Late in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game, rookie quarterback Kellen Clemens emerged from the Jet's sideline to take over for Chad Pennington. Clemens earned the backup position over veteran Patrick Ramsey due to his hard work during the week of practice.
"It was just that time where he had earned it," head coach Eric Mangini said. "Whether it had happened week two or week 13, it really doesn't matter. It's just that he had earned that opportunity. Like with any other position, that's the approach. It will be open again this week. Whoever plays better will be the No. 2."
*Read below for Mangini's complete press conference transcript
*Opening Statement…
Today we will be taking the same approach that we've taken throughout the season. Buffalo is a good team. We knew that going in. There were certain things we had to get done. One of them was you couldn't turn the ball over. We did. We turned it over three times, put the ball on the ground another time that we got back. Defensively had to stop the run, couldn't give up the big play. We weren't able to do that. They're a very good unit on special teams, an outstanding unit. I thought overall we did a pretty good job against them. There were plays there we could have executed better. I think some of those longer returns we had could have gone the distance with a block here or there, but we didn't quite finish there.
We're focusing now, we're correcting mistakes from Buffalo and learning from those mistakes. We're moving right on to Minnesota. So today will be spent partially correcting mistakes, learning from those things, then getting right onto the Minnesota tape and moving on.
On motivating the team after the loss…
It's been the same thing we've been talking about since the bye week. There are not that many work days here left. There are about 12 work days left in the season, between the three days of practice that are harder, and the game. So compared to the amount of work that we put in up to this point, it's a pretty small number. It's important that each day is taken advantage of fully. But outside of that 12, it's really just the number 'One.' What I told them is, 'Think in terms of one, fellas.' One meeting. One practice. One period. One rep. One game. That's the goal. That's the goal not just now, but that's been the goal throughout the whole season. Complete focus on the task that you have. If you do that, then everything else takes care of itself. If you get caught up in the past or the future, any of those things that are on the periphery, then you lose sight of what's important. It's just the one thing that you're doing at that one moment, and that's going to give you the best chance for success.
On being consistent…
Consistency is so important. We've had really good weeks. We need to continue to have good weeks. It's key to not just be able to string two weeks together, but three weeks, four weeks, that type of thing. That's important. You're always fighting human nature. You come off a big win, you fight the human nature of 'everything's okay, things are good.' If you come off a big loss, you fight the human nature of, 'the sky is falling, things are so bad.' It's never the case in either of those scenarios. The case is that we have another game this week. To win this game, just like to win any game, it's going to take consistent focus, consistent effort, and the same approach.
On whether the pressure was a factor…
It was more a case of Buffalo's a good team. They've made a lot of improvement since the first time we played them. To play good teams, to play well week-in and week-out, we've got to have good consistent weeks of practice and really good execution in the game. They always tie in together. That's the key. I don't necessarily think one game over another game. It's just the word "consistency." That's our goal.
On if the team was being inconsistent leading into the game…
No. It's more a function of this is quite a few weeks into the season. It's a marathon, not a sprint. With any marathon, you need to have the same exact approach, the plan. That's what we're always trying to do. That's the goal, both coaches, players. That's what we're constantly working for.
On who the backup quarterback was on Sunday…
It was Kellen (Clemens).
On how teams announce their third quarterback…
We put it on our sheet. That is a part of the process that we have to go through. When we declare inactives, we also declare who the number two and number three is. I don't know what the mechanics of that are. That was something we do give prior to the game.
On how Clemens earned the backup spot…
This was the first week that he was the No. 2. He's had some really good weeks. Like with any position, it's open. That's something that I stress across the board, I stress to the quarterbacks. As I evaluate the weekly practices, we have two-minute on Wednesday, Thursday we have the show team and they get reps with the first team. We evaluate it throughout the week. Brian and I talk quite a bit about it. It's like any other position. I thought Kellen had really strung together some good weeks. I thought he had earned being bumped up to two.
On making the decision to have Clemens as the backup…
It was just that time where he had earned it. Whether it had happened week two or week 13, it really doesn't matter. It's just that he had earned that opportunity. Like with any other position, that's the approach. It will be open again this week. Whoever plays better will be the No. 2.
