Coles has four touchdowns against the Pats in his last four games
Every season there are a handful of NFL players who many feel get "snubbed" in Pro Bowl voting. Jets' safety Kerry Rhodes broke out with an explosive year and was left off of the '06 AFC roster, as was seven-year veteran Laveranues Coles. For head coach Eric Mangini, the annual All Star event takes a backseat to the task at hand: winning the next game.
"Really the focus isn't Hawaii for us; it's Miami," said Mangini. "If you're winning and you're being successful and you're doing all those things, that's really rewarding to players. That is really what you're looking for is team success and all of the other things kind of fall into place."
Read below for Coach Mangini's complete press conference transcript
New York Jets' Head Coach Eric Mangini, 12.20
Opening Statement…
We signed Vaka Manapuna, a defensive lineman to our practice squad.
It will be a normal week of practice today through Saturday. On Saturday we'll have more than a normal Saturday in terms of what we'll do on the field. We will try to get the guys off relatively early to get home. We want to give them a block of time with their families to celebrate the holidays and then we'll come back, get on a plane, head to Miami and then restart the meetings down in Miami both that evening and some the next day as well.
I have great respect for Nick (Saban). I got to know Nick not only a little bit in Cleveland and also in the interview process when I went down there and spent some time with him. He's really a smart football coach and incredibly detailed. He always finds good ways to attack his opponents in all three phases, and I know he'll obviously have them ready to play on Monday night.
Offensively, they present a tremendous challenge because they have four guys with over 50 catches. They have two running backs that can hurt you. Joey Harrington is doing a good job spreading the ball around and getting everybody involved. All of those different playmakers can hurt you in different ways and you really need to understand what their strengths and weaknesses are. They are all very good, but they are all very different.
Defensively, Miami is third in the league in defense. They can apply pressure from a lot of different areas whether it's through the actual pressure game or through just the four-man rush. They are also very stout against the run, that will be challenging, as well.
In terms of special teams, they are doing a good job with field position. It could be the touchbacks, it could be the amount of times they have been able to pin the opponents inside their own five-yard line, not just the 10 now, but inside the five. You turn on the tape and drives are starting on the four, on the three, and that's a long, hard way to go. With Wes Welker, he can break one at any time. He's tough, he can change direction and change fields so quickly. That will be difficult as well.
On playing a December Monday night game…
It's exciting for me personally. It's exciting for the team. It's what you work so hard for so long is to get in this position where you can play those games late in the season and this is a great opportunity. It's a great opportunity for us to not just compete for what we are competing for, but also to be able to play on Monday night, on Christmas. It's unique, and that's great for us.
On keeping the team focused…
We'll go through the normal week of preparation and we'll talk about those things. This is the first Monday night game that we've had, so we'll schedule accordingly. We are trying to maximize preparation. We want as much energy and effort going into the preparation as we can get, but we don't want to get to the point that by the time you get to the game, you're fatigued. So it's spacing it out and doing a good job there with maximizing what we need to do to get ready. Also being able to maximize our intensity when we do have to go execute.
On the team responding well to adversity…
The approach has been very consistent. When we played Buffalo, Buffalo is a good team and Buffalo had been making a lot of progress. It's like anything else, though. Whether you have success or failure, you always want to approach the week the same, and that's something that's been an ongoing process for us.
Teddy Atlas said to me the other day, 'Success is like a martini; it relaxes you.' I think that there's an element of truth to that in anything that you do. We talk about this quite a bit, but it's the battle against human nature where if you are being successful, if you are having a measure of success, you can't gloss over the things that need to be fixed. On the other hand, if things aren't going too well, you can't look at it as if the sky is falling and dwell on the mistakes so much that you can't make progress. It's dealing with both those emotions and looking at it as one opponent, one week, one challenge and learn from the things that you did and not internalize them so much that you can't grow. That's what we're trying to do is consistently grow.
On Justin Miller being selected to the Pro Bowl…
Justin has done a really outstanding job there. He's got that attacking style. He's very aggressive, he breaks tackles and all of that is excellent. It's not just a tribute to him, but also to (special teams coordinator) Mike Westhoff and (special teams assistant coach) Sam Gash and the whole return unit. Like anything else, Justin makes it go, but there's a lot of other guys that make it go as well and without them. Collectively, this is a really nice honor.
