Barrett forced a fumble on the Raiders' second possession on Sunday
Following a bye week in early November, the Jets were sitting at 4-4 and preparing to battle their division rivals from the north. Then the Jets went to New England on November 12 and came away with a 17-14 victory, sparking a spirited run to the postseason. This Sunday, the Green and White hope to make it two in a row at Gillette Stadium.
"It was definitely a big win, but I think it was just a steppingstone for us," said wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery. "To be able to get that kind of a win on the road, in a division game, being able to pull it out, that was big for us. They have been doing it well for a while, so that competition level is very high."
Read below for complete transcripts from inside the Jets locker room
New York Jets' RB Leon Washington, 1.1
On going into New England having beaten them once already…
Knowing that we had won before lets us know that we can win again, and that will give us a lot more confidence this time around playing this team. It will be tough; they're playing well, we'll be in New England and they have a lot of veterans that have been there before. Me being a young guy, I'm just looking for any kind of help I can get from my veteran players to go out here and play a good game against these guys.
On Darrent Williams…
I woke up this morning and saw that on television. Whenever you lose somebody in the NFL, it's tough, it's very tough. Jamie Thompson played with him at Oklahoma State, so he was definitely close to him. When you loose a guy like that, it's tough.
On New England…
They're a very disciplined team, a team that will take advantage of your mistakes when you make them. They're a very well-coached team and have players who have been in this position before and know what it takes to make big-time plays. We'll have our work cut out for us this weekend.
New York Jets' G Pete Kendall, 1.1
On Brian Schottenheimer…
I think that people can appreciate the energy and emotion that Brian brings to the preparation. He has a pretty calm demeanor on Sunday, as do most of the coaches, I think that's probably something that's stressed from the top down, but during the week there's a high level of energy from Brian.
On having fun in Brian Schottenheimer's system…
Like every system, there are some things that you like about the system and some things that present more challenges. As I was saying earlier, Brian is not particularly dogmatic in his approach, he's going to do whatever he feels is going to give us the best chance to win from week-to-week. Sometimes you get to a point where it feels different too. Again, I'm not here to argue with the results, I'm just saying philosophically, when you're the Denver Broncos you know you're running the zone scheme. We dabble in all sorts of things, not just in the running game, but in the passing game as well. That presents a challenge for us as players, but I think you've seen the results, and I think it's safe to say that we've all been pretty pleased with them. I think we've all welcomed the challenge.
New York Jets' LB Victor Hobson, 1.1
On Darrent Williams…
It just puts life into perspective. No one is promised tomorrow. To know something like that is sad, you never want to hear anything like that. I just sent my condolences out to his family.
New York Jets' WR Laveranues Coles, 1.1
On his reaction upon hearing they were playing New England…
I guess we didn't have much luck, any time you have to go play against the Patriots. They're an excellent football team and I really didn't want to play them in the first round; they're such a tough team. We have our work cut out for us and we know we just have to get back to the drawing board and we know they're going to be prepared for us.
On drawing confidence from beating New England earlier this year…
New England is a totally different team in the playoffs. When you watch them, they're the last team you ever want to see in the playoffs, because of the way you prepare and the experience they have. We know we have our work cut out for us, it's something that we're just going to have to grit our teeth at.
On getting closer to Eric Mangini after the New England defeat…
At that point, it was something we all wanted to do. I think Shaun Ellis said it best, we hadn't beaten them in a while and we got tired of them basically taking our lunch money. Now, none of that matters, it's all out the window. We have to try and play, because it's either one, or done. That's the way it works right now. I'm sure they know that, they have a lot of experience in the playoffs they've won quite a few Super Bowls and they're the team to beat.
On changing New England's perception of the Jets after beating them…
I think they look at us in the same facet. I just think they know that we can play and that's pretty much it, it didn't change anything. They always got ready when they came to play us and we always got New England's best and I think we're going to get their best again.
On having familiarity with New England…
It's tough I can say that, because I watch them on film and they play everybody differently, you never know what to expect. They have great coaches who come up with some excellent game plans, they also have some excellent players. Whenever you play against a team like New England, you're going to get something that's going to look different and you're always going to get their best.
New York Jets' DE Bobby Hamilton, 1.1
On playing his old team…
It was a great feeling seeing the guys back there with the Oakland Raiders, but it's just business when you're out there on the field. After the game was over, we shook hands and we talked, they told me congratulations and good luck in the playoffs. That's all you can do about that. Like I said, we're getting ready to go to New England, another big challenge for us. We know that we split in the regular season, they won one game and we won one game, so now it's all about business. It's the playoffs. The regular season doesn't matter right now, this is what we're going to try and do.
On his reaction upon hearing they were playing New England…
We have no control over that. The only thing we can do now is go play. When we saw that it was New England, we already played these guys twice, they're going to be ready. They're going to do the best they can and we're going to have to try and do the best we can to move on in the playoffs. It's going to be a very exciting game and we know that, we just have to go there and play.
New York Jets' CB David Barrett, 1.1
On not starting after being a starter last season…
It is what it is. When I'm in, I'm in and when I'm not in, whoever is in is going to take care of the job.
On emphasizing going for the strip on tackles…
It's something that we emphases every day in practice, trying to take the ball away and getting turnovers.
On feeling vulnerable with a starting corner injured…
We know whoever is out there is going to be a starter and hold up his end of the deal.
On that attitude stemming from Training Camp…
You have to know what to do out there, in order to be out there on the field. If you don't know what to do when you're in a different position it's going to be hard for you out there on the field. We just try to interchange our position and everybody tries to do everything.
On today being different from any other Monday…
I didn't expect it to be. It is what it is, you have to keep moving on and that's all we are doing, taking it day-by-day and moving on.
On being excited to be in the playoffs…
For me, I'm excited to be in the playoffs, it's only the second time in my career in the playoffs and you don't get here very often. For me, I'm very excited. These guys, they take it as it comes, and the young guys don't know how to act yet.
New York Jets' WR Jerricho Cotchery, 1.1
On beating the Patriots in Foxborough helping form a bond between the players and Coach Mangini…
It was definitely a big win, but I think it was just a stepping stone for us. To be able to get that kind of a win on the road, in a division game, being able to pull it out, that was big for us. They've (the Patriots) been doing it well for a while, so that competition level is very high, because they are the Patriots and they've been doing it well and we've been doing it okay. So we just have to go out and prepare the way we've been preparing and try to see what we can do.
On thriving on being doubted…
We haven't been worried about anyone else's thoughts about us; we have just been going out and do what we can do. As long as we keep believing in ourselves and continue to go out and try to execute our game plan and continue to play then we give ourselves the chance to be in some games. We're just going to continue to focus on ourselves and take our same approach each week and see where we can go from there.
New York Jets' S Jamie Thompson, 1.1
On Darrent Williams…
It was a devastating tragedy, because Darrent is a good guy. He came up hard and he worked his way up to the next level. To see that was tragic.
