Transcripts of news conferences and interviews in the Jets' MetLife Stadium locker room following their 30-9 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday afternoon:
HEAD COACH REX RYAN
To say I never saw this coming is an understatement. We had a great week or preparation and practice. We were all really looking forward to this game. But in this league you have to execute. Clearly, Miami outexecuted us. They made some plays early in the game and we couldn't recover. You have to give them a lot of credit.
This one is a tough one to accept. We have to find a way to get better. I'm blown away by it because it might have been as good a week of practice and preparation as we've had. There's a saying in this league, "If you get maximum effort in the classroom and on the practice field, it doesn't guarantee victory, but it guarantees defeat if you don't." I think I am reminded of that. We'll roll our sleeves up and find a way to get it done.
I had planned on bringing in our players on Monday and Tuesday, but with the weather situation, that won't happen. I care about our players a great deal. They need that time to be with their families and make sure everybody is out of harm's way. As much as I'd like to bring them in, that's not going to happen. I care about our players too much to see them go through that, so they will not be in.
On what could have done in the first half to help QB Mark Sanchez…
It sure seemed like we went three-and-out a bunch. We got a little bit more in rhythm in the second half, but not enough. You have to give your opponent credit. [Paul] Soliai and those guys played well today.
On the Dolphins' blocked punt…
I'm not sure. It looked to me like they stemmed a guy in the secondary late and he came in free. That's inexcusable. We have to do a much better job against that.
On the play of Sanchez…
I have the numbers here: 65.6 rating, 283 yards passing. He had his moments where he looked good, just like the rest of the team. We had some moments where the team played really well, and other moments not so much. He pretty much played like the rest of them.
On if he considered inserting Tim Tebow at QB…
No, I did not.
On why he didn't consider playing Tebow at QB…
I never felt it was the time to do it. Mark is our quarterback. I just thought he gave us the best chance to win.
On if Sanchez remains the starter moving forward…
Yes.
On why he is sticking with Mark as the starter…
I believe in all of our players, and I believe in Mark. I think Mark has proven that he can win in this league. I think he gives us our best chance to win. That's my opinion and that's the one that matters.
On his approach to the bye week…
We've got to really look at ourselves. At this stage, you evaluate what you're doing offensively, defensively, everything. Do we need to tweak things? Do we need to change things? You have to take a good, honest look at that. At the same time, you have to move forward, working on Seattle and another opponent [St. Louis] as well. That's what we'll do.
On what accounted for the gap between the good practice and preparation and the game today…
If I knew that, I'd probably be doing something other than coaching. It's hard to figure out. I'm always confident. I've never gone into a game I didn't think I'd win. But man, I couldn't wait to get here and I thought the players felt the same way. It wasn't the case, obviously. You have to give Miami a lot of credit. I know they were obviously confident coming in here. They played much better than we did, especially earlier in the game.
On if the trash-talking during the week backfired…
Again, you can look into it any way you want. I don't know what specifically motivated them or whatever. Again, I'll stand by my comments.
On if he's considering changes to the coaching staff…
No.
On if Sanchez would have been replaced with the game out of hand if the backup quarterback was someone other than Tebow…
No, I never thought that. I don't think that way. We were going to leave Mark in there.
On his emotions right now…
I thought our guys competed. I know we believed. I'm just shocked that some of the things happened, some things that we really count on. For example, they had a big edge in special teams this week, which is an area where we usually dominate. We know they have an excellent special teams unit, but that's an area we think we have a big advantage. That didn't happen. Blocked punt, onsides kick, blocked field goal, you name it. Those things don't happen to us. But they did today.
On if he was surprised by the Dolphins' blitzing…
No, we definitely weren't surprised. That's what they do on third down, bring multiple personnel with their blitz packages. You try like anything to stay out of those third-and-long situations, and that's one of the reasons why. They did a good job getting to the quarterback. It looked like we had them blocked up by numbers, but they won some 1-on-1 battles. That's what happens. You have to have time to throw in this league and they did a good job of pressuring the quarterback.
QB MARK SANCHEZ
On if he agrees with Coach Ryan's comments saying he "never saw this coming"...
I agree with him, I totally agree. During the week, probably one of our best weeks of practice and that's probably the most frustrating part of today. It just didn't translate to the field in all phases. Speaking from the offensive side, we didn't get it going early, just sputtered around there for a while. So it's really too bad because sometimes those things happen. You have a good week of preparation, you feel good about the plan, and we just had too many mistakes today. If it was the protection, the passing game, the running game, it was all just average today. They took advantage of our mistakes, so hats off to them.
On if Miami showed them anything different than what he expected or if it was miscues…
I think it's just a lot of miscues on our end. We had repped just about every one of those pressures. Coming off of bye week, they had some wrinkles and some tweaks and stuff. That's natural, but nothing we couldn't handle. And we just didn't handle it today, so that was a shortcoming.
