Transcript of Jets head coach Eric Mangini's news conference Monday afternoon:
In terms of Eric Smith, we have a roster exemption until tomorrow and then we'll have to make a decision on what transaction we'll make. We don't have to do that until tomorrow by four o'clock.
With the [Cincinnati] game, defensively what I was most pleased with was our ability to stop the run. That has been something that is always a point of emphasis. Last year, it was something that we were not able to do very effectively. They ran the ball 41 times at a very high average and that set up some things in the passing game, some deep plays in the passing game and it worked together and it worked against us last year.
I was also pleased by our ability to generate pressure, with five sacks, coming from different people, one of them leading to a turnover, and to be able to generate pressure without giving too much up in terms of the coverage and not allowing big plays in that way.
I would say that what I was most pleased with was, when they were backed up, when they were next to their own end zone, our ability to keep them backed up, and that translated into a positive special teams play with the punt return, which then, if you don't get out of that spot, it usually means points for the team on the other side. I was happy to see that. It's something we have worked on and it was good to see that actually come to fruition.
Offensively, I thought we did a good job in the red zone, 3-for-4 there, and 3-for-3 in the goal line situations, and were able to control the ball for a significant amount of time. We had it for about 35 minutes yesterday.
Our third-down percentage — we ended up being 50 percent on the day — didn't start out very productive, but we got it when it really counted, which was on that last drive going 3-for-3, which then led to a touchdown that ate up six minutes and 18 seconds. That was really a positive factor.
I thought on teams, Leon [Washington] did a really nice job both with punt and kickoff return, but that's completely a group effort and that was a significant reason that the field position advantage was so far in our favor.
On being ranked third in the NFL against the rush…
It's positive. You always want to be able to stop the run. I think that's going to be that much more important in those games where the weather becomes an issue. It's going to be important, whether I'm talking about wind, rain, those things that affect the passing game, but also as you get into the cold months, you have to be able to run the football and you have to be able to stop the run. I think that's a very positive early part of what we have been able to do defensively.
On evaluating opposing teams' rushing attack…
We have faced a lot of teams that have run the ball really well: New England, San Diego, Miami. They are three teams with explosive backs. Arizona had been effective to some degree, but when we went into the Cincinnati game last year, they had not been running the ball extremely well. It was really the same stable of backs at that point, very similar in terms of their overall offensive core group, and they ran it really well against us and it was a big part of why we were not able to win that game.
On the Jets' 18 sacks…
I'm always excited to see sacks, interceptions and turnovers. Those things end up affecting the game pretty dramatically and the more times you can sack the quarterback, the better chance you have to get those turnovers.
I like the fact that it's coming from a lot of different people, and I also like the fact that some of those have been through coordinated efforts. It has not been a function of one guy beating someone else — there have been plenty of those — but it's a concept of playing coordinated defense, guys hitting the right gaps, the coverage being where it should be and the pressure or who you bring being able to hit the area that you've targeted, and that's good team defense when you can do that.
On Abram Elam's start at safety…
I thought he did a nice job, but I thought Abe did a nice job during training camp. It was not a function of him playing poorly. It was a function of Eric [Smith] playing well in terms of their roles. I have complete confidence in them. I'm not opposed to those guys both playing during the course of the game. I think that could keep both guys fresh. They both play on special teams, which can get a little bit tiring late, so them balancing off each other and helping each other out could be a real benefit for us.
On the efforts of Kris Jenkins in the rush defense…
I think it's the group and with any run defense, it always takes everybody, because if it's just one guy and you're not holding up well on the outside, [Kris] Jenkins is in there in the middle, but now you can run more in the C-gap, outside of the outside linebacker.
Calvin [Pace] has done a nice job. BT [Bryan Thomas] has done a good job as an edge-setter, internally with David [Harris] and Eric Barton, Kenyon [Coleman] has always been really stout against the run, Shaun [Ellis]. Playing the base technique, understanding the blocking schemes, getting the right fits and adding players like Calvin and Kris to the front seven has all helped.
On Ellis lining up at nose tackle…
We've moved him around to different spots and he's got great versatility. He's played outside linebacker for us, he's played end for us, he's played nose tackle for us. We've lined him up for a few snaps inside at times.
One thing about Shaun that's unique is here is a guy that's 290 pounds but is really athletic. There's a great shot of him last year when we played Pittsburgh, dropping into coverage on an outside linebacker, making an open field tackle on the sideline with his head across the back, wraps up, pulls him in. You could make a technique video out of it. At 290 pounds, that's hard to do. That's hard to do at any weight when you've got a back in space on the sideline.
He's got some versatility for a defensive lineman, where he's listed, that some other guys don't, and then to be able to now move deeper into the front and have him be effective there, as well — you can drop him and do a lot of things.
On running short plays in the offense…
With Cincinnati, they do a nice job keeping things in front of them and they also do a really nice job rushing the passer and they do it a lot of different ways. They have their core four guys who get a lot of hits on the quarterback, stunts, games, those four guys working together.
They are mixing secondary elements, and it's not just one guy. It's the free safety, it's the strong safety. There's a lot of combinations that they have and if you're wrong, like we were wrong on that first third down, that's what it translates into, being able to hit it short and catch and run. That's not all bad, either.
On what he says to Brett Favre following an interception…
Usually I'm saying "What defensive personnel or what offensive personnel are they putting out there" so that I know what we are going to match with. At that point it's hard to talk to him right at that point because we are putting the defense out there.