On correcting mistakes…
As you look at the film, there are technique errors, there are coverage errors, the way you can cover the routes, there's blocking scheme things you can improve on. Could be the drop of the quarterback, how many steps, is he playing compact. It could be the route of the receiver. Did he break at eight or 10 steps? Was the depth correct? Was the pre-snap read correct? There are always core things, win or lose, off the film you go based on the call, coverage, the play. You get those cleaned up as you move into the next opponent. Blitz pickup is another one. All those things come into play.
On the Lee Evans 77-yard scoring pass…
It was one of those things where two guys had a chance to read the play. We didn't read it the way we should have. He's a deep ball threat. That's the priority with Evans. It was third and short. There's an aggressive mentality there. They ran a route that plays off of that and took advantage of it. It was a good call on their part, well-executed. Something we should have executed better as well.
On the performance of the defense yesterday…
There were some good things. There was a significant amount of plays where there was very little yardage given up. There were three sacks. There was a turnover. There were a lot of positive things. But you can't have the big plays. Defensive production in terms of point total is also tied into offensive turnovers, where they get the ball. You have an interception for a touchdown, a strip sack there in the red area. That's always going to put the defense in a difficult position. So those two phases play into each other, complement each other. There is a significant amount of good things that happened in the game, but when they're punctuated by big plays, it's difficult.
On D'Brickashaw Ferguson matching up with Aaron Schobel…
The one thing about Aaron is he's exactly the same player every single game. He's a very good pass-rusher. He's got an excellent motor. He's tough. He's got a good set of pass-rush moves that complement each other, whether it is speed, speed to power, the spin move. I think that Brick worked hard this week, like he has been. Some of the production that Aaron had, it's the group. A couple plays where Brick was getting some help. That could have been better. A couple of the drops there by Chad (Pennington) could have been better. It's never one guy when it comes to pass protection, even though the most obvious thing is that it looks that way.
On Jonathan Vilma…
Jon did some good things. You're never going to be happy, and we're not happy when there are any miscommunications. That's the key thing we have to continue to work on defensively, is that everybody is exactly on the same page at all times. With any communication, somebody's got to give acall and somebody's got to get a call. It is better that we're all wrong together instead of half right and half wrong. That's the key thing defensively. I think that Jon did a lot of positive things. The way that Willis (McGahee) runs, where he threatens the whole defense, it's hard to flow too quickly to the ball. If you end up on the backside, a lot of times that keeps him on the front side. Even though you may not get the tackle that's a key part of the process because if you flow too quickly, with his ability to cut back, you create a huge seam. That was a little bit of an issue in the first game where he did get some of those yards on the cut-back.
On watching the film from yesterday's game…
Whenever you win, there's always plays where you want to gloss over. You want to gloss over it, look at it and say, 'that wasn't too bad.' But you can't because it's those plays that you gloss over that next time end up killing you. Whenever you lose, there are those plays where you want to pull your hair out because you're thinking, 'God, that's just bad football.' But it's the flipside of that. It's all about not getting too high or too low because they're never as bad as they seem after a loss. That's the key thing across the board. Not getting too high not getting too low and learning from the mistakes. That's what I can't emphasize enough. What we talked about as a group is the value in any victory and the value in any loss is the lessons that you learn moving into the next game. What we have to do is take this information, improve upon it, make progress, put that in the bank, then move on to Minnesota.
On whether it's time for an emotional speech to the players this week…
This game is important and the next game is important and the game after that is important. The last game is important. The key thing isn't one speech necessarily. The key thing is the concept of 'One', the concept of everybody focusing on one thing at a time. Motivational tools are important but the game is won with the work ethic. The game is won with the studying. The game is won with the preparation. The game is further won with the execution. That's what we need to focus on.
On finding a fight where a boxer had a good late round to motivate the team…
I'm sure I can. We've got quite a library. The fight that we showed the other day, the guy had a really good 14th round. Julio Caesar Chavez knocks out Meldrick Taylor with two seconds left. It was a pretty good fight.