On if he sensed CB Nate Carroll coming from behind on the strip-sack...
No, in the protection it's supposed to be picked up, so I'm not even thinking about that stuff. I'm going to throw the ball, dump it down to the back, and the corner makes a good play.
On the loss…
You took the words out of my mouth, at home, divisional opponent, before the bye week, you name it. It was set up for us to really go into this bye week feeling good, get back to .500, be right where we want to be in our division. And now we made things difficult for us and there's a light at the end of the tunnel. There's a lot of positive guys in our locker room, so we just have to keep believing in it, weather the storm, literally and figuratively, these next few days and weeks. Just stay positive, really stay positive, get away for this bye week, see your family, see your loved ones, take care of your body and come back with a great attitude, a positive attitude and a winning attitude. We'll knock this thing out one game at a time, position ourselves back. And if we're the only ones that believe in us, own it.
On how he felt after the blocked punt and blocked field goal…
Well, it happened quick and the offense had barely been on the field. So that's our job when we do get the football, to make something happen, and unfortunately we didn't. We didn't hold up our end, either. The backfield really helped us. Eventually we started throwing the ball around and were just trying to stay in the thing. But too little, too late, that's just the way it went today, that's the way the ball bounced, and they worked for it. Don't get me wrong, it didn't just land in their lap. They prepared, too, and they were ready.
On if the trash-talking during the week impacted the game…
I don't know. The only time I hear stuff like that, it's not really my style, you guys know that. For four years now, it's just not what I do. But apparently it was something bigger than I had thought. Bruce [Speight, Jets media relations director] is the only one I hear it from. It's "Hey, be ready for this today, so-and-so said this and so-and-so said that and they said this." So to me, I don't care about that stuff, I don't even think about it. I focus on pressures and protections and completions.
On if he had a sense of the trash-talking on the field…
Every time they've come to this place, they've played really well. When Coach [Tony] Sparano was there, now he's here, it doesn't matter, that's a tough football team. They're just tough players, tough individual people and they hit hard, they play hard and they had a good day today.
On the fighting on the field…
Same thing. I don't get into the trash-talking too much, talking to guys in between plays about whatever, just having fun playing the game, so that's just not my style.
On the "Tim Tebow" chants…
There's nothing I can do about it. You're playing in a big market and this is a grown man's game. You have to play tough. They want results and we're not playing well, so they're going to call for someone else. It doesn't matter. I just happen to be in the spot. That's just how it goes. I don't really think about it. It doesn't really bother me at all. I'm just playing and having fun with our guys.
On the three-and-outs…
Well, if we were good on first downs, then we weren't good on second downs, so we had to do something else. If we were poor on first down, we were great on second down, but it wasn't enough to get there. It really didn't work. It just didn't work. That's the way it went. Sometimes those things happen and we couldn't ask for a worse time for it, but just too many miscues. It was really unfortunate because that was a big game for us.
On if he was struggling with confidence…
No, I felt good, I really did, even when we started throwing it around. I knew it was going to be one of those kinds of games, where at a certain point when they got up by so much we'd have to start slinging it. I felt comfortable doing that, moving the ball down the field. Like I said, we just ran out of time. We were just playing the clock.
I feel confident as ever. Coming off last week, where we were right there, we would have had another big win in our hands. We're playing about as good as we have. It's really too bad. You look at some of our losses this year and we're right there. This one got away from us and it's just too bad.
On if the game was a setback…
I wouldn't say that. We just have to put it in that category of the unexpected and move on. We just have to get in the film room, really get down to the truth of what happened, and understand each mistake and why it happened. If it was a production deal or the wrong route, a dropped ball, poor throw or coverage, we just have to clean it up. If you have 10 guys doing it right and one guy screwing up, it really messes everything up for everyone else. It's the ultimate team sport. We'll keep having each other's back and keep fighting through this thing and it'll be that much sweeter when we come back and make a little run here.
On the interception…
I felt them pushing their coverage to one side and I tried to fit one in to Dustin Keller and on the second down I just missed it, really. Yeah, I mean that's another one. We just want it back and it's too bad because he had his guy and I just didn't capitalize.
On if he was surprised with how much Miami blitzed…
Not really. They came in with a fair share of their pressures but we didn't see them on film. We repped them during the week and I thought we had good communication with it all week, even today at times. It came free a couple of times and they were able to clean it up.
QB TIM TEBOW
On the blocked punt…
I think we are going to have to watch the film and see exactly what happened. They had a good rush designed and we just have to get better.
On his conversation with ST coordinator Mike Westhoff after the blocked punt…
We were going over the play and discussing what we would want to do further down the road. We talked about what we like and what we feel more comfortable with.
On if they were confused on the blocked punt…
We weren't confused. They used good speed and got around. We have to be better.
On if they are disappointed by today's game…
Obviously we are disappointed. We have done a good job all year long and just have to get better. We can't let this happen.
