New York Jets' Head Coach Eric Mangini, 9.28
Opening Statement
We waived Sloan Thomas and resigned Norm Katnik to the practice squad. He will be here today. Another piece of good news, Laveranues Coles was named the AFC offensive player of the month, which I think is outstanding. I have been told it's throughout that time period, the amount of yards that he has had, is second only to Don Maynard in 1968. It's pretty impressive. Laveranues' work ethic and toughness and catches, and it's all those positive things we always talk about. It is a really nice personal award for him and we're all really happy for him.
What we've been talking about throughout the week is consistency, and that's something whether we win or lose, we're always looking for as a team. We're facing a team that's been very consistent, one of the winningest teams since '99, they have won the most games, and that's because of their consistency. That's something we're looking to do and to take the same approach with the same level of preparation. It's having same type of practices week-in and week-out regardless of the situation, and that's usually what the result is, a lot of success and a lot of progress.
Today we'll be moving on to third down. Offensively and defensively we'll review the things we did yesterday, improve those things, correct the mistakes. And that's been an important part of all of our games here through the early part of the season. It's always a key factor in any game. It's good for us and an important day for us.
On Cole's efficiency with third down, particularly in tandem with QB Chad Pennington…
I think that he has really good routes, and he consistently finds a way to get open, and it always makes a nice target. But he's done that on 1st and 2nd down throughout this year and in years past. He's made it tough on opponents, and he's really worked hard, as he'll tell you throughout the training camp and the early part of the season.
On Coles making a nickname for Mangini…
He's probably not alone on that one.
On Mangini's relationship with Coles…
I love the way he plays football, I love his toughness, I love the fact that when he's injured, you wouldn't even know it in his approach. All that stuff, that's the type of example that you're looking for young guys in terms of just sheer willingness to make plays. And some of those plays that he makes are just on desire and effort and toughness, that you're always looking for in players, and I really like that about him.
On the touchdown Coles had two weeks ago…
There's that play, there's several plays. We were talking about 3rd down where there was contact, and he was determined to get the 1st down and he wasn't going to be stopped, and it's that type of effort. It goes back to one of the core Jets' values of finish, and the way that you finish the play and not just the early stages of the play, but what you do at the tail end there, and that's something we emphasize on a regular basis.
On Mangini's image of a FB…
I've seen it work all different ways. I think that Richie Anderson was one type of fullback who was very successful. I've been around bigger fullbacks, more the true blocking-type fullbacks, and I think they both have value. Brian has been around Lorenzo Neal, and each guy presents a different problem for the opponent's defense, and there are some different things that you can do with them offensively. Having the ability to flex a fullback out or bring him out of the backfield is always a plus. Having the ability to have a fullback who can thump is a big plus, especially in this division and against bigger teams. I think that's always an asset.
On FB B.J. Askew…
The first thing B.J. has done, which is really under the radar screen, but incredibly important to our success is he's been outstanding on special teams. Week-in and week-out, he's produced knock-down blocks, tackles, disruptive-type plays, and sometimes that gets lost in a player's contribution. B.J. has good run ability. He catches well out of the backfield. I think his blocking has improved significantly as he's worked at it and worked with Jimmy Raye on those things. Jimmy Raye enjoys blocking. He's a technician. I'm supposed to take a look at some of his highlights back when he was playing pretty soon. I heard he was a pretty good player, too. I think the work that he's done with the coaches on special teams, is sometimes a little under appreciated how much value that has.
On the probability of WR Tim Dwight at the FB position…
He can catch the ball out of the backfield. He'd be a tough match-up on most linebackers. He's tough. You line him up at S and he'll fight you. That's what Tim does.
On FB James Hodgins…
When we were doing research about him, the quote that I liked the best is there were games when he'd make linebackers quit. He's been a productive guy and we thought that we'd give him an opportunity to see what he can do.
On who did research on Hodgins…
A friend. Someone doing their research that I would rather remain nameless. I don't want to sell the guy out.
On the big plays that the defense gave up versus BUF, and how that translates to IND…
Big plays concern me regardless of what offense, what team. Big plays are always a concern. The important thing is integrity, integrity of the defense, communication, all the core things because usually when those happen there's some type of breakdown, whether it be communication or responsibility. And if you're sound and doing your job first and doing your job communicating the adjustments, those things don't happen. It's something that we're working on, and it's important because they're usually momentum changers and significant field position-changing plays. And even if you stop them on some set of downs, it's dramatically altered your offensive starting field position.
On defensive break-downs versus BUF…
I think that there's always an element of good plays in there. But there's also an element of things that we can do a lot better, and it starts with doing your job, communicating, focusing, making sure you're playing the proper technique, and some of it is finish. It's consistent with what we believe in play-in and play-out. Usually if one of those elements is missing, something not positive is going to happen.
On if Hodgins will play this week…
We're going to review it, and really it'll come down to -- there's two or three spots there that we have to work out whether it's going to be extra receiver, extra defensive back, -- there's a couple -- could be a linebacker, so work with Mike, talk to Mike, see how practice goes, see what it looks like, evaluate the guy in practice. And towards the end of the week, also as Brian and I discuss more of the approach, there's going to be more of a larger personnel groups, smaller personnel groups, it evolves.
