and has 10 sacks, then obviously, he's not going to make this [hand low], he's going to make this [hand high]. I think, maybe, he looks at it as an opportunity. I had a chance to talk to the young man yesterday. He loves the style of how we play and I think he looks at it himself as he can come in here and have a great experience. I think he's right. We'll see.
On if Brunell will play in the preseason game…
I will definitely not say that. I just think that, when you have a dislocated finger, I don't know if he's ready to take a snap just yet. They'll certainly work with him on it, but I definitely would not rule him out.
