Transcripts of news conferences and interviews at Lincoln Financial Field after the Jets' 45-19 loss to the Eagles on Sunday:
HEAD COACH REX RYAN
Obviously a horrendous performance by us, that goes without saying. One thing we entered the game thinking we had to run the table and that we'd control our own destiny. We come out of the game, we need to win the rest of the games to control our own destiny, so it does count just for one game. But obviously, that was about as bad as it gets, especially in the first half and early in the third quarter, we couldn't stop them on defense, we were turning the ball over on offense. It was just a terrible performance, obviously. But with that I'll open it up for questions.
On the play of the offensive and defensive line and how to rebound for next week...
With the challenge that's in front of us, when you look at them, the Giants are, I know they got beat today, but I know they've been one of the best offenses in the league. And then obviously on defense, they can really get after the passer. So it's going to be a similar challenge to what it was this week, but obviously we'd better play a zillion times better.
On his reactions to this loss after playing well the previous three weeks...
Well, I'm obviously disappointed. Shocked, I guess. I never thought they would score six out of seven possessions on us at one point. That's ridiculous. They're decent, they're a good offense and all that, but we made them look…I mean I don't know what to say. You know, I want to give them credit because obviously they played a heck of a game, Philadelphia did and we didn't.
On if he is disappointed with WR Santonio Holmes' game...
Yeah, obviously I'm disappointed. I mean when your best player turns the ball over twice, directly, I mean, that's a disappointment. But that was kind of the way the day was. We all can look in the mirror and find fault. And it starts with me, I'm sure they feel the same way, all of our guys do—every coach, every player. But that was the kind of day it was for us. And like I say, you got to give the Eagles credit, they made a ton of plays on us.
On QB Mark Sanchez's injury...
I'm not sure. I know he was able to come back. He never wanted to come out of the game, even at the end when we had [Mark] Brunell in there, Mark just wanted to go back in. I'm think he's fine, but I'm not sure what the extent of that injury was.
On opponents' success at TE against their defense...
I think part of the receiving deal is because our corners are pretty darn good. But yeah, it was a great scheme on their part. They ran what we call a yogi-go and obviously they hit for that 70-some yarder. That wasn't our best, that's for sure. And then they caught one, if we just maintain our leverage on him, on that corner route he had for a touchdown, I think, we'd be fine. Gotta give them credit, they did a great job protecting the quarterback. Looked like we were scared to death to go after him. And then [Michael] Vick made some great throws.
On what he tells his team after a lopsided loss...
I don't know, maybe we should bury the football again. I don't know. We'll come up with something. I mean it's sitting right in front of us, we got to win two games, regardless of losing to these guys or not.
On if there is a similarity to the game last season where they gave up 45 points last...
Yeah, we got our butt kicked, that's a somewhat similarity. Give up that many points, you're not going to beat anybody.
On if RB LaDainian Tomlinson went the wrong way on the Sanchez broken play fumble...
I don't even remember. I forgot about that one.
On if he was hopeful after cutting the Eagles' lead to 28-13 at halftime...
Yeah, I absolutely did. We had scored 13 unanswered, so I knew we'd come back, I felt we would. But you know, obviously the big pass to the tight end was a backbreaker, but I guess there was a bunch of them.
On getting to the AFC Championship Game after giving up 45 points at New England last year and if he thinks the same thing could happen again...
I think we got it. I know we have that resolve. You know, we have to win these next two, period, plain and simple, or we won't earn the right to find out. But we have to go out and win these next two games and then we'll find out how far we can go.
On the expected intensity of the upcoming game against the Giants...
It's going to be ridiculous. You know it's going to be…that's a war. Whoever loses is probably out, and the fact is that we're both fighting for our playoff lives. But to say that there won't be any extra incentive is not right. I mean obviously, there's going to be extra incentive, extra motivation. You go to the same restaurants, you go to the … whatever, guys date the same girls, I don't know.
But we know what it's all about. You want to own your town, you got to win that game. It's funny how when the league came together, they probably thought there was a possibility that this kind of game would exist, they put it late in the season and everybody's going to put all their chips in and we're going to see what happens. But you would think there wouldn't be any more motivation because you've got as much as you can, you both have to win and all that stuff, but I think there will be.
