Transcript of head coach Rex Ryan's news conference following Thursday's midday practice at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center:
I know you guys prefer to have Rob [Ryan] up here, but that's not the case. Marquice Cole did not practice. He's out with that hamstring. It doesn't look good for this week for Marquice. I could say I expect him to play even though I know he's not going to, but I'm going to say he's probably not going to play. Guys that were limited: Josh Mauga with a hamstring was limited again. Guys that were full: Calvin Pace [foot], Darrelle Revis [hamstring], T-Rich [Tony Richardson], LaDainian [Tomlinson], Matt Slauson [knee], and Damien Woody you can add to that that list with a knee, but he was a full participant. That's the injury report. There's nothing much else to add.
On if Matt Slauson has bounced back well…
Yes. I thought he would. It was one of those things where he finished the game, but he was uncomfortable yesterday. We held him out. We expected him to practice and he was full go today, so expect him to play.
On if Tomlinson will get more rest in practice for the rest of the season…
Yes, that's the plan right now. We'll give him rest on practice days, make sure he still has his timing. We're not going to rest him completely. We'll give him a day off, him and T. Rich and then they should be fresher for the games. That's the important thing. I don't want to give him plays off in games. I'd much rather give him plays off in practice. It's the same thing with Tony, just like we did last year.
On what he's seen from the running game the past few games…
I'd always prefer to run 50 times. We did have 35 attempts last week. We just have to be persistent and keep trying to punch holes in them and eventually we should pop some. I wish we were more efficient the past couple of weeks in the running game. Guys really come on down there, committed to stopping us. Hopefully, we'll be able to get the ground game going a little better this week.
On throwing the ball more than they run it…
That's not good. You want to be 50-50 if you can or close to it. If anything, I'd rather have more rushing attempts than passing attempts. There have been some games this year where we've had to throw the ball. We've been from behind in a few games and it's hard to catch up if you're running the ball every snap. I'd like to be able to get ahead of somebody and just go to that formula.
On if Tomlinson is getting days off because he is worn down…
No. This was planned for the whole season, just to back guys off, like T. Rich. Once you get up there with the experience they've had, you just want to keep them fresh for games. If you're going to back off at all, back off in practice. Let them get the mental work and get all of that stuff in on Wednesdays. Get the physical in on Thursday and Friday, mental work on Saturday and game on Sunday. That's usually is good for running backs.
On if he'll alter the amount of carries Tomlinson and Shonn Greene get…
I'd like to get them 25 rushing attempts apiece. You guys know how I feel, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way. I look at it this way. We have two excellent backs. We just want to win, so whatever that means. I thought Shonn ran the ball really well last week. He had some great runs, albeit for four yards or five yards. He pounded it in there pretty good. I would like to have it more balanced. A bunch of attempts apiece would be fine with me.
On if it is tougher or easier to face the Browns since the two teams are so connected…
It's funny. You don't want to get the old paralysis by analysis because you know somebody so well. You can think this is how they're going to play something or they're going to run these plays against us, but at the end of the day, it's 11-on-11 football. Put the ball out there and see what happens.
Of if helps that the Browns have so many former Jet players…
I think it's a balancing act. Yes, you know those players and you've gone against them every day in practice for a couple of year, but it's the same thing. They know the coaches. Brian [Schottenheimer] was still the offensive coordinator and there are several coaches that are on Cleveland's staff that were here. We're familiar with each other. There's no question about it. It's going to come down to who can play a more physical game, who can play a complete game. I think it's going to be us. Again, we have to prove it on Sunday.
On if he didn't share as much with his brother Rob Ryan knowing that they would be playing each other this season…
It's almost like you quit asking. After this, no problem. How we can help, that's not a problem. We'll be more than happy to help and vice versa. If you're going against specific opponents, we'll try to help. We won't say, "Run this defense or that." Here's their tendencies. You're always trying to beat that opponent. If it's New England, for instance, yes, we'll give them everything we have. We won't give them our defense, but we'll give them everything we have on them.
On if they've done anything to improve anything at the safety position…
They can throw the football over there. We knew going into the game [the Lions] weren't going to be able to run it. They tried 28 times and really couldn't run it very well. We knew we'd be challenged with the passing game. They hit some plays on us. As far as schematically, I don't see a huge difference.
On if Kyle Wilson will be in the same role…
I can see Kyle playing more. Without question, I can see him playing more this week.
On if Drew Coleman will be in the same role…
Coleman will have a similar role. Kyle may play more this week.
On what has warranted Wilson playing more…
I just think the way he's practiced. He's had some good weeks in a row and I think he's ready to take on more. The last couple of weeks he's only had two or three plays on defense. He should play more than that this week. He will play more than that.
On if Wilson's confidence is back…
I feel it is. I do. It was just like he was snake bit. He went through a stretch and they all go through one and they just bounce back.
On if Wilson will be playing the nickel position…
I can see him playing some nickel for us. I can see him playing dime and eight defensive backs. Will he split reps? He'll probably split reps.
On where he senses the team is…
My gut feeling is we're 6-2. That's it. Each week presents different problems and different matchups. We have the same objective we have every week and that's to try to win. We'd love to be able to beat somebody by 20 points, but as we've seen lately, we'll take it by one or a field goal, whatever it takes. We just have to keep winning. I think we're going to have to improve to keep winning, though. That's our challenge. We're working hard on penalties and trying to come up with creative ways on these penalties. We're doing everything we can. We've got video. We're taking things from the NFL on how they teach certain penalties. We're showing it to our guys with our officials. You name it, we're doing it. The whole organization is committed to finding a way to get better at this.
