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Mangini: Barlow is in the mix this week

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For each of the past two games, running back Kevan Barlow has been on the inactive list even though the sixth-year veteran leads the Jets with six touchdowns. Cedric Houston and rookie Leon Washington have been the running duo of late, but head coach Eric Mangini insists that could change.

"He (Kevan) is in the mix this week, just like Cedric (Houston), when he was inactive, was in the mix every week," Mangini said in his Wednesday press conference. "It will be based on the week of practice. Kevan is still working into a role on special teams. That is new ground for him. I don't think he's ever been on a show team, a special team, but he's jumping right in there."

Read below for coach Mangini's complete press conference transcript

New York Jets' Head Coach Eric Mangini, 12.13

Opening Statement…

We re-signed Andre Maddox to the practice squad. He will be back with us today. He was in this morning.

I got to know Brad (Childress) a little bit not this past off-season, but the off-season before. I've always respected him as a coach. I've always thought he's been a great coordinator, facing him in Philadelphia in the Super Bowl when we were in New England. We had played them a couple times outside of that as well. I just think he's a really good guy, really smart guy. I look forward to getting to know him more here as time moves on.

Offensively you can definitely see Brad's influence. It's a well-run offense. Chester Taylor is doing a good job. He's a threat across the board. He can really hit anywhere along the defensive front. That's always a problem. He's got good bursts, good long speed. He had that 95-yard touchdown against Seattle. In terms of throwing the ball, he's been very effective doing that. I know Jermaine Wiggins from New England, as well. He's a guy that you wouldn't look and say he's going to catch a zillion balls, but he always does. He's very crafty. He has very good hands. With Brad Johnson, he has Super Bowl experience and he has a 60 percent completion rate 10 consecutive years. That's hard to do. He's pretty effective. When he's on, the offense is pretty effective.

Their run defenses are impressive. They're on the verge of breaking a record that's been in place since 1942 in terms of rushing yards allowed per game. Overall they're opportunistic, 31 turnovers. I think they're third in the NFL in interceptions. Effectively being able to stop the run, then being able to take advantage of the opportunities that are there in terms of the passing game with the interceptions makes it difficult.

On special teams, they have two good returners. Mewelde Moore is a threat as a punt returner. I know Bethel (Johnson) from New England. I feel like it's homecoming week. He is an explosive guy who made some big plays for us. He had a huge play when they were there in 2003 against the Colts at the end of the half where he ran a kick off back in the 38-34 (New England win) game. He ran it back 92-yards, right there at the end of the half. He has the ability to do that at any point. He has rare speed. So that will be a challenge as well.

On Minnesota's run defense…

Pat (Williams) and Kevin (Williams) are both very impressive inside. Their secondary is very active in run support. They're good tacklers. They're aggressive tacklers. They're stout. The linebackers do a really nice job flowing in terms of their reads and, present some difficulties in terms of picking them up. Even when you have a hat for a hat, they do a nice job of getting off the blockers. It's the combination of the good group up front backed up by some problematic linebackers, then a very active secondary.

On Justin Miller's personality…

When I think of Justin, I think of him the way that he approaches the kickoff return game. He's very strong. He's very aggressive. He has that attacking style, which is outstanding. Justin did a nice job in the plays that he had defensively last week. That's all part of the process. He has a very important role for us on special teams and needs to continue to develop his role defensively. He took a positive step last week in terms of the reps that he had, and made a couple really nice plays in run support last week that I was happy with.

On Miller breaking into the starting secondary…

He needs to do the same thing across the board. It's just consistency, continuing to improve his technique. He's got a lot of natural ability, size, strength, speed, those things. Now he's just continually making progress each week with his technique.

On extra playing time Miller received last week…

He's had a couple of good weeks in a row in practice where we wanted to give him some more opportunities. Then he went in the game and took advantage of those opportunities. That really is the ongoing process where you show it out here during the week, then you get a chance on Sunday. That carries over into the amount of chances you'll get the following week.

On Miller forcing the fumble…

That's great. I wasn't even thinking of the fumble, I was thinking of the play on the perimeter. They came in, got Kerry (Rhodes). There was a two-yard loss. He's got that aggressiveness that you like from corners.

