Coach Mangini
The New York Jets began their bye week Monday with review of game film and the annual team photo. First-year head coach Eric Mangini has scheduled practices for both Tuesday and Wednesday before giving the players the rest of the week off.
"We're going to work through Wednesday and get a couple of real good days here," Mangini said. "Then I'm going to give the players some time off to get away a little bit, and then we'll work again next week early in the week and then move to more of a regular schedule."
Opening statement…
Yesterday was obviously a tough loss. It was disappointing. I thought we had a really good week of practice and didn't execute the way that we had practiced. I think the coaches, the players, everybody understands that in order for us to be successful, it's not just the week of preparation, that's a huge part of it, but then being able to go into the game and being able to execute for four quarters. Offensively, I thought we started out really strongly and then tailed off after that. Defensively, I think we started off slow and then built after that. Special teams were very similar. One very good play, one not so good play, one kickoff return for a touchdown, one kickoff out of bounds. It was that up and down, across the board, and the lack of consistency that really led to the situation we were in and ultimately to the loss.
In terms of the bye week now, we're going to work the next couple of days here and really focus on the different areas first and 2nd down, 3rd down, red area, two-minute, short yardage, goal line, and focus on the things that we haven't done very well and try to get those corrected and build on some of the things that we have done well and spend the bulk of our time doing that, get some really good days of work through the course of the week.
In terms of Curtis, we're not going to make any decision until next week. We're going to go through Monday of next week, at least. That gives us, in light of the bye week and talking to Mike (Tannenbaum) and Curtis and the medical staff, the maximum amount of time for the 21-day window and the maximum amount of practice time, should he return to practice.
On watching tape and reviewing the last call…
It's one of those situations where to me, and in talking with the team, I told them the same thing, there were over 130 plays prior to that play. There were a lot of things that we could have done better in terms of the coaching staff, offense, defense, special teams, to not get in that situation where it comes down to a judgment call on 4th down. That is what it was, it was a judgment call. He made the decision that he made, and that's the decision that we have to accept. But there were plenty of things that we could have done prior to that to not put ourselves in that situation.
On if he thinks Baker would have come down with the ball…
If I was the official, I would always rule for the Jets. Unfortunately, I can't. He made the decision he made and that's the decision that we have to respect and deal with.
On which official has the final say on a judgment call…
It's the side judge that makes the call, and he did. Unfortunately, it wasn't the one we hoped it would be.
On if he's heard from the league about the play…
Every Monday after a game we put together the plays that we dispute and then we submit those.
On contacting the league…
We're going to go through the formal process, like we do every week. Mike will submit those this afternoon. Those are internal communications, and I won't be in a position to comment on the internal communications at that point. I won't really be able to follow it up with anything, even when we do get word back.
On Curtis Martin…
We just thought about it, and Mike and I were talking about it last week and even here today. To maximum the 21 days, if he's able to come back, it would be better served for us to do that right at the edge of that window.
On a bye week being ideal to get Martin back…
Well, we've got Monday and Tuesday here that we're going to work. Then in my thinking, I would rather bring him back where it's a full week and a full 21 days there.
On not being able to stop the run against Cleveland…
Until you stop the run, there will probably be more comments like that. It comes down to the same thing, where sometimes it was inside, sometimes it was the perimeter. It really goes back to just overall execution. Each week it's all of us needing to do a more consistent job of collectively executing our assignments.
On the problem being tackling…
I think it's everything. Sometimes it's tackling. Sometimes it's permanent run support. Sometimes it's the inside run fits. I thought that we had a really outstanding day on Thursday in terms of the run fits and the overall execution of the technique. There were some plays, especially when they were backed up right before the interception where they ran twice, I thought there were some really nice examples of executing the technique, taking on the blockers and really good run support there. But it can't just be a couple of plays here and there, it's got to be consistent.
On if he thought the call on the final play was a good call…
It was the call that we have to deal with. And to me, Rich, it's such a bigger issue of the 130 plays or 130-plus plays that we had to not put ourselves in the position for someone to make a judgment call to control the outcome of the game. That, to me, is the bigger lesson, is execute those better, be more consistent, and it doesn't come down to a judgment call. As I said, if it were me making the decision, I would cheer for the Jets and I would have gone with the Jets. But they made the decision based on the look that they had. We respect that.
On if the call should be looked at….
I think when you're on this end of it; you would love for it to be reviewed by the competition committee. Maybe if it was on the flip side, great call. I just think it's something definitely for us to talk about. And we do have the ability to present ideas as an organization, and that may be one we talk about and try to do something with, but there's nothing we can do right now.
On if he was satisfied by the reaction of the players after the call…
I think foot stomping over one call and one play is counterproductive. To me, the foot stomping should be over the other 130 plays. That's the focus. It's not the one play on fourth down at the end of the game. It's all the plays leading up to it that we all could have executed better, to not put ourselves in a position to have a judgment call control the outcome.
On Chad Pennington…
The way that Chad deals with adversity is very good. I think the way that Chad deals with a performance that he is not pleased with is good because he goes back and he works, and he tries correcting mistakes. The reason he's so successful is because he's so passionate about being successful. He cares and cares deeply and it affects him when he doesn't play to the level that he believes he should play to. Chad will be here analyzing and working and that's what makes him the player he is.
On the deadline for Curtis Martin…
Tuesday, November 7.
On the exact time…
I would have to get back to you on the exact time, but it's Tuesday.
On what capacity Curtis would return…
It's just whether or not he will return to practice at that point or go on more of the injured reserve type program.
On if he would be physically practicing…
I imagine he would have to take part, and however you want to formulate the practice or set up practice, I'm sure there is flexibility there.