It's a sudden-change situation. Sudden change has been something that we've been trying to improve on defensively because it is a huge momentum shift. How are they going to attack you at that point, and what do you want to do to defend that? Where is the ball? Are we in the red zone, 40-yard line, backed up? There's a lot of different things going on defensively that, you know, we don't time to say, "Hey, what were you thinking there?"
On the routine after an interception...
I'll talk about it with Brian [Schottenheimer] or with Brett, or it could be multiple different guys, the receiver that was involved with it, and try to figure out what went wrong. Was it the wrong route adjustment? Was it some kind of pressure? Was it Brett trying to put it in too tight a place? Figure out what was the issue with the play and was it a function of that play is not very good, or it wasn't a very good decision but the play was solid, we can come back to it because we liked something on it.
On the Jets' run-blocking…
We can continue to improve there. I feel we've got a lot of core runs that we have run very well at times. I'd like to be able to run those plays consistently regardless of the opponent, week in and week out. You're going to have your game plan runs as well, and they are not all going to hit the same, they are not all going to have the same effectiveness, but you want to be at that point where you have a real comfort level.
Sometimes you only game-plan runs that are not very good and you need to default back to your core identity, and we are making some strides. It's not one run or one play that's really been ineffective or extremely affective, but it's the consistency on average of the group of runs that we can continue to improve.
On if he is concerned with Vernon Gholston's impact…
No, when I'm going to be concerned is when we are not making progress and when we are not seeing him get better week in and week out. That to me is a concern. In terms of what the level of progress is going to be each week, I can't predict that, but it's got to be progress and the concern becomes when you take a step back as opposed to a step forward.
On how Gholston's progress is evaluated…
Each game, the position coaches write up all of their players. They don't just do it in the context of the game, and that's the bulk of the writeup, but it's in the context of the week. There may be some elements of "He had a really good day on Wednesday, he needs to work on X, Y and Z, we'll make sure we get more of that next week, that translated in the game, it didn't translate in the game" or whatever the case may be trying to summarize where that player was through the week punctuated by the game.
As you read through those and as you talk through those, you're able to gauge, "OK, is this guy moving forward or is he moving backward?" It's also a really good feel for me when I meet with the players and say, "OK, let's look at your body of work," because it's hard to get in Week 8 to try to look back to Week 1 and remember all of the things that happened. That's why we try to summarize each player each week. That's highlighted by the actual game.
On if Gholston's progress has been more during the week…
No, there have been some things during the game that have been better, that he's played better. Typically when you look at a player, you are always looking in terms of statistics, but sometimes it's not always measured that way. You want to see it measured that way, if it's a player in that position, but sometimes it's not as dramatic as you hope yet there are a lot of positive things going on.
On if Gholston is thinking too much…
It's the way that we approach each week. We don't have a stationary group of plays that "OK, we cut these plays out and paste it on to the Oakland game plan." It's Oakland-specific and the things that Oakland does are very different than the things that everybody else does, and what we are going to do against that is going to be very different.
You're building up and you're drawing on things that you did in the past but maybe adjusted. "It's Cover-4 but we are playing it this week, this way." That's why it's so important for us to have versatile guys, guys that are smart, guys that are able to carry over concepts but not be bound by the concepts to where they can't adjust it.
It's often very different for new guys in the system that have been used to "OK, hey, this is what we did in training camp, we are doing it in Week 8." Well, we did a variation of that, and conceptually we covered this, but it's adjusted these five ways.
On Gholston rushing the quarterback…
I don't really view his job as being just rushing the quarterback. His job is to be a good defensive football player, and an element of that is rushing the quarterback. But he's got to drop into coverage, he's got to be able to play the different runs. We never really identify someone in sort of that box. I think there's been some progress there as well, but that's not how he'll be measured, and really nobody would ever be measured on sort of that one area.
On if it's a short week…
No, we go through exactly the same format. We just leave on Friday, but it's after the football day is done, then we head out.
On Mike Nugent being back this week…
I'm not sure, I wouldn't even touch on that until Friday, just because guys have the week and they are up and down.
On Reggie Hodges' punting…
He didn't get many shots. I thought the punt that he had there to pin them down at the 4 was good. I thought his other punt for us was pretty good, things that could be a little bit better in terms of the stride he took, the drop. Those are things that I think are inherently correctable.
On if there are similarities between Cincinnati and Oakland…
Yes, they have been leading late in a lot of these games. There's a lot of different things that you have to get ready for. I worked with [Oakland defensive coordinator] Rob Ryan for a long time. He is a really good friend of mine and I know how creative he is defensively and the problems that he can come up with. I think it will be a challenge, and we'll get more into that later tonight and into tomorrow.
On if Justin Miller was close to being activated Sunday…
Yes, those decisions are really tough. With Jesse [Chatman], he played on quite a few special teams, and you're looking at numbers of plays, how many plays can that guy contribute, and when you look at the number of plays, you look at it offensively and on teams or defensively and on teams and you're trying to make sure that you don't bring someone to the game that's not going to get enough action to make the contribution significant.
On if Miller will continue to return kickoffs when he comes back...
It's not uncommon to have two returners back there and the nice thing about that is, who are you going to kick away from? You know, it's hard to kick away from one guy or the other. That's something that we would definitely look at.
On if his wife, Julie, who just delivered their third child, heard his "shoutout" after the game...
Yes, she did. I don't even know what station or what channels she has in the hospital room, but she was able to and she appreciated it. I don't know how many games, it's got to be close to 130 games in a row she had been to, home games. She broke the streak, but for a good reason.
On if Julie found it romantic…
There were not a lot of romantic moments at the hospital. Usually, with three kids in a hospital room, there's not a lot of candles and French dinners.