On D'Brickashaw Ferguson…

Brick has been through a lot of games now. We've been through a lot of games as a team. He's started every one of them. He's gotten a ton of reps, not just in the games, in practice. He's faced some of the premiere pass-rushers in the league. This is just the way it works. Some weeks are better than others. The nice thing is that you get another opportunity here this week to go out and improve. What were the mistakes? What things could I have done better? Then going and correcting those throughout the week and making sure you execute those the next time you play.

On Ferguson's progress…

Brick has made real progress. One area where Brick has improved significantly is he's always been very conscientious, but his attention to detail is improving. Not that it was bad, but I think it's getting better. It's getting to that thing we talked about, being a pro, your approach. A lot of times I'll start on Wednesdays. I let him kick the day off with some questions. Very rarely does he get things wrong. I'm pleased with that. That's all part of the maturing process for those guys. Different styles of play, different schemes, different blocking schemes, how you prepare during the week, what you take away from the experience and put sort of in your vault so you can draw on it the next time.

On whether Ferguson relaxed on some plays late in the Buffalo game…

It would be hard for me to think that because (Aaron) Schobel, every play on tape he's like that. He's relentless. I really like the way that he plays. It doesn't matter whether it's the first quarter, fourth quarter, who he's playing against. That guy is relentless. That was also a point of emphasis throughout the week. There are no plays where maybe he'll slow down a little bit. He just doesn't do it.

On Ferguson struggling with power moves…

As athletic as he is, that really helps him in terms of leverage and angles. You can generate a lot of power with the proper base, the proper stance. When you throw your hands is really important. If you throw them too early, they can break them down. You really have no power. You always want to time it up almost like you're snapping into his chest where you can generate the most power. Those are things, regardless of whether you're 380 or 290, that can really help you also is your footwork, how wide your base is. You don't want to be more than shoulder-width apart. Then how you time off that punch which is critical for offensive linemen. On the flipside, you'll see with defensive linemen where they're breaking down the offensive linemen's hands. That's the counter to it. As they're going to throw the punch, you're always trying to chop that down and use it against them to generate some type of opening, some type of crease.

On Nick Mangold…

Nick is one of those guys that not a lot fazes him. That's good. That's really good. Even from the first week he got here after his exams. He put the ball on the ground a couple times. That fazed him and me. But as he moves on, he's very comfortable in there. He's comfortable working with Pete (Kendall) and with Brandon (Moore). He's comfortable working with the rest of the guys, which is incredibly important. With Chad (Pennington). He does a nice job of, as he sees something and is exposed to it, being able adjust to it. He'll get better with that. He started a lot of games in college and high school. He's been the starter for a long time. That's where he's comfortable being.

On expectations of Mangold…

I thought he was going to be a very good player. What I really thought was going to help him was his other characteristics, which you see all the time: The work ethic and all the things we stress and talk about.

While we're on the rookie parade, Wallace Wright, Jamie Thompson, Brad Smith, here are three rookies playing on special teams against arguably one of the best special teams units in the game. All three of those guys did a nice job. Wallace is a guy who is an undrafted, not only undrafted but an unsigned rookie free agent, who made it at a try-out. Jamie has just been plugging along, and finally got a shot. Brad, a quarterback last year, now he's a force on special teams.

On Rashad Moore being inactive on Sunday…

That was really a function of C.J. Mosley. C.J., he's right along there with everybody else. He finally got his shot and produced pretty well. He made four tackles and had an assist, which is pretty good for his first significant action. I was happy with him. C.J. is another guy that has been in the shadows, has been working, and now has a shot. That was great.

On what Rashad Moore needs to get playing time…

As you're watching the tape, as you're talking to the coaches, as you're going through the meetings, if they are not the next guy in line, they've got to make a case for themselves to be the next guy in line. The last two to three weeks, C.J. has really made a case. It was heard. He was given the opportunity.

On Mosley becoming comfortable in his position…

Each guy is a little different. Some guys you see and hear a little earlier on. Some guys a little later. I don't think there's necessarily one path to getting the opportunity.

On Kevan Barlow being inactive…

He's in the mix this week, just like Cedric (Houston), when he was inactive, he was in the mix every week. It will be based on the week of practice. Kevan is still working into a role on special teams. That's new ground for him. I don't think he's ever been on a show team, a special team, but he's jumping right in there.

On Barlow's off-season surgery…

With those surgeries, everybody has a different progression. He hasn't missed any significant practice time. The decision wasn't a function of that. It was a function of every other decision that goes into play when there's multiple guys at one spot.