On his brother, Rob Ryan, thought of his press conference yesterday…
I have no idea.
On Peyton Hillis being hard to stop as a fullback…
He's really not a fullback. They may be saying he's a fullback to try to get him Pro Bowl votes, but he's a tailback [laughter]. His legs are this big, so he's a huge guy, lower-body strength. He's got good vision, powerful man. He's the throwback. He's just old school running back. The old three yards in a cloud of dust, but unfortunately he's getting about five yards in a cloud of dust. He's running people over, jumping over people.
On the Browns being able to find ways to win…
No, I don't worry about anything regardless of who we play. I think we have more talent than anybody, but of course you guys know that, so we go in I expect to win every game. As far as pressure, we just want to win. We expect to win.
On possibly facing rookie Colt McCoy on Sunday…
It might not, though [laughter]. It might not be a rookie, so we really don't look at that very much.
On the approach when facing a rookie quarterback…
You try to mix it up on him. You try to keep him guessing where he's not comfortable with things. [McCoy] does a lot of times. He'll look at one receiver and then run with it. That's what you get from a lot of rookie quarterbacks. They don't want to sit back there all day and go through a progression and all that. The progression is "one guy ... run.". That's his progression. You see it with him and you see it with most rookies. Does it sound like I'm trying to keep him in the pocket a little bit? Yes, probably [smiling]. Go through your progression, kid, see what happens.
On what constitutes a dirty play…
I don't know. Guys hitting people in the back, chop-blocking, stuff like that. That's probably a dirty play. That would be dirty tactics, I guess. I don't know. No blood, no hard. That's pretty much my philosophy on it. We try to be a clean team, a physical team though. We've had some personal foul penalties. We've got to get cleaned up in that area as well.
On if there are times when a penalty is OK…
There is a difference between a penalty and taking care of each other. There is no question about that. If there is something that needs to be handled, then we're the right team to handle it. If there's somebody purposefully trying to go after one of ours, we'll go after two of yours. That's just the way it is. I can handle it. That I have no issues with, but if you're not coming after our guys, we're not coming after you illegally. We want to be the most physical team in the league within the confinements of the rules, but if you're crossing the line against us, then we've got to take care of ourselves.
On winning without playing well…
I think that is a championship level team though when you can win when maybe you're not at your best, you're not playing at your best. You've got to give your opponents credit as well. Green Bay looked decent against Dallas. I'm not going to say it [laughter]. They did put up 45 points. They're one of the highest scoring teams in the league. That's a pretty good football team. Then Detroit was coming off a big win. They had their quarterback back who looked pretty good. Sometimes you've got to give the opponent credit too. It's like that old saying, "Everybody is on scholarship." It's just a level playing field in the NFL and all teams are fairly similar. What separates the great ones, which everyone hates when I say that, or good ones depending on how you want to say it, is those teams find ways to win. That's what we're doing. You can look at any team. Any team that's had a lot of wins this year, look at how many games were close and how they find ways to win. Look at Pittsburgh for instance. That's a mark of a good team. That's what we wanted to change about our team from last year is that we're able to close you out in the fourth quarter. We're able to come back on you in the fourth quarter and we've proved that we can do that, so I look at it as a positive, not a negative.
On if Vernon Gholston will start this Sunday…
He may start. I'm not just pulling a pull any coach out. He may start this week, but he started because we were going back to his hometown. That's why he started.
On if Gholston played the way he wanted him too…
Yes he did. He never got a whole lot of reps, but I thought he played decent. I know he never was on the stat board, but he had some great knock them back in there. They couldn't run the ball when he was in there I thought he did a decent job rushing the passer. Vernon is a good football player. He's a big contributor to our defense and you're going to see it this week probably more so this week than you have all season.
On why he says Gholston will play more…
I just have a feeling he's going to play more this week.
On if Gholston will play more because of scheme or of him playing better…
I think he's been playing better. I think he earns the right to play more.
On if Gholston had good pressure against Detroit…
That's what I thought, but I saw the stats and the stats said he's got nothing. It was pointed out. He's playing better than that. He's knocking that line of scrimmage back. He's doing a good job.
On if Gholston will play more in Jason Taylor's spot…
No, he won't play in Jason's spot. Jason's been fine. The problem is we get too smart like "Hey, let's drop Jason." He does because I tell you what, he is a playmaker when you drop him back. He's got great hands. He's got great awareness. We haven't really turned him loose that much, but I think we'll probably mix it a little bit this week. He's not going to play in Jason's role.
On if the defense is blitzing less…
Maybe a little. We just haven't been as effective. We're dialing them up. The ball is coming out quick. We've got to do a better job in coverage and we've got to dial the pressure up to get there.
On how to get more interceptions…
Well, we've got to get Sione [Pouha] and [Mike] DeVito to work on ball drills. Other than that, they come in bunches, so do sacks. Hopefully this week we'll break out and get some. You want to be attacking the football, but you don't want to be coming out of position, so there is kind of a fine line there. We've got to do a better job of mixing zones and mans. Right now we do a lot of mans. People are identifying more, so I think we're going to be a little more multiple.
On the run defense…
It's been too good because we get them in third-and-long and we can't stop anybody in third-and-long. It's like we'd rather be in third-and-short it seems like. This week will be a great challenge. When we were looking at tape, I think they only had three plays in a standard breakdown where it was third-and-long. That's probably why they've been winning. It also shows that this team tries to ground-and-pound you and stay out of those situation.
On if the Browns have had only three third down and long situations this season…
No, just in a normal three-game break. We broke down more, but the past three weeks, I think they've only had three longer situations.
