Transcript of head coach Rex Ryan's news conference before Monday afternoon's training camp practice at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center:
First off, I'd like to apologize for running a little bit late today. I was on [jetsshop.com] ordering my Mike Westhoff bobble head, and it's not official yet, because you have to sell 288 of them. Let's see, Westy's bought 286, I bought one, so there's still one available. So I just want to mention it to everybody that you go on [jetsshop.com] and make sure you order that Mike Westhoff bobble head. With that being said, I guess I'll open it up.
On if WR Plaxico Burress will practice today…
Yeah, we'll see how he does through individual, and then maybe get him a few more reps, but clearly, I want to take it slow. We don't want to have any setbacks and all that. We're going to see how he progresses, but we'll definitely keep an eye on him.
On how pleased he is with the progress of DL Muhammad Wilkerson and DT Kenrick Ellis…
Really pleased. You think you have something when you draft them, but a lot of times you think something, and then you get them here, and all of a sudden it's like, "It might take a little bit." And you know what? There's going to be some growing pains with them, clearly, because you can't buy experience, but both of these guys have the mentality it takes to play, and the raw, physical skills.
Toughest thing to do as a defensive lineman is two-gap, and Muhammad, in particular, already knows how to do that, and I think with Ellis, it's just a matter of time. So, I think both of those guys are going to play huge roles for us, obviously Muhammad being in the starting group already.
On if this is what he expected from Wilkerson and Ellis…
It's really what we thought. We were excited we were able to get these two guys. I will say this, I think Mo two-gaps a little than we thought — he does for me, anyway. His movement, the mentality, all those types of things — it's easy, sometimes you're the big man on campus, and you get here, and it's like, not so much, but they definitely are right there where we thought they would be and hoped they would be.
On what he has seen out of DT Carlton Powell…
Well, both of those guys are doing a good job for us, but we'll see. I think where you're going to notice the younger guys, in particular, is when you get to those preseason games, and they really get a chance to show, and see if they can separate. Quite honestly, it's going to be hard. That D-line is young and talented, so it's a strong group. I would not be surprised if other teams were really watching our games, as well. Not saying he's not going to make our team, but he's going to definitely have an opportunity to showcase what he can do.
On any more injuries over the past few days…
No, not really. That offensive lineman [Trevor Canfield] kind of has a little bit of a new [injury]. What's that kid's name? We just picked him up from Cincinnati. I can always remember the names of the schools [laughing]. Golly. Other than that, we're really healthy.
On what triggered the youth movement on the defensive line…
I felt bad for the guys we had. We had three guys, and they had to slug it out every snap last year. We had to get more depth. We had to add more depth to that group. And the fact they're younger and things like that, that's great. We want to be a physical football team — the most physical team. And we weren't that day [AFC Championship Game]. Pittsburgh was more physical than we were. Especially in that first half, they kind of pushed us around a little bit.
Again, just like the year before, we identified specific things that we thought we had to improve on to beat Indianapolis, to have a chance to beat New England and all that—and that was the secondary. This year, we thought we had to do something to the defensive line to give us more depth, and that's why we added those guys.
On it it's likely that the Jets will use a five- or six-man rotation on the defensive line…
Absolutely. That's the ideal thing. Last year, like I said, there were three of them. Three guys really slugging it out on early downs. We tried to put some other guys in there, as well. Now, I feel really good. When you look at that group out there now, there's seven, eight guys that you feel really good about.
On how eager he is to see what he has in Burress and newly acquired WR Derrick Mason…
I think we know what we have, but yeah, in a way you still want to see [Burress] 100 percent. I'd like to see Derrick get out there, run a pivot route, and all that kind of stuff. It'll be fun to see him, and I think we'll see that today. We'll get them all out there.
On Mark Sanchez not being able to work with all of his receivers…
I'm sure that's been tough. You want to throw to the guys that you're going to be throwing to. It's been great for guys like [Jeremy] Kerley, Logan Payne, Patrick Turner, Scotty McKnight and the whole group over there. A young kid from Temple, [Michael] Campbell. There have been some impressive guys. So it's been a good opportunity for those guys to step up, but still I think let's get Plaxico out there, let's get Mace out there and see what he has.