On if Andy Reid showed him anything new today...
I think Michael Vick showed us something. I've gone against Vick a few times, but he's never had that kind of day, not even close against our kind of defense. But he had it today — running, he threw it well. I think they've done a great job, obviously, with Vick. He's a complete quarterback now, but that was the guy that showed me something.
Andy Reid, I've got a great deal of respect for him. Obviously he's been doing this a long time, 13 years — he's been a perennial winner. It's something that I hope I can have that kind of success, but you know, did he show something? I don't know, he looked good, I guess."
QB MARK SANCHEZ
On taking hits and overall health...
Yeah I'm feeling all right, feeling all right, just took some good hits … physical game.
On the big hit in the third quarter...
Just took a good shot, and that's it. I didn't really want to come out of the game, but it's Coach's decision so I respect that.
On the Jets' first two turnovers...
It just put our defense in a bad spot, and we just got out played. We made too many mistakes, hats off to the Eagles for playing well and taking care of the football and taking advantage of our shortcomings. So we dug ourselves a hole and couldn't come out.
On controlling their destiny over the next two games...
Two-and-oh and we're in. We just can't rely on stuff like that and you know, regardless, we don't ever want to put what we put out there on the field on tape. That's just embarrassing, it's not good, it's terrible football, didn't take care of the ball, I fumbled on a third down, missed a couple of throws, and we just didn't play our best, speaking from an offensive perspective, and when you do that it makes it tough on the defense.
We got the ball down in tight a couple of times, down in the red zone where we're usually great, and we give the ball right back to them. So there's no excuse for stuff like that and we're a much better football team than we showed, much better than that. We throw the ball better, we catch the ball better, we can run better, and we can protect better. We know it, I've seen our guys do it, so whatever it was today, we just need to figure it out individually tomorrow and watch the film, take to the coaching, and be ready to play these next two games because it's 2-0 and we can be in the postseason tournament and that's all we need.
On being in pain coming off the field in the third quarter...
It's fine. I just took a good hit. I don't really know, it was just pretty sore, it was a good hit.
On that hit being a helmet-to-helmet hit...
We got a penalty later on it [helmet-to-helmet hit] but I have no idea.
On playing from a deficit the entire game...
We just put ourselves in a bad spot offensively and defensively. It's hard when you get the ball down in the red zone and then give it right back to them and make your defense go out there after two plays, you can't do that. And we already said we're better than that, we're much better than that and you never want to put that stuff on film, it's just embarrassing. We're a much better football team, we know how to take care of the football and when we do we win, or at least it's close. There's no excuse for tonight, it was bad all around on offense.
On the touchdown to WR Santonio Holmes...
You know there's a linebacker running underneath and a safety trying to cover over the top and you know him and Plax [Plaxico Burress] are a couple of guys that, even when they're covered, sometimes they're still open and he made a great job adjusting to the football, and I tried to just give him a chance where the defensive back wasn't looking and we got a touchdown.
On the play of Holmes this season...
Even early on we got him two catches early, he had the fumble trying to secure it before he gets hit, very uncharacteristic of Santonio. That's not the way he plays, so we know that will be fine. That's just a physical mistake, and then he was ready to run out of the catch down on the goal line and he popped it up right to the defender, so that's a catch he makes in his sleep.
Those things happen, and it's unfortunate that it happened early. We gave them 14 points off those turnovers. I mean you've seen his production the last few weeks, all season really. He's easily one of our best players and we have to get him the ball. Right after the interception we went right back to him and we got a pass interference, so there's no chance we're going to lose confidence in a guy like that. He's one of our best players and he never plays like this, so that stuff happens to everybody and he'll bounce back and he's a hell of a player so we're not worried about it.
On a tough double-digit loss last season and bouncing back from it...
We just really hurt ourselves tonight, and whether it was fumbles, or interceptions, or me fumbling, you know we can't do it. I know we're better than that, I know that when we put points on the board, our defense is excited and they'll get us the ball right back like they did a couple of times tonight and we need to capitalize. Special teams will get us great field position like always and we just need to be better on offense.