On Miller as a defensive back…
It's something that goes back to consistency. He needs to be consistent there. We talked quite a bit about a penalty he had this weekend, which was an emotional penalty, but you can't have those things. You can't respond to something that makes you feel good for two seconds but hurts the group and that's part of the process. It's not something that we do. We're not going to operate that way, and you need to have the understanding of, okay, so the guy might have done something, don't react. The best thing you can do is get the penalty and not give up the penalty. That's part of the process and we have to continue to make strides there.
On whether emotional penalties are annoying…
It was annoying, it was first and 15 at the minus five. It's hard to get that field position. It's difficult to have your opponent backed up, and that's a scoring opportunity in the sense that if you keep them backed up, usually you're going to get a punt, you're going to get good field position. Now you're talking about 15-to-20 yards to a field goal. Those penalties are controllable. Penalties based on emotion are even more controllable, and that's something that everybody has to do a good job with across the board.
On being frustrated my emotional penalties…
I've seen guys, old and young, make those mistakes. The important thing is just to not let it happen again. Rodney Harrison was a good example of that where he may have gotten a few of those in San Diego, but later on he started getting the penalties against him. That's the goal, to be able to generate penalties against you as opposed to reacting that way.
On Miller's progress…
He's done a lot of good things. Against Buffalo, he had the fumble and a forced fumble recovery and the tackle behind the line of scrimmage. It goes back to not just 30 plays a game, but to be able to do it play-in and play-out on a consistent basis. That's so key, and especially a defensive back. If you do have one hiccup, then you're on ESPN and it's points scored and it's significant. There is usually no barrier there to cover that up.
Justin is working at it and he's made a lot of strides and he'll continue to make strides, and as long as you care and you work at it and you make progress, then with his ability level, it will be all uphill, all positive.
On channeling Miller's talent and emotions…
There are a lot of passionate guys that play positions where they are able to harness that passion and I think Justin does a really good job with that. That's something that when you channel that emotion into all the right areas, you make a lot of really big plays and strides. That's something that he's working at and we're going to continue to work at with him to get him more involved.
On Miami using audio to gain advantage over New England…
If they were able to get some value from that, it's really a good decision. It's on TV and everybody has a DVD, so if you can get something off that, I think it's great.
On if the Jets have used that to their advantage..
We check out a couple of those tapes every now and then. It's within the framework, it's within the rules, it's fair and it's a good decision.
On what can be gained from using those tapes…
Each week you change the words that you use, you are constantly doing a self scout as to what words have we used, what signals have we used, what things have we used that could be a pattern that someone could pick up on. You alter those weekly to try to counterbalance that; understanding that information is out there and with it being out there, it could possibly be something that could be taken advantage of.
On if audibles can be heard on the tapes…
It's different each week. Sometimes it could be the snap count, what the trigger word is. It may come up you go through an audible and there's some trigger word that says, 'Okay, I'm done talking we're going to snap the ball.' It could be something like that. It could be an audible that triggers a certain route or a running play. Sometimes it's just dummy calls and you have to sort through that, because you will come up and say a lot of nothing. So you'll get in the huddle and say, 'Okay fellas, look, here is the play, disregard everything I say,' and you come up and you say a bunch of nothing, you point around, you look down the field and everybody knows the play is the play.
On Saban using the tapes to his advantage…
Nick is incredibly smart and incredibly detailed. He's won everywhere he's been. He's good. Getting any advantage you can get within the framework of the rules is smart.
On Laveranues Coles and Kerry Rhodes being left out of the Pro Bowl selections…
Laveranues and Kerry both have had good years. With the Pro Bowl, you cast your vote and you hope for the best and you always want to see your guys be successful. They both had outstanding years. Laveranues was voted MVP for the Jets, and to me, that's a very significant award, and a well-deserved award. He's been outstanding not just in his production, but all of the other things that he brings to the table. And to me, that's a great award.
On how guys who didn't make the Pro Bowl react…
Really the focus isn't Hawaii for us, it's Miami. I don't know, you'd have to ask them.
