The Jets have a devoted following and the Green & White loyalists regularly travel across the nation to see their team. Perhaps nowhere is that more evident than in Miami. Whenever the Dolphins host the Jets, it sometimes sounds like a college bowl game with chants from both sides.
"It's always nice to see the Jets fans on the road. I remember last week looking up into the stands during pregame and seeing purple and then there was the sprinkling in of the green jerseys," said New York head coach Eric Mangini. "Jets fans are historically loud, so you usually can hear them. There was a really quiet moment in the stadium and somebody yelled out, 'Go Jets' or something, and the whole world heard that. That's great. I mean, you love that. You love the energy they bring."
*Read below for Coach Mangini's complete press conference transcript *
New York Jets' Head Coach Eric Mangini, 12.22
Opening Statement…
I was really happy with practice yesterday. The defensive pursuit of the ball, the communication and a lot of things defensively all went well. It was one of our best days that we've had throughout the course of the year.
Offensively we had a lot of progress from Wednesday. There are some things that we need to clean up, but again, some really good progress. That's always what you're looking for throughout the course of the week.
Today will be a normal Friday for us. We'll be working on the red zone, two-minute drill and all the standard things we work on. Then tomorrow will be more of a cleanup day, review day. We'll be going through the different phases that we've already installed and working on that.
One guy I've been really happy with lately is C.J. Mosley. We made the trade for him for Brooks Bollinger. We also acquired Bobby Hamilton in that transaction. C.J. is a young guy. He had been inactive for some weeks, and then he's gotten some opportunities. I've been really pleased with the way he's taken advantage of those opportunities. When we talked about the trade, we spoke to Brad Smith about him and got a good feel for his character and work ethic. Seeing that throughout the season, the progress that he's made and the way that he's taken advantage of the chances that he's had, that's exactly what we're looking for.
On how Mosley is taking to the 3-4 defense…
It's different for a lot of guys in college who have come from four-three systems that have been pure penetrating defensive linemen, and more than that, it was the system that he was familiar with in Minnesota. He's a young guy, he's 23 years old, and he's worked at it, and it's been consistent work. Like with anybody else, you work at it and you make improvements and you create opportunity, you get it. Then he goes in and he gets a sack last week. He's applied some good quarterback pressures, he's had some nice chase plays along the line of scrimmage. It's good to see the consistent work ethic, the creation of his opportunity, and then being able to take advantage of it.
On Kevan Barlow's progress…
Kevan has been making progress since he's been here. I'm really happy with Kevan and the way he's helped out on special teams and tried to carve out a role there. He's a guy that has never really played there. He just jumps in. He gets in the mix. Jimmy Raye (running backs coach) has a good term, 'it gets noisy.' Whenever there's a lot of chance for a lot of contact, I can't do a good Jimmy Raye, but he's always talking about how noisy it's going to get and how you'd better be ready for the noise. That's how it is on special teams. The noise hasn't affected Kevan too much. I'm pleased with that. He's running the ball well in practice and picking up, really understanding things more and more each week, which is the case for a lot of people. I've been happy with him overall.
On the status of Cedric Houston…
It was light yesterday. We'll take a look today at him and see where he is. The nice thing we have this week is the extra day. That's really an edge when you have guys who are rehabbing and working on getting back to full speed. We'll have today and tomorrow and just be smart about it like we are with all the injuries. We want to get him prepared but not push it to a point where he could reaggravate it.
On Stacy Tutt's interview with Mangini and Mike Tannebaum prior to joining the team…
I've had guys show up to interviews in suits and ties and I've had guys show up to interviews with two cell phones or beepers that go off during the meeting, and that makes a very negative impression. When you come in with a suit, it's positive. It shows that you're taking a very business-like approach. I don't think it's the determining factor, the content of the conversation and the way that they answer questions and the depth of their answers, that's really what had more of an effect on us with Stacy. He's a smart kid, he's a mature kid, he's a guy that played multiple positions in college. He definitely left a very good impression.
On Tutt and Wallace Wright sacrificing their positions to be on the team…
It's great. They understand that they have to carve out a role to make the team, that they have to carve out a role to contribute to the team. I think they live together, now I'm not totally sure on that, but if they do, I might need to move some more people into that house.
On the production of Victor Hobson…
Vic is another excellent example of consistency, learning from the mistakes each week and taking the coaching. He's done a lot of things at outside linebacker, but then he goes in the sub package, and he's got a knack for understanding the overall scheme and then disguising it and swapping positions, like Jonathan Vilma. It gives you a lot of flexibility when you have outside linebackers at the end spots. Now you can bring some inside guys, and drop them off. That's really what you're trying to do with the sub package is have the flexibility to bring any combination of guys that you want, very similar to the regular package when you've got four linebackers. You can bring whoever you want, balance it off however you want it. You have to adjust with the coverage all the time. It all goes back to the ability to be flexible. He has given us great ability there.
On the team's success on the road…
There hasn't been any specific format on the road. It's really been very consistent. Sometimes that happens where you're great at home and you're lousy on the road, then you're great on the road and lousy at home. We'd like to be very consistent and do well in both places. Especially at home you've got the energy of the fans, the passion of the fans, and that's a real edge. You always want to have that home field advantage, and that's something we'll keep working at.
On traveling Jets' fans…
It's always nice to see the Jets' fans on the road. I remember last week looking up into the stands during pregame and seeing purple and then there was the sprinkling in of the green jerseys. Jets' fans are historically loud, so you usually can hear them. There was a really quiet moment in the Metrodome and somebody yelled out, "Go Jets" or something, and the whole world heard. That's great. I mean, you love that. You love the energy they bring.
On contact between Jets' receivers and Minnesota defenders during Sunday's game…
There's always a lot of contact down the field on both sides with hands, and we try to teach it within the framework of the rules, and it wasn't called. It wasn't offensive pass interference.
Injury Report Jets Questionable: FB B.J. Askew (foot), CB David Barrett (hip), WR Laveranues Coles (back), RB Cedric Houston (calf) & DB Eric Smith (foot)
Probable: *RB Kevan Barlow (calf), *LB Matt Chatham (foot), *C Nick Mangold (hip), *WR Justin McCareins (foot), *OL Brandon Moore (back), *DL Rashad Moore (hand), *QB Chad Pennington (calf), *LB Anthony Schlegel (illness), *DE Bryan Thomas (shoulder), *S Jamie Thompson (ankle) & *WR Wallace Wright (thigh)
Dolphins
Doubtful: WR Marty Booker (ankle)
Questionable: CB Will Allen (groin/quad) & *RB Ronnie Brown (hand)
Probable: *QB Joey Harrington (ankle) & *DT Keith Traylor (knee)
Denotes players who participated in practice