On whether you considered running another play on fourth-and-one play in the third quarter …
I thought about that. I liked the opportunity there for the sneak right after getting it there. I thought we had a chance there. When we didn't have that, what I wanted to do was take the five yards, back Ben (Graham) up a little bit then pin them down (with a punt). I felt comfortable where we were defensively. I know we had given up the big plays. Overall I thought we had a chance there if we could pin him down, get a stop, get them to punt and be in a good situation there as opposed to potentially giving the ball at the 40. It was an eight-point game at that point. Once the play we liked wasn't there, I thought the field position was the better way to go. That's another example of, although the special teams played well, you'd like to execute that play a lot better and get them pinned down, which is the goal of the exercise. It's something that we work on quite a bit at practice, pretty much every day after practice.
On second guessing decisions after the game…
There are a lot of those plays (laughter). It's always one of those things where you're thinking, 'maybe we could have done this, maybe we could have done that.' But that's why it's so important throughout the week to formulate a game plan, get the game plan in place and have it thought out before it becomes an emotional decision. That's why you go through that process. As the game unfolds, if something changes, you change. There are always those situations where you could think about it. Usually you guys (the media) help me out with thinking about it.
On the team relying on Pennington playing well to win…
Chad had nothing to do with the long run by (Willis) McGahee or the big pass there to Evans. I think everybody feeds off each other. To win at any point in the season, but especially at this point in the season, you have to play complementary football. Defensively you've got to play well and keep the score down. Not give up the big plays. Offensively you can't turn over the ball. On special teams, field position is critical, field goals are critical.
The last two gamesthere's been some good complementary football where all three phases have helped each other out. There was complementary football yesterday where all three phases didn't help each other out. Believe me, the coaching staff is right there with them. We need to do a better job. It's all of us working together in the same direction. If any phase breaks down, it puts a lot of pressure on the other phase.
On Pennington being the key to the team's success…
I don't know what the exact numbers are but I know if they don't score, they don't win. I know you can score points on special teams. It's important that everybody plays well together. The score gets out of control in a hurry, puts a lot more pressure offensively on the quarterback, vice versa if you have turnovers.
On Pennington's performance yesterday…
There were a lot of good things. After he threw the interception that got returned, he took the two-minute drive like he did to get to three points, get it back to eight. I think that's a difficult thing to do. Adversity strikes, he threw a pass that obviously he didn't want to throw and a result that he didn't want to have happen. Come back out, get the football, be able to march the team down the field, get some points there with six seconds left on the clock. That's important. Chad is never alone offensively. It's good routes. It is good running. It's good blocking. It's everything. It's the same thing defensively. You give up a big play. Any time it goes for the amount of yards that it did, it's never one guy. There are 11 of them out there when it goes for 50 plus yards.
On James Hodgins…
James has really been one of the most improved players for us. He's going to continue to challenge for the fullback spot each weekend. He's a physical presence. I thought he played pretty physical yesterday.
I think that BJ (Askew) does some things that James can't do. You'd love to have them both. There have been games where we've had them both. There will be games where we probably have them both again. But it's like every other position: if you play well during the week, you get the spot and then on Sunday you get the nod.
On Green Bay's success impacting the next week…
Once Green Bay is over, Green Bay's over. The next week starts. The slate is clean. You take those things into account. It may give you an initial edge, the inside track but you've still got to run the race. Whoever finishes, plays.
On whether there were concerns with the team prior to the Buffalo game…
There are always those plays where you practice them and you think you have it worked out. You may review it again and it looks better. When you execute it though, it doesn't go quite as you hoped. Really you could point to any play. You'd like to think you've covered the different looks, the different things. I wouldn't say there's one specific thing where you look back and say, 'That roll-out play, 'that blitz, 'that really didn't look good during the week', then we ran it and it stunk as well. Most of that stuff gets thrown out. You hope you have the best package.
On practicing in the bubble at all this week…
Yes we will be. I like being outside though. I am more of an outdoor guy.