On the upcoming preseason game against the Houston Texans…
That first game, that'll be fun I guess. But we're just trying to take things slow and get our guys together. It hasn't dawned on me yet. We're still in training camp mode. I guess a couple days before that game there will be more intensity about it, but right now we're trying to get things in, installing and things like that. We're really evaluating. We have two new receivers. We're just trying to get everybody caught up to speed right now. We really haven't thought about that preseason game yet.
On Mark Sanchez's assertion that the defense looks like the 1985 Chicago Bears out there during practice…
I think it's a real credit number one to Mike Pettine and to Dennis [Thurman], to Bob [Sutton] and Mark [Carrier] and everybody over there. They do a great job of teaching. It's the third year that we've been in this system so I think the bugs have already been played out. Guys know each other and I expect big things. Albeit we're bringing in a couple new guys, but I expect big things out of this unit.
On if the defense could be as good as the 1985 Chicago Bears…
No, this team is not there. We may lead the league in defense again. That's certainly our target. I was on some good defenses in Baltimore. The 2006 Ravens led the league in more categories than any defense in the history of the game. But nobody thinks of them because we never won. The 2000 Ravens, I was a part of that defense which broke some records and was pretty good obviously. But the '85 Bears in my opinion was the best defense in the history of this game. People knew they were beat before they even played the game. That's how they played. They played not to get hurt. That was an amazing group. The mentality of that group was really something.
On the biggest surprise on defense so far…
Biggest surprise on defense? Probably [Nick] Bellore from Central Michigan. And for me to know his name from Central Michigan, that tells you something. I don't know if surprise is it. We expected this young man, we were thinking about taking him in the draft. We were able to pick him up as a free agent. He was running with our two's right away. McIntyre from Canada through Fresno has been a guy who has jumped out as well. [Jamaal] Westerman, we expected him to progress. Ropati [Pitoitua] — I'm throwing you 20 names — Ropati is a guy who came off that injury. Sometimes you have to see how he does, but he hasn't missed a beat. He looks terrific out there.
Our second defensive line is so much better right now than our second offensive line. It's hard, [Mark] Brunell is back there and can't even get a pass off. That group has really been dominant. I think that's what is really tilting the practice. What appears to be that the defense is way ahead of the offense, I think it's that second unit. That whole defensive line and those pass rushers we have, I think are really dominating the practices.
On goal-line drills during training camp…
Oh, you'll see it. I love that thing down there. There's no trick-'em down there. It's just "let's go" and that's always a spirited practice and things. That's coming up Thursday of this week. So it'll actually be fun to go to practice that day. We'll try to make up for some of these walkthrough practices.
On switching Matt Kroul from the defensive line to the offensive line…
I just think that for him, he'll actually be a swing guy. I saw it one other time, Justin Bannan did it in Buffalo as a backup defensive lineman and backup offensive lineman. Kroul is a smart guy. He can always pop over to defense. His weight is up, just under 310. This guy is a tough guy. He was an Iowa state champion in wrestling so he has great balance and he's smart and tough.
Brandon Moore, you just have to look at our starting right guard and I think the best guard in football and he's sitting over there as a former defensive lineman. Maybe Kroul will be one of those guys who plays 10 years as an offensive lineman. He certainly has the mentality. He's a tough guy and he looked pretty good over there. I know Bart [Scott] was calling him "the Fat Faneca", making him feel good over there I think. Always building guys up, Bart does. But he looked pretty good over there.
On punter Chris Bryan…
He's a left-footed guy. The thing that you notice about him that is unusual, it takes him like four yards to get the ball off. Most guys will stride much longer than that. So he's striding at four yards and gets the ball off quickly. Anytime a guy is left-footed it looks kind of funny for some reason, but he booms it. Westy is doing some different things with him and all that, but I've been impressed with him.