On the practice schedule for this week…
We're going to work through Wednesday and get a couple of real good days here, and then I'm going to give the players some time off to get away a little bit and then we'll work again next week early in the week and then move to more of a regular schedule. Our focus as a staff is go through segment by segment, identify the core issues, put those into a package of adjustments and things we need to work on, present it to the players, show them the film, walk through the adjustments, practice the adjustments, correct the adjustments on tape, and then move on to the next segment, so we can really learn from the first eight games, also incorporate a little bit of what we will be doing in the following eight games and moving into next week.
On what he will do with his time off…
I'll probably go to Jake's school and have lunch with him. I guess they serve themselves now, so it's pretty fun to watch, go to Orly's Playhouse. That's supposed to be pretty good, go down the big slide. I'll definitely be watching a lot of tape. But I want to spend time with Julie and the kids and just do some of the things that people who aren't in season get to do.
On what his kids will be for Halloween…
Jake is Nemo and Luke is not Crush, it's the other turtle. It's the little turtle, Squirt. And I'm supposed to be-- what's the dad's name? I don't think I'll go actually in the whole gear, maybe just a hat. That or a penguin, I haven't decided. I have got a couple of different ideas, the Batman Penguin or Chilly Willy. There are a lot of different avenues. I just don't know if kids today relate to Tennessee Tuxedo the same way. I would hate to be that dad everybody is looking at, "Who brought this guy to the party?" I want Jake to have a cool dad.
On trick-or-treating…
Yes. Hopefully, they won't throw eggs.
On Nugent's kickoff…
The wind at that point, it does blow quite a bit and push it in that direction, but it really wasn't that bad. We were trying to set up a specific coverage based off the kick, and Mike was trying to place it. I think he just caught it the wrong way.
On Graham kicking off…
I've talked about developing different skill sets based off the strength of his leg. That's a little bit of a weakness of his right now. Kickoffs could be something we could work on. We don't want to do that too much in season because it could affect his punting, transitioning in and out. And he's done well with the punting side of it. But those are definitely things we would definitely talk about in the off-season and maybe get him functional throwing the ball.
On the midway point of the season…
We talked about that, too, today. We said 2-2 in the preseason, 4-4 in the regular season, zero in giveaway/takeaway, 3-3 at home, and 3-3 on the road. That's just where we're at. And to me, how we work and how we make progress and the things that we do that we completely control are going to affect the next eight games, and how will those eight games going to stack up versus the first eight games. We analyze the tape from the first eight games, how could that have changed some of those close ones.
On the bye…
It's always good to get the bye. Everybody has that soreness, that lingering soreness from camp and the first eight games, to get some of that out, to go back and not be worried about game planning, but be able to take a step back and objectively look at all the different things we did and face it with a lot of honesty and put together a good plan moving forward. We had Teddy Atlas (boxing trainer) come in this weekend and one of the things that he talked about is the need to always be honest about the decisions you're making and the things that you're doing. And I think that's so critical in being successful. Just facing those things, being honest with it and putting together a plan to move forward.
On Martin's extra days…
It's partially that, and it's really more, in thinking about it, to maximize the 21 days, it would serve him much better having the three full weeks with the team in order to get the two good days here. But then to maximize those days, I just thought it would be more productive if we took a step back and talked it all out.
On the decision…
At that point that was really how it felt, there would be no decision until after the Browns game. And once we got through it I was thinking about it through the week and talking to Mike and Curtis and the medical staff and thought, okay, we would be better served not just organizationally, but for him to have the full 21 days with the group, and that was the thought process. I always like to go through the whole time period. Whenever you start thinking about somebody with an injury or somebody coming back, each guy is so different. It's a crap shoot. Right now I'm really going to focus on the self-scout part of it and where we are and getting together with staff and the next two days of practice, which I think are really important days for us to clean up and make progress.
On the legend of Curtis being a factor in the decision…
With anybody, we want to bring them back at any possible time where player safety is the most important thing and then the effectiveness of that player when they are able to come back. Curtis is a special guy, and he's been special to the organization. I think Curtis is a unique person, not only as a person but in terms of the Jets' organization.
On the rookie class…
I'm really happy with those guys. I really think that the type of people that we set out to draft, they've shown to be those types of people. They've confirmed what we believed in, in terms of predraft information, when we bring them in. I just like the way they work and they learn and they care. And they're really striving to become pros. And that, to me, is the mark of a good rookie, someone who is just not happy to be here, not happy to be in pro football, not excited about wearing the jersey and all the other stuff that goes with it, but they want to embrace their craft and improve.
On starting a little more aggressively on defense…
After each game we have a form we fill out, and there's always things we did well, things we did poorly, preparation errors, key penalties, key mistakes, personnel match up, mismatches. So there is a whole form that we have to structure our thoughts on the game. If we go back, if we play the opponent the next time or the coordinator the next time, we review the things we did. We did pressure early and it wasn't as effective as we had hoped it would be. As we pressured later, each time it was effective. It created another opportunity to do that.
On the reaction of the public factoring in to the decision with Martin…
You know, I think with Curtis, he's just been so important to the organization. He's worked like everybody else has worked. He's got a notebook full of notes and he gets asked questions in the team meetings and he's there with everybody else. Even though he's not out on the field with the guys, he's with the guys. It's not a ceremonial position where he kind of rolls out and shows up to the meeting and then waves to us as we go on, he's actually working at it. I respect everything that he's done. It's pretty amazing the way that he prepares even though he knows he's not going to be in that game that week. And then the way that he takes those guys with him and tries to help them along, it's great. It's outstanding.