On his mindset after the crowd was chanting his name…
I'm just ready and willing. Whenever they call my number, I go out there to help the team and I'm not listening to what the crowd is saying.
On if he thinks he would have provided a spark at quarterback…
I'm just worried about them calling me and going in there to do the best I can.
On his feelings about the team's performance through the first eight games…
I think it has been up and down as a team. We have to be more consistent and we showed some spots where we were really good. We always have to play at that level.
On how he evaluates his play so far this season…
Just try to make the most of the opportunities I'm given and just try to play as hard as I can and try to get better every week.
On if he's disappointed with the number of opportunities he has to play…
I'm a good competitor and I love playing the game. I'm ready and willing whenever they call my number.
On if he feels it is wrong for the crowd to chant for the backup quarterback…
You've got to support your guy. I feel and all of us feel the same way.
On if he'll talk to the coaches about being more involved in the offense…
No. I just try to go work and get better and train and have two weeks to improve physically, mentally, study the games, and also just rejuvenate yourself.
On Coach Sparano telling the media this week he would try to involve him more in the offense…
I feel like this was a tough game. We fell behind so quick. When we're in our Wildcat, they gave us a similar look they gave us last time, blitzing everybody, so when we do it we have to try and take advantage of that.
On why he played receiver…
Just based on whatever the defense is going to give me when I am in the game. If we can get some easier zones to throw against, then that's going to help the reads.
On how difficult this season has been with limited opportunities…
I'm just trying to be ready and obviously willing and just try to improve and when I do get those opportunities, just try to make the most of them.
P ROBERT MALONE
On the missed block on the blocked-punt-return TD...
It was just a miscommunication between a few of the linemen. We have to give a lot of credit to Miami. They did a really good job with their scheme. They gave a little pick on our center and pulled around. We had a couple guys there. If the one guy doesn't block it, I think one of the other guys would have. There were a couple of guys down there. We have to give a lot of credit to them. We will use this bye week to get healthy and get our guys going.
On his reaction to Miami's punt-block team collapsing on him…
I honestly didn't see it at all. I thought it was clean. They blocked it a little later than usual. The ball was already in the air. They didn't get the ball off the foot like most blocks do. I thought it was completely clean and I had a good pocket to kick in.
On if it was Tebow's job to block Jimmy Wilson, who blocked the punt…
I don't recall. It depends on what the other team runs. It changes each time. That's why Miami did a good job that time. Whoever comes free, but there were three guys who came free this time. We have to look at the film and see what happened. I don't really know a whole lot. I don't usually look at the line. I'm focused on the punt. We won't know until we see the film.
WR CLYDE GATES
On if his role will expand with a performance like today's...
Whatever my role is, I'm going to make the best of it.
On his long kickoff return...
The guys were blocking well up front. I did my part and hit the holes. The guys held their blocks and I just tried to make the play.
On if the team felt confident coming into this week...
Of course. We aren't going to prepare all week to lose a game. We want to win the game. That's the type of attitude we have.
WR JEREMY KERLEY
On the special teams mistakes…
That's just not us. One thing went wrong followed by another. It just wasn't our day today.
On if they were distracted by Hurricane Sandy…
I think the focus was there. Leaving for the bye week was something that we put off, put in the back of our heads. We wanted to go out, win this game, and we came up short. It just wasn't our day today.
On attempting to stop Miami's early momentum…
Guys stepped up, everybody rallied, but they made plays. Hats off to them, they did a good job.
WR CHAZ SCHILENS
On Miami's special teams…
They did take some initiative. You have to give them that. They took a huge risk and they executed it pretty well. There's not much you can say. We have to give credit to them on that end. We shot ourselves in the foot on the punt block and some big returns that they had. I think their whole game plan was keep the ball away from Jeremy [Kerley], and they executed that about as well as you possibly could. Jeremy is third in the NFL [in punt-return average], and they didn't give him a chance, so what are you going to do?
On Miami's pass rush…
They're multiple with their blitzes. The team we played last week barely blitzed at all. New England plays what they're going to play and then they just stay back in zone coverage. Miami had about 30 different blitzes coming from everywhere. It's a lot to pick up. It's a lot for the linemen, running backs and tight ends to adjust to. I have to look at the film, but they did a good job of getting to us.
On if it's time for a bye week…
It's time for a bye. It's time for us to regroup, figure out what we're doing wrong and figure out a way to do it better.
NT SIONE PO'UHA
On if the defense took the chance to evaluate itself during the game…
You never really take chances during the game to evaluate things. You just go out there and try to play your best. The defensive unit, we just try to go out there and get the offense the ball and stop the other team from scoring.
On the bye week…
Everything comes back to us getting better, and that's winning games. It's tough going into the bye week with something like this, but I know every man in this building is going to go back and evaluate themselves and we'll come back a stronger team.
On Coach Ryan's postgame message to the team…
He believes in us. We have to practice. We have to come back, play and practice. Everything we have to do, we just have to believe in.
