Transcript of quarterback Mark Sanchez's news conference following the Jets' Monday afternoon practice at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center:
On today's practice…
Each practice we're coming out trying to execute really well. I thought the competition was great again, offense and defense. I thought our tempo was great. I worked on a "coming out" situation to kind of mock what we did against the Giants. We cleaned up some of our mistakes from that game. Overall, a productive practice, exactly what we needed. We have to come out and do it again tomorrow.
On if he is confident in the offense performing better.…
Absolutely, I've seen it from this group already against our defense. I've seen it on the practice field and now we have to translate it to a game. I think the most important point that Rex [Ryan] talked to us about today, is translating what we do in practice onto the game field. That means remembering we can't have penalties in the red zone. We can't have penalties on possession-and-ten or right after we get a first down. Those things really hurt your drives. We're staying sharp.
On having Santonio Holmes at practice…
It was good. We have to bring him along as fast we can, get him out there running as much as possible and get our timing back.
On a lot of the mistakes in the game being physical and not mental…
A lot of it is the physical part of it. The throw to PT [Patrick Turner] is a great example. Can I make that throw 100 out of 100 times? Absolutely. Was it a bad read? No way. A great read, I just put it out in front of him. It has to happen in a game. Everybody is telling you, hey, you're 9-for-11, that's great. You can't miss. You can't miss that one. It just shows you how fragile it is, but Rex made a really good point today in our meeting. He really tried to drive home the point of when things do go bad, when you throw a ball behind a guy, you miss a pass, you drop a ball, it's not time to make anything up. There is no new throwing motion that I'm going to try to find. There's not a new footwork that I'm going to make up right there. Snap right back into what we know.
That's the great coaching we have. That's our fundamentals. That's really how we can stay sharp. You try and eliminate mistakes, but they're going to happen. They're bound to happen. It's a long game and there are a lot of plays, but as soon as they happen we have to come back and really get back to our fundamentals. That's where the challenge is.
On needing to score points…
We're called an offense. We have to be on the offensive, we have to score points. That's the bottom line. It has to happen.
On the progress of Stephen Hill…
He's doing really well and he's really close. He's coming along fast and learning a lot on the fly for a young guy, but at the same time, that guy has to play for us. Being a first year guy, we can't use that as an excuse. He has to roll. He's going to do well. He really is. He has shown flashes and that's important. You want to see that out of young guys and get him to be more and more consistent. He's a real coachable guy and an ultimate team player guy, really wants to win and a competitive guy. He wants to get it right. That's a great attitude and we can work with that.
On if he is doing anything to encourage the offensive line…
They know. They don't need any boost from me. I've seen these guys do it. They have the right technique. They have the right coaching and now it's a matter of sticking to our fundamentals, all of us across the board, myself included, and really executing on the field. That's the most important thing. I know they can do it. I have all of the confidence in the world in those guys.
On how Coach Sparano has reacted to the offense's lack of production…
He's one of the most consistent guys I have ever been around. The way he preaches to us as the quarterbacks, being the same guy every day, he really does practice it. Does he get upset? Does he get emotional? Of course, he wants us to do well and he knows we can, so I think that's where his frustration is really coming from. That's good. You want a guy like that in your corner. You want him pushing us hard and you can't forget it's not personal. He's trying to get us better. It's going to make us all better.
On Sparano's message to the offense following Saturday's game…
[It was] similar to the first game. We didn't execute in the red zone with the penalty. We can't have the throw to PT. You can't throw it behind a guy like that on a shallow cross. Those were some critical errors, the penalties, the false start we had. Those things hurt a drive, the negative plays. At the same time he showed us a lot of good plays. There were some flashes of great plays. Nick Mangold, Matt Slauson and Shonn Greene probably graded out unbelievably well. Near perfect games, those guys were on fire. Shonn ran his butt off. That was huge for us. That set a good tone for those younger backs. That's the way you have to run the football. He did a great job.
On still wanting to perform despite it being the preseason…
It's a competitive deal whether it's a walk-through, scrimmage, game or playoff game. We have to execute. We have to play well. Not having our starters at receiver is not an excuse for us. We have to play better than that and I know we can. That's the tough part, is I've seen our guys do it. So now it's a matter of executing and when those mistakes do happen, we have to snap back into our fundamentals. Don't panic, don't try to make anything else up, trust what you know, trust the coaching, trust the scheme and let it happen.
On the lack of offensive production in the game…
It's a shutout in the first half. That can't happen. We have to score. We're the offensive team. We have to score. The defense is doing a great job, so we have to do our part.
On if he has advice for Wayne Hunter on getting through his struggles…
I've been there. I've had my share of games. Going into your fourth year, you have your share of games, especially my rookie year. There had to be times where guys on the team thought, "What are we doing with this guy?" There's no way. That stuff happens to everybody. I don't care who you are. All I can remember is the guys around me building me up, staying positive, having faith in me and being encouraging. That's exactly what I'm going to do to Wayne. That's what everybody is doing to Wayne because we know he can do it. He's a big, strong guy. He's smart, he's athletic. He'll get it right. We know he can.
On if the preseason has been difficult for his confidence…
To me, and I know Coach Sparano feels the same way, our offense isn't new anymore. We've had 30-plus practices and a bunch of plays in a game-like atmosphere. Do we want to be successful? Of course, but it's not new anymore. We should be executing a little bit better than we have.
On if he is as confident as Coach Ryan that the offense will improve…
It's tough. It's not a tangible thing, a number on the scoreboard right now, and that's a tough sell. It's a tough sell to fans, so I get that. I totally get that, but as a team we've got to be concerned about what's going on in this building and I really do see us heading in the right direction. There are just a couple things, just half a block here, half a second longer, a foot longer on the ball to PT and we've got a chance. That's how close this offense is. When it all happens at the same time, on the same night, or same game, it'll look good and we've got to get there. We're really close, but we're running out of time here, so we've got to get going.
On if he would like to be more successful throwing the ball down the field…
Well, we have to stretch the field when we can. We want to be able to complement our run game, but at the same time, wherever we're trying to throw it, if it's underneath, fine, we've got to be accurate like we have been, but those plays will happen. The best plays will happen. If we eliminate some of the penalties along some of these drives, we might get some more opportunities. We've got to get a chance to run more plays and to do that, we've got to be more efficient.