On if Hodgins will work with special teams…
He'll work with special teams, kickoff return or punt return, things that he's done in the past and done pretty well.
On why Ryan Myers was cut…
It's a difficult thing, and I like I Ryan and I like Trevor and I like Norm. I like all three of those guys. I think they gave outstanding effort and they worked hard, and I can't say anything but positives about them.
On Myers being cut…
I think that it was a situation where we thought that we could improve the position. Those decisions are not easy, but they are ones that we have to make. Mike and I are committed to doing whatever we can to help this team. All of our decisions are made based on that.
On LB Anthony Schelgel versus Myers…
I think that draft picks, the amount of money you make, any of that stuff doesn't matter. What matters is who can help us win that particular game and who gives us the best chance to win. Each week, as we put together the roster, and you have seen the movement in the line-up with actives and inactive, it is based on who gives us the best chance to win.
On Schlegel compared to Myers…
I think that each guy has different strengths and different weaknesses. I think that Anthony is developing well, and I am pleased with his development. He works extremely hard, not to say that Ryan doesn't, it is just that as we looked at the complete roster, that was the best decision.
On Schelgel's hip improvement…
I don't think that we have specifically targeted that area.
On the rush versus IND…
One statistic to pay attention to is give-away/take-away, which they have been extremely good at. You can check the math on this, but over the course of three weeks, the team has had a plus one give-away/take-away. They have won 75 percent of the time. A plus two is 83 percent of the time. That is a strong statistic and an important statistic that shows how important ball security is and how important forced turnovers are. There are other ones that are always important like red area defense, red area offense and third down conversions. There are other correlations, but I thought that the give-away/take-away was pretty dramatic.
On the red area calculations…
It's just points. I've been involved with a lot of change statistically in the yards allowed, maybe more above average or even in the top two thirds in points allowed. It's very successful, and really that's the big one.
On Pete Kendall practicing yesterday…
He worked. I'd say he's been able to increase his time at practice this week, and we're still going to have to see how it goes here at the end of the week, but he's making progress. I'm sure he's excited to get back out as soon as he can.
On who between Kendall, Trey Teague and Wade Smith…
No, I'm not able to. Thank you for asking anyway (laughter).
On the ground game of the Jets so far this year…
I think that it's an area that we're working to improve, and each week we want to obviously be able to run the ball effectively and stop the run effectively. It takes everybody. It's receivers blocking, offensive linemen, quarterbacks, fullbacks; the whole group has to be consistently on the same page to be an effective running team or an effective team that's stopping the run.
On if there has been progress with the running game…
There are places where we have made improvement and there are areas where we still need to improve. The challenging part is each opponent presents a different problem. It's not only fixing the problems that you may have had the previous week, but it's also understanding how that opponent is going to attack you, how you're going to attack them, and how everybody needs to fit, based on the next group instead of just the previous group.
On if Mangini will use the run game to keep the IND offense off the field as much as possible…
It's going to have to take a complete team effort. I forgot what year it was, but it was at Indianapolis, where I think they had 13 plays in the first half and the game was tied 14-14. They're a quick-strike explosive offense. It's one of those things where you have to be sound on every play, and they can hit you on any play, and the important thing is playing good, solid defense that's sound because if there's a crack, he'll find it.
On if a perfect game is necessary to beat IND…
I think that we're always striving to play the perfect game. It's probably like the perfect anything, it's nice to say, but really what we're looking to do is play good team football, offense, defense, special teams, across the board, and make progress and improve from last week. That's what I'm always going to be looking for, a consistent approach.
On his procedure for challenges on the field…
We work with a couple different people in the booth, depending on whether we're on offense or defense. I think that we try to evaluate the information that we have at that moment and make good decisions, and if there is something that we think needs to be challenged, we're going to do it. But it's important to really be able to make sound decisions, and if you do challenge, be pretty sure that you're going to get it because those time-outs are so valuable. It's important to do a good job there.
On regretting not making a challenge call in any games so far..
One that I think may be the play, the strip sack that Chad had in the preseason down in the red zone. I don't know how it would have gone there, but that might have been one, in looking back, that I would have thought about doing just because it is such a big play. It's really a scoring play. And then the cost-benefit ratio of the time-out versus the chance to get it probably would be worth it there.
On if he takes player input for challenges on the field..
You can, and usually if a DB is covering, he's going to say the guy was out-of-bounds. I think that we're trying to get good information wherever it comes from and take the emotional element out of it.
On if the Jets can hold the ball with a passing game against IND…
Really I think moving the chains is important, and we talked about the different starts that we've had. In different games there were drives that were moving along, and it could be a high throw or maybe a missed opportunity on a catch or getting six yards instead of seven. So there have been some drives that I think we could have continued to move the chains, if we had executed a little bit better, and how far you move the chains, I think that that's the important thing for really not just this game, but across the board.
