Transcripts of interviews with selected Jets players after Monday's morning training camp practice:
QB MARK SANCHEZ
On today's practice…
It was good. Tough run today. The defense looked good. Practice got heated as you saw, guys getting into it a little bit. That's good, though. That's the kind of intensity Coach Ryan wants. That's the way we want to play. We're really starting to get a feel for things out here and the defense had a good day.
On Coach Ryan giving the team the latitude to jaw a little…
Yeah, a little bit. I think the guys understood that with that freedom and space [come responsibility]. There was a really similar situation last night. We were off meetings and Coach let us go out. Usually you come back the next day and everybody's mind is in the wrong place and we don't have a good practice. And today it was real sharp. So when Rex gives us that time and that space, it's on us.
This team has great leadership by guys like T-Rich [Tony Richardson] and Bart Scott, who've been around and know how to get our team focused the right way, get it all going in the right direction. So yeah, things got heated, guys get in little scuffles, but then at the same time they kind of hold back. Obviously, we're all on the same team here. Nobody wants to fight any of our own guys and that's why everybody started to hold up.
On where he is at this point in camp…
I think I'm making some really good throws and some good decisions. I'm keeping the turnovers to a minimum and doing my best. I'm running with the twos right now, so I'm doing the very best I can with that. Whenever I get the opportunities, I'm just trying to make plays. It's tough.
The same thing for a receiver. If I miss a ball and they're open and we just don't connect, it's "Oh, man." You want that one back because we know we're better than that. Now it's day three, day four and it's when those passes need to be complete. Whether the ball's not on them in time or in the right spot or they drop it, you want to be in sync by now. So those are things we work at after practice, but I'm really starting to get comfortable.
On how comfortable he is with the playbook…
I think I'm making the right checks and things like that. With Schotty [Brian Schottenheimer]'s guidance, he's really helping us and giving us tips and reminders in our headset and making it as close to game-like as possible. You only get to talk to the quarterback for a certain amount of time on the playclock, so he doesn't give us any tips or reminders after that deadline's up. I think it's 15 or 18 seconds.
I'm feeling a lot more comfortable every day. I'm studying, I'm drawing up my plays, and it's really showing on the field. With limited reps, you've got to take what you can when you get your reps and make them valuable.
On practicing with the first offense Sunday…
That means the world to me. You want it to happen as much as possible. I'm right in Schotty's hip pocket and right next to Kellen as he's calling the plays in the huddle and getting as close to taking those first-team reps as possible. As soon as they come my way, that's when you really need to make a move in this whole thing.
On when he'll get to take reps with the first team again...
I have no clue. That's up to Schotty. Whenever you're called. So hopefully that happens.
On what he did with his free time Sunday night…
My brother's in town, actually, and we went to — I'll give them a little plug here — Garcia's Mexican Restaurant. I figured Sanchez, Garcia, we might as well give it a shot. It was actually very good, authentic Mexican food. It was great.
On doing an endorsement deal with Garcia's…
I don't know [laughter]. I might. I mean, hopefully, I get a free meal.
On his comfort level when he runs with the ones…
I feel great. You get in there with Nick [Mangold] and [Alan] Faneca and Brick [D'Brickashaw Ferguson] and [Damien] Woody and Brandon Moore, you have a real comfort level. You get guys like Stuck [Chansi Stuckey] and J-Co [Jerricho Cotchery] and they just know exactly what they're doing. They kind of bail you out sometimes.
I want to get that chemistry with them, so I need those reps. As soon as that happens, there's going to be a good chance to make a move and it helps when you have all those tools. The running game, screens, gimmicks and stuff like that just take a lot of the pressure off of you. It will happen soon and that's when I have to be sharp.
On if he feels it's harder to make a move when he's not with the ones…
It is early, but I guess the only thing to say about it is when you get the reps, you've got to make them useful whether they're with the ones or the twos. Obviously, with the ones you've really got to make your mark and show that you're ready to play. As soon as they come my way, I've got to be on.
QB KELLEN CLEMENS
On memorable moments from practice today…
The first thing, Rex was nice enough and gave us no night meetings last night. So we had a chance to hang out as a team and kind of get away from it a little bit. A lot of times, you come back the next day and you're a little sluggish. Obviously, that was not the case this morning, so I think that says a lot about the drive and the determination of this team. We're glad that nobody got hurt in the fights, but fights are going to happen. It was pretty exciting for a little bit there.
On if he's OK with things getting heated on the field…
You know, that's part of it. All of us are pretty competitive guys and sometimes things may get taken the wrong way or some guys maybe just lose their temper. It happens. That's football. It's been happening since junior high and it's going to continue to happen. As long as nobody gets hurt, it's a good thing.