If you're winning and you're being successful and you're doing all those things, that's really rewarding to players. I've talked to guys over the course of the year where maybe they have had a ton of personal success, maybe they have been the best player on a bad team, but they would trade all that for team success. That's really what you're looking for is team success and all of the other things kind of fall into place.
On having a quiet season…
I think quiet is good. We should just all stay quiet.
On Nick Mangold as Rookie of the Year…
I haven't looked at everybody else. I know that he's done a good job for us and I really like Nick. I think that Sunday was another good example of Nick where he gets banged up on first play there, he goes off, he gets evaluated and doesn't miss a beat. Against New England, he gets poked in the eye and missed a play and he's back in. When we talk about guys that football is important to, that really enjoy playing, that have that passion, Nick has that. With all of the other characteristics that he has, he's done an outstanding job for a rookie in that position.
On Coles and Mangold being on the injury report this week…
They will both be on it. Laveranues, it's the back, rib area. One of those two, or maybe both. With Nick it will be the hip. The same things that they have had.
In what they are classified as…
I have to talk to John Mellody (head trainer), and then I'll give the official classification later today.
On if Wade Smith would have played in Mangold's absence…
Wade has been working at center as a backup for us and Pete's (Kendall) done some work there as well. We have a couple options there.
Wade would probably have initially gone in for us. We talk about that as it was going to see how it fits.
On Hank Poteat…
I've known Hank for a while, between New England and here. Hank is one of these guys that works as hard as he possibly can, does exactly what you ask him to do, competes like crazy, is tough, and cares. I've always liked those qualities in Hank and I've always respected his approach. He has done some traveling, but no matter where he shows up, when he gets there, he's ready to work. That was my experience with him prior.
On Minnesota being Poteat's best game…
The best thing that I liked about what Hank did is, during practice earlier in the week, he got beat on the play. We actually talked about it in a team meeting, his hand placement on the play where he had reached with the wrong arm. In the Minnesota game, it's not the same pass, it's a little tighter than the one on the sideline, but the same concept, and he reached with the correct arm and made the play. That is where you tell him, 'Okay, Hank, this is what we want you to do, this is why we want to you do it,' and he's going to go out and try to do it exactly that way. That was a good example of him taking the coaching and applying it, and it would have been a huge play in the game if Minnesota had come out with it.
On Poteat taking coaching…
Hank has always taken the coaching. Everything I asked him to do when I was his position coach and the coordinator he did. That's a real strength of his and he tries to do it exactly the way that you ask him to do it. He's done some good things for us in the roles that he's played, and even New England when I had him there, he was always a guy that would go in and do what you asked him to do.
On the playoffs…
The last two weeks are a good example of why it's so important just to focus on the task at hand. There was a lot of that same conversation prior to Buffalo, and the point of emphasis there was if we take care of the things that we have to take care of, then all of the other stuff will take care of itself. We were not successful against Buffalo and things changed dramatically and we were successful against Minnesota. The only thing that has been important right along is whether you win against Buffalo and whether you win against Minnesota. Now it's whether we win against Miami. And if you do that, whoever else wins or loses, we can't do anything about that.
It's exciting that we have a chance now to go play the game that we can play. The fact is if we take care of those things, then everything else will fall into place. But if we don't, it really doesn't matter, and that's the constant reminder to the players; this is what's most important, right here, right now. This game, just like last game was, and next week when we get to that point.
On players talking about other games…
It's human nature for guys to follow that. I watch other games, and it's just that we're all football fans. Outside of participating, you end up watching a lot of football when you're not involved in football or when you get the window. That stuff, it's great. It's great that we're having the conversations about the possibilities, but to me the biggest thing is the task at hand and if you lose focus of that at any point, it will be just a lot of nice conversation.
On the playoff scenarios…
I'm really not on top of the different combos. There are a bunch of them from what I understand.
Wednesday Injury Report Jets Questionable: FB B.J. Askew (foot), CB David Barrett (hip), WR Laveranues Coles (back), RB Cedric Houston (calf), LB Anthony Schlegel (illness) & 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), *DE Bryan Thomas (shoulder), *S Jamie Thompson (ankle) & *WR Wallace Wright (thigh)
Dolphins Doubtful: WR Marty Booker (ankle) & DT Dan Wilkinson (calf)
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
