New York Jets' LB Jonathan Vilma, 9.27
On the task presented by the Colts' offense…
It's a big test. It's Week Four now; we'll have finished up a quarter of the season, so it's a great way to finish it. If we win the game, it will be great for us, we will know where we're at. If we lose the game, it's not the end of the world, we still have a lot of football left. We're not going to be too excited or over hyped for the game, but we want to play well and it's an exciting game.
On Peyton Manning really changing plays at the line or is it just his posturing…
That's kind of hard to say. You don't know when he's really checking or when he's not. We have to stay sharp mentally. The physical part will take care of itself during the game, but mentally we have to really understand what we're doing, since he's a great quarterback and he has guys that can make plays for him.
On watching tape of how New England defended Manning…
We watched a little bit of that, especially the AFC Divisional Game in New England. That was a good game to watch, we took notes from that. It's going to be our game, different guys, different players, just the same quarterback.
On trying to take notes from teams that have been successful against the Colts…
Yes, but we have our own adjustments to what we want to do as well. A guy like him (Manning) is comparable to Tom Brady, where you're not going to stop him, you can contain him, slow him down, make him have an average day, but you're not going to stop him completely. We're not going in with the mindset, "we're going to shut him down". We just want to play well against him, make sure we use the proper technique and he'll get his plays.
On the difference in the offense without RB Edgerrin James…
It's not much different. They're only averaging about 80 yards right now. They have the rookie (Joseph Addai), who's been doing well for them. They have Dominic Rhodes, who's been a seasoned veteran for them for a while. They haven't had to rely on the running game as much. They've been passing and getting the lead early and just running their offense.
On the game at Buffalo helping the team's confidence…
It's great for us. Just the fact that we're 2-1 and not 1-2. It was great for us to win that game. Stats tell a different story, but we made plays when we needed to, especially on defense. The offense did a great job moving the ball and scoring points.
On WR Terrell Owens…
It was surprising to me. I honestly don't have an opinion right now, it's just surprising.
On it being shocking to hear about Owens…
Yeah, especially a guy of his caliber, his level. You just never know what's going on.
New York Jets' S Erik Coleman, 9.27
On Coach Mangini's past success against the Colts giving the team confidence…
That was a long time ago. They are a great team, Peyton Manning is a Hall of Fame QB and Marvin Harrison is a Hall of Fame receiver. A lot of teams talk about ways of stopping them, but no one really does it. They have a great connection going. We just have to go out there and play hard and hopefully, Coach will give us some pointers on how to play them well.
On Manning keeping you on your toes by changing plays at the line…
You have to bring your 'A' game against the Colts because of that. He (Manning) does such a great job of making decisions. People talk about him pre-snap, but after the snap he does a great job of reading (defenses). It's tough, it just comes down to the plan and competing.
On Jacksonville's success against Manning…
Jacksonville has one of the best defensive lines in the league. They have a great defense and they're a great team. They have some good corners on their team. I don't know exactly how they did it, but they did a pretty good job.
On doing enough to regain his starting position…
That's up to Coach, he's going to decide. I'm just going to continue to go out there and work and get better and try to improve my game as much as I can.
On playing better against Buffalo then against New England…
Definitely, I made a lot of progress from the New England game to the Buffalo game. It was a lot better. Obviously, we won, so that makes things a lot better. I'm just going to try and keep getting better every day.
New York Jets' S Kerry Rhodes, 9.27
On any player that you emulated in college…
Steve Young.
On anyone he studied since he's become a safety…
This off-season I talked with Donovin Darius of Jacksonville and Rodney Harrison from New England. Those are two guys I can look at. They've both been in the league for a while, they've both made plays in the league for a while and they're both good players, so it's good to talk with those two.
On what Darius did against the Colts that might help the Jets out on Sunday…
They had a good game plan on both sides of the ball. They tried to slow things down. That defense (Jacksonville) is tough, if we can play like them, we'll be fine. They played well.
On how Jacksonville tried to slow things down…
They just played a solid defensive game. They tried to make Indianapolis move the ball methodically and not give up the big plays, that's probably the biggest thing they did.
On how it feels to win Defensive Player of the Week…
It's good to win it, but we have to keep winning (games). I'm more focused on that right now.
On what's going through his mind on the safety blitz…
Going after the ball. I'm not just going after the sack, I'm going after the biggest play I can and that means getting the ball out. I've been able to do that so far.
On how he knows how to strip the ball as a safety…
My defensive backs coach, Corwin Brown. Every time we sack in practice we always tomahawk, not just knock the QB down. I've been doing that and the ball has been coming out.
On teams making adjustments to prevent that…
Buffalo was calling me out when I came down to the box. I know they're aware and that opens up chances for other people on the team. It's still a good thing.
On it being a challenge not to show your hand against Peyton Manning…
We have to try and do what we want to do against him and be patient against him. He's going to take his time and do what he wants to do, his gyrations, and that's his thing. We just have to be patient.
On facing Peyton Manning…
If you want to be labeled as one of the better players, you have to play against the better players. He's (Manning) one of the best, probably the best QB in the league. It's fine for me, I'm coming out trying to do my best and see where I stack up. I'm sure that's what everybody else is thinking too. It's a good challenge for us.
On Coach Mangini's success against the Colts helping on Sunday…
He (Coach Mangini) took that into consideration, I'm sure he did. We're going to go out here today and work on it and see what we can do and see how it works.