CB DARRELLE REVIS
On what happened on the long Brent Celek touchdown...
I don't know what happened because I was covering my guy and I looked up and he cut across the field for the long gain. We'll see what happened on film and make changes on these kinds of big plays.
On if he is disappointed the Jets played the way they did on defense...
Yes, we didn't play our best but we just have to have a goal to win our next two. We have to dig ourselves a little out of a hole because we need to get a good spot for the playoffs.
On if he is frustrated that it's come to this...
I am a little frustrated but the Eagles' record does not mean they were not a good team. They have a ton of talent on their squad and we just did not play well. They are a great team and we knew this would be a tough game. They got on us fast and beat us.
On what the defense needs to do to cover other teams' tight ends better...
I think this is a position that can hurt you and we need to make some changes in many phases to stop this position from scoring. We have eleven guys out there and we are always communicating well and it is not one guy that is making mistakes. If the tight end makes a big play it's not on one guy usually but on the whole defense. We just need to play better as a defense.
RB SHONN GREENE
On what they need to do to improve on today...
We have to just go back to work because we have two games left on the season. We need to treat it one game at a time. We made to many mistakes and did not execute the game plan that we had today.
On if he got an X-ray after the game...
Yes, I did have to get an X-ray for my pinkie finger because of a stretched tendon in it. I think I'm going to be fine and it will not affect me for next week.
On if the Jets had to throw a lot more because of getting behind early...
We had turnovers and it really made us have to make changes to try and catch up. We just did not do enough to win today. As the coaching staff said to us that we have two games left and they are games we have to get.
On if the Eagles surprised them with things they did...
Not at all because we knew what they were going to do but the mistakes got in the way. We simply lost this game ourselves. It is a very disappointing loss for us.
CB DONALD STRICKLAND
On what the Eagles offense did to win this game...
I think [Michael] Vick and [LeSean] McCoy just really played a nice game and we got behind in a hurry. We just did not play a very good game.
On if the defense struggled against the run...
I think we just did not contain the corners really well and that hurt us with McCoy, who got to the outside really well. I think we had a lot of missed tackles in the game and we have to play better if we want to win our last two games.
On what the Eagles did to disrupt the defense...
I think Vick really ran well and threw really well on the routes and again we did not set the edges well and the Eagles ran the ball really great. These were the biggest things but to win in the playoffs we need to play better.
On what they need to do to rebound...
We have been here before and know what we need to come back after a tough loss. We will come back and play well but we need to put in 110 percent in practice this week.
LB JAMAAL WESTERMAN
On thoughts about RB LeSean McCoy...
He is a great running back and if you do not swarm on him and gang-tackle him, he is tough to bring down. He is a great back and he can really hurt you.
On what they tried to do at halftime to slow down the Eagles offense...
We knew that we needed to tackle better and we wanted to rush the quarterback better and not let him get out running around. I think we realized that we did not tackle really well in the first half.
On if the Jets defenders had the wind taking out of them going down 28-0...
No, I don't think so because no matter what the score is you have to come out each series and make plays. We just did not do our jobs as well today to get the offense the ball.
On what they are going to do to slow down the Giants offense...
I haven't watched them a lot but we need to get back to what we need to do well and practice hard this week. We need to make adjustments and watch the film on the Giants and play really hard.
FB JOHN CONNER
On what the offense needs to do to improve...
We need to get back to work and win the rest of our games. It happens in this game and I have all the confidence in this team that we will get it done.
On what the Giants will be like on Saturday...
The Giants are our crosstown rivals and it's going to be an intense game. Both of the teams are really going to want the game because they need it. We will see in the end who wants it more.
On if the turnovers hurt the Jets in the first half...
I think they really hurt us because against a good team they will take advantage of it and the Eagles surely did. It was tough because we mounted a little of a comeback but we just got too far behind early. We just need to correct it.
On how the team bounces back...
I think we need to realize that we made the turnovers and we beat ourselves on this day. We just need to go back and make the corrections and I have all the confidence in the world that we will do it.
