First year head coach Eric Mangini met with the media on Wednesday. Mangini is in the middle of preparing his team for a very balanced Jacksonville Jaguars team. The Jaguars and Jets each share a record of 2-2. The Jets have won both of their games on the road while the Jaguars' wins came on home soil.
"With a team like Jacksonville, a big, physical football team, they play very well at home, played very well for a while now," said Mangini.
Read below for the full Mangini press conference transcript
New York Jets' Head Coach Eric Mangini, 10.4
Opening Statement…
Wednesday is always a busy day for us, both with the installation, going through the scouting report, getting ready for a new opponent, all those elements. Today will follow the normal pattern that we've had over the course of the season, and it's important to start the week off right and talk about that each week, starting in the meetings, at the practices, and getting a good start is so important.
With a team like Jacksonville, a big, physical football team, they play very well at home, played very well for a while now. On offense they are very effective at running the ball and have two outstanding backs.
They've done a great job in terms of time of possession. They're close to the top of the league in time of possession, then they punctuate that by big plays, and the quarterback can make big plays on any play. He's as big as the rest of the group and powerful, and can make all the throws. He's been impressive to watch over the years.
Defensively, they have a good, stout team against the run, especially with Henderson and Peterson and Stroud and Darius, and complement that with a very good coverage unit in the secondary, and they do some good things in terms of coverages and pressures, and I like the package there.
Special teams, it's a physical team, just like it is on offense and defense, and that's going to be a challenge for us because they play physical, both in the return game and the coverage side of it, and it's going to be a good opportunity for us against another really good team on the road, and we're looking forward to getting going with practice and continuing our preparation.
On the Status of RB Cedric Houston…
We're still going through the morning here, and like with any of the injuries, we'll see where he is and try to let him do as much as he can do but just still being very smart about it, and making sure that he's getting the work that he needs in order to prepare, and then we're coordinating that with his rehabilitation and treatment.
On if Houston has a shot to play this weekend…
I think there's a shot for everybody at all times (laughter). Do you want the truth? There's a shot (laughter). That's the truth.
On scouting the Jets' defense for opportunities to improve…
We've been working on that, and there's a lot of different things that we do in terms of fronts and variations in the fronts and things like that. So we're always looking at, based on this front, where have the problems been. And so doing a lot of work on just looking at that and coordinating that with how that would play into those fronts against Jacksonville because it's sort of a two-fold situation where you want to look at the front and the problem or issues that you had, but that issue isn't necessarily going to be the same against Jacksonville. So when you try and incorporate that decision, it's a little bit of self-scouting, and it's a little bit of projecting forward.
On improving the running game…
It really comes back to the thing that we always discuss, the full group. There were some runs over the weekend that looked pretty good but really could have been a lot better, and it's maybe a key block here or sustaining a block for a half of second longer or just giving the running back a little bit more of an angle as opposed to cutting the angle down, based on the way that the other element in the secondary is coming in. Even though it may not be something that's glaring, it's some of those subtle things that can really turn a 40-yard gain into a 60-yard gain.
On protection being a key for the running game…
It's been the full group. I wouldn't say it's just been one element because there have been other times where there are some nice holes and you just don't quite get to the scheme that you want to. Overall it's consistency across the board with everybody, and you just don't know when; if you had sustained your block a second longer, if you had just taken the right path, where that would have gone. A lot of times it's just what could have been, and we don't want to deal with that, we want to deal with, all right, this is what it should be.
On RB Derrick Blaylock….
Derrick and I have talked and our relationship is exactly the same as it will always be. Things change, and everybody understands that each week the needs change, and whether it's the need at running back or the need at safety or corner or linebacker, whatever it is, there's that role, there's the special teams role, and based on the opponent you may need to carry an extra linebacker or extra corner or an extra safety. It's unfortunately a zero sum game, so as you're adding one you've got to subtract one.
On LB Jonathan Vilma…
I think that Jon has made a significant amount of plays and he's made quite a few tackles and he's been very productive. Jon is one of the hardest working guys on the team, and he continues to work at it. What I like about Jon is he studies the backs so deeply that he'll get really angry at practice if the show team doesn't take exactly the angle that the back on tape took. That's a small thing, but it's the understanding that it's him taking the next step of -- and we always talk about the game within the game, whether it's the path of the back or the path of the offensive lineman. That's what I really like about the way Jon approaches things.
On Mangini's rule of five seconds for a loss or a win to dwell or celebrate…
No, it's in full effect. We had five seconds on Monday, and we're moving on.
On Chad taking 24 hours to get over the loss…
COACH ERIC MANGINI: The way that Chad has been playing, he can buy a couple extra seconds here or there. 24 hours, though, we'll have to talk about that.
On the theory that no one wants to play a team coming off of a loss…
I'm thinking that their play looked pretty good. I think that every week, whether this team came off a loss, a win, 10-game win streak, eight-game losing streak, it's really that Sunday. Many of those correlations between statistics that you see out there, and they're nice to read and they're interesting to talk about, but I think at the end of the day it comes down to how well you execute on that Sunday, and that's the really crucial thing.
On RB Leon Washington having his expectations too high for himself because he is returning home…
You'd have to ask Leon kind of where he is with that. I mean, never being a young player that returned home to play, well, I guess I did play in Connecticut.
On Mangini never losing in Connecticut…
I guess it doesn't apply then. But I think the important thing is Leon or D'Brick, or with any of those guys, this is a radical transition for them, and they've been playing now and this is their ninth game. The situation is going to change so differently, whether it's the hostile environment in Buffalo or Tennessee or playing at home. Whatever the case may be with D'Brickashaw the type of players he plays against or Leon getting a role more often on the offense as opposed to just special teams, all of this really new to hat these guys at this level, and I think this is just another element of the transition.
On what Mangini saw in Washington…
In researching Leon, they talked about how much everybody liked him in school, across the board, players, coaches, teachers, how well-liked he was, how well-respected he was, and then we put on the tape. I can't remember what he averaged, but it was pretty significant in both the running game and the passing game. It didn't take long to see some of the really positive traits that we're seeing now.
When Leon first got here and he struggled with fielding some of those punt returns, and he ran lap after lap after lap. It didn't faze him, he just worked at it and got better at it, and I like that about him.
On if Laveranues Coles will be on the injury report today…
Yeah, he's been on there pretty much every week. I think there's a pretty good shot he'll be there today. Yeah, he's got a good shot.
On Laveranues' injury Sunday…
He's tough. Some of the stuff he's played with, he's tough. You need to bottle that.
Wednesday Injury ReportJets
Doubtful:RB Cedric Houston (knee)*Questionable: CB David Barrett (hip), WR Laveranues Coles (calf), RW Tim Dwight (thigh), OL Pete Kendall (thigh) & OL Trey Teague (ankle)
*Probable: *DL Dave Ball (hand), *RB Kevan Barlow (calf), *LB Matt Chatham (foot), *OL Anthony Clement (shin), *DL Bobby Hamilton (knee), *FB James Hodgins (knee), *OL Adrian Jones (thigh), *CB Justin Miller (hip), *QB Chad Pennington (calf), *S Kerry Rhodes (thigh), WR Brad Smith (thigh), *S Eric Smith (knee), & *DL Kimo von Oelhoffen (knee)
Jaguars
Doubtful:WR Matt Jones (hamstring), DT Marcus Stroud (ankle), DE Marcellus Wiley (groin) & RB Derrick Wimbush (knee)
Probable:S Donovin Darius (knee), LB Nick Greisen (ankle), CB Rashean Mathis (knee), G Chris Naeole (knee)
* Denotes players who participated in practice