On Laveranues Coles not getting any receptions in the second half versus Buffalo…

We are always trying to get Laveranues involved. Laveranues garners a lot of attention now. Sometimes you don't want to do that and put the ball in a spot where really they'd like you to go. When they throw a bunch of the coverage over there, defensively your mindset is always, 'go ahead and throw to…' Marvin Harrison, Laveranues Coles, throw to whoever the key guy is. You're actually kind of hoping at that point that the ball does go over there because of the type of scheme that you have. You're half thinking, 'I really hope they don't go to the other side at this point' because you're a lot lighter there in terms of the depth of the coverage.

On Coles drawing the attention of defenses…

Yeah, he's getting quite a bit. He's doing a good job with it. It's opened up some other opportunities for Jerricho (Cotchery) and some of the other guys to get involved. That's a plus and a minus. It's a plus because it means he's playing really well. It's a minus because it makes it obviously more difficult to get him the ball. It's something that's an ongoing process. We try to get him in the right spots, move him around and be able to force a situation where the double can't get there.

On defenses game planning to take Coles out of the game…

It just depends on the mindset of the defensive coordinator. You definitely go into games saying, Look, this guy is not going to beat us. If everybody else does, great, he's not going to. It's not necessarily always the case that you get that. Some people have different approaches where they're not going to adjust the scheme based on a player, where some teams are more true game plan oriented. This one element is not going to win the game. If they can win it with something else, then so be it.

On Justin Miller maturing…

Consistency is the key issue. It's just so important in the secondary because that one play where you're inconsistent -- there's not a lot of help. If you just have that one sort of pause or one hiccup, now it's seven points. Whereas a young guy in some other spots you can hit the wrong gap and someone can cover you up pretty quickly, the safety makes a tackle. It doesn't have the same dramatic effect.

On whether Miller is 'hyper' off the field…

I haven't hung out with him too much. He hasn't wanted to come over and play Play-Dough with Jake and me. I don't know why. It's good times (smiling).

I'm not sure. The way that I gauge it is how he is in the building, how he is in the meetings. I've seen a lot of real progress with him. As you get older, you hopefully get wiser. Not that I have anything against young guys. I think young guys are great.

On running the ball against Minnesota…

There have been some good plays, some successful plays. Different people have tried to attack it different ways. The key thing is to try to find the plays that work the best for you and the times they're most effective. New England had a couple nice plays based off them, making progress in the passing game. Other teams did some nice things where they just stayed with the running game. I don't think the approach is just the one way, the New England way. I think that different teams have had success at various points that we'll draw on and incorporate in our plan.

On focusing too much on Minnesota's impressive run defense stats…

There's an element of that when you look at numbers that are impressive. When you turn on the tape, it backs up the numbers. There's pretty strong evidence that they're good against the run.

On why Minnesota has struggled to win…

The five games they lost they lost by seven points or less. They've all been close games. They've been in every one of them with the exception of a few there. As you watch the tape, you see so many good things. Sometimes it's a play here or there, whereas somebody hits a big play, you have a big play that you just don't quite connect on and then you're losing games close. That can quickly turn around. It's much better than the alternative.

On Minnesota's dominant defense…

I think their defensive backs are second, third, fourth and fifth in tackles. That's not always a good thing. If you're bringing them down the box, you want them to be able to make the plays. If you're playing cover two, they have perimeter run support, it can mean a couple different things. In their case, they are involved in the run support and they are successful with it they do a good job with it. Inside, it's a stout group backed up by some really active linebackers. They play well together, too.

Wednesday Injury Report Jets
Questionable: FB B.J. Askew (foot), CB David Barrett (hip), LB Matt Chatham (foot), Eric Smith (foot) LB & Bryan Thomas (shoulder)
Probable:*RB Kevan Barlow (calf), *LB Brad Kassell (shin), *WR Justin McCareins (foot), *DL Rashad Moore (hand), *QB Chad Pennington (calf), *DL Dewayne Robertson (shoulder), *TE Sean Ryan (thigh) *WR Brad Smith (shoulder) *S Jamie Thompson (ankle) & *DL Kimo von Oelhoffen (shoulder)

Vikings
Questionable: RB Chester Taylor (ribs), QB Brooks Bollinger (shoulder)
Probable:CB Cedric Griffin (neck), LB Napoleon Harris (wrist), WR Marcus Robinson (ankle) & DT Pat Williams (knee)

*Denotes players who participated in practice

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