On if quarterbacks are supposed to get into the scuffles…
There's not a lot of good that can happen from us being in the middle of one of those. We'll try to kind of stay out as much as we can.
On practice becoming lighter toward the end when Ahmad Carroll was jumping at one of the lineman…
It lightened things up. We'll all go in the locker room and there won't be a word said about the fights in a bad way. Guys will be joking around about it. That's the beauty of this team — there are no hard feelings. We're very close-knit. So you can have an incident like that, guys drop it and we're all on the same team and have the same goals. We'll move on and continue to work together.
On if he's pleased about the progress he's making before the interception by Darrelle Revis…
How about that? Talk about bad luck. As far as myself, really in the offense you have your starting point and we have just continued to progress and get a little bit better each day. That's all you can look for. Obviously, the last drive for us offensively I think showed our potential and what we're able to do against this defense. I mean to tell you, they [defense] are good. They are very good. So it's a good opportunity for us and we're improving. We're doing a lot of good things and we'll definitely carry our weight this season.
On the difficulty of being accurate against the defense…
It's a little different when you put the pads on. They can turn it up a notch, and really some of their blitz schemes that may not have hit home in the spring because they had to lay off now are hitting home. It's good for us because we have to make adjustments offensively, to be honest, that we probably won't have to make during the season because we don't see anybody with the exception of the second preseason game [at Baltimore] that has that type of a scheme. So it's really good for us, but it adds a degree of difficulty going against a quality defense like them.
On if it feels like a QB competition…
I've put the entire competition in the coaches' hands. Between Coach Schottenheimer, Coach Ryan, Mr. Johnson and Mike Tannenbaum, they're going to make the decision that they feel is best for this football team and I trust them to do what they think is best. I'm focused on improving myself and improving my teammates because we've set the goal to be world champions. That's what we're all working hard at.
S JAMES IHEDIGBO
On how much of the fight with Thomas Jones was real…
It's 100 percent real. It's football. We are out here getting better. We're out here playing hard. We are out here pushing each other to get better. With that, it's 100 percent real. There's no faking that. We are all out here for one common goal, and that's to win. We all want to achieve that goal.
On if there's something going on with him and Jones…
It's just offense and defense. It wasn't specific players. But that's just the kind of edge we're going to have with the team. And you learn that going against each other and against your opponents is a different story.
On if something set him off…
Nothing really set me off. We're just out here getting better. It wasn't a switch that flipped and that's part of the game.
On how Jones and he laughed about the fight after…
It's about enjoying it. That's the kind of edge that we want to have and that's the kind of attitude we want to develop as a team. We are going to enjoy each others' company off the field and on the field. Tempers may flare, but that's a part of playing football.
On if he likes to see that aggression in his teammates…
It's not so much we want to see that aggression, but that's the kind of mentality we want to have against the other team. As I said, against the other opponents you are going to see that aggression on Sundays. You're going to see that type of attitude and that's what we bring to the table and that's what we are as New York Jets.
DE JAMAAL WESTERMAN
On if it is a good thing when the team scuffles some during practice…
Oh, yeah. There's always scuffling. The game is a big scuffle, if you think about it. I mean, everybody is always going back and forth. There was nothing bad-spirited about it. Everything was in good spirits and everybody is going hard and playing hard. That's going to happen.
On going into the locker room after the team gets into a scuffle at practice…
We leave it on the field. We know it's all football and that's what football is about. We leave it on the field, go on. We're still teammates off the field. On the field, it's offense vs. defense. In the locker room, we're all Jets.
On the difference between playing DE at Rutgers and now playing LB as a Jet...
You're on your feet a little bit more. You have to read, a little bit more, the offensive line. You're seeing things from a different perspective on the field. I'm more in the middle and standing up, so you can see a lot more and have more responsibilities in the coverage. You're still playing hard, swarming to the ball and trying to do your best. So, it's similar but different.
WR JERRICHO COTCHERY
On being the No. 1 receiver…
It's not a different feeling for me. I didn't make a grand entrance or anything like that when they announced it. I'm embracing it. I'm embracing the role and I'm looking forward to the challenge. It's fun playing in this offense. I enjoy playing in this offense. Coach Schottenheimer, he uses me in a lot of different ways so it's going to be a fun year and I'm looking forward to it.
On having anything to prove…
I look at every year of mine that my teammates are counting on me. I just know that more opportunities are going to be coming. So if I'm taking advantage of that, all those opportunities, you know I'm helping the team.
On throwing to Revis' side during practice…
Well, the ball got tipped [on the red zone interception], so I don't know how it would've ended up if the ball would have never been tipped. But we're going to make him work. If teams don't throw at him during the game, which they probably won't, that's good for him but we have to make sure we're taking care of his end of the bargain making him work in practice, so he won't fall asleep in the game.
