After two games of Eric Mangini's head coaching career, the New York Jets are 1-1. The Green & White have played an exciting brand of football, manufacturing big plays on offense and takeaways on defense. A new test awaits Sunday in Buffalo as Mangini will lead his team in a divisional road game for the first time. The following Q&A with the head coach is a newyorkjets.com exclusive…
You talked last week about going home and celebrating with Julie and your two sons following the win at Tennessee. What did you do Sunday night after the tough battle with New England?
Eric Mangini: My brother, Kyle, was here from Australia. So I spent time with Kyle, Julie, Jake and Luke. It is always important to take advantage of the time that we have as a family. Just as the week of preparation is consistent, the time after games is spent with the family, win or lose.
What do you know about your team after two weeks?
*The team worked very hard before both games, in both games, and fought back this past week, never giving up. There were positives in both games, as well as thing we need to correct. Those corrections need to come offensively, defensively, on special teams and with coaching. *
Is there something you want to find out about these players?
Coaches and players are learning things about each other every week we are here. It is important part of being here together and is crucial in being able to make progress.
How difficult is it to prepare for Buffalo this early in the season? Steve Fairchild obviously coordinated a few games last year in St. Louis, but both of their coordinators are relatively new to the scene.
I got to know Steve in the offseason, and I respect how smart and innovative he is. I respect what he did in St. Louis, as well as what he is doing in Buffalo right now. Each opponent is so different week in and week out that it is important to take a consistent approach in practice, preparation and execution in every game.
Is this is a huge game for your special teams?
Buffalo* is outstanding on special teams and they have been for some time. Bobby April does an extremely good job in all aspects of special teams. They play hard and are well coached; it will be a very good challenge for us.*
Your team played a very good second half Sunday. Will that give the club some momentum heading into this weekend's game at Buffalo?
Each game is an opportunity to make progress, which is why we are taking the same approach after the New England game as we did after the Tennessee game. We need to build on the positives, eliminate the mistakes and continue to make progress.
This is another road test coming up and you passed your first test in Tennessee. What are the keys to being a good road team?
Winning on the road in a hostile environment is always difficult. It is very important for a team to be able to execute regardless of the situation, it could be crowd noise, the elements, the playing surface or any other variable.
During the offseason, a lot of skeptics wondered how your offensive attack would look without a true #1 WR. But Laveranues Coles is sure playing like a top wideout. Do people underrate LC?
I have been very happy with the way that the entire receiver group has performed. Laveranues, Justin McCareins, Jerricho Cotchery, Brad Smith and Tim Dwight have all made valuable contributions to this team. As I have said in the past, I believe in these guys. And working together they will continue to improve.
In a New York Times article last weekend, it was revealed some of your players have affectionately nicknamed you "The Penguin." What do you think of the moniker?
As I told our team, the penguin is a very important bird to our ecosystem. It is very agile in water and helps to transport items from water to land and land to water that wouldn't be able to be transferred otherwise. The penguin has a great sense of hearing and is able to adapt its communication in situations to be most effective. As a team, we can learn lessons from many different things including other athletes, historical eras, and animal life, including the penguin.
