Transcript of head coach Rex Ryan's conference call with reporters Tuesday afternoon from the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center:
First off, I watched that game and I thought it was a good football game. I think it was no surprise when you put those two types of teams going at it. It was physical, it was fun. That's why I enjoyed it. It was just a tough, hard-nosed football game. Those are the games that you love to watch and be a part of.
When I look at who is going to be up for this following week, you have [Mark] Brunell, right now, his practice status would be out. Trevor Canfield would be out. John Connor had a left ankle injury during the game so he would be out and then Logan Payne of course has the wrist. It's the left wrist. Rob Turner obviously is out and that would be it. [Jeff] Cumberland would be limited with a left a hamstring. Derrick Mason with a left knee, we'd have to monitor him. And we'll monitor [Darrelle] Revis, who has a right hip. And Sione Pouha is limited with his left knee. So that's our injury update, so with that I'll just open it up for questions.
On the new injuries…
I'm not sure right now, it looks like with Logan, I don't know how long he'll be out, but it looks like he's going to have to have surgery. That's one of those things that once we have the surgery, we'll find out a little more about it when we go in. But it looks like he's going to have to have surgery. John Connor has a left ankle and obviously he'll be out for the game against [Philadelphia] and we'll see what his status will be against Dallas. He's kind of walking around in a boot right now. That was it. With Revis, its more that we're just going to monitor his reps, so I don't think it's anything serious obviously.
On the offense's struggles…
We don't prepare for preseason games. We're not game-planning anyway [specifically]. We'd like to come out sharper on third down. That was our biggest Achilles heel yesterday, on third down. We're just not perfect, like we expect the route to be run right here. Maybe it's not run exactly where we thought it would be. Maybe the protection is not perfect. We're just missing. There are little things we're just missing on the finer things. But again, we have 12 days to get ready and I really think we'll be ready for Dallas. It's going to be a great test for us, but I think we'll be ready for it.
On the report that Nick Folk and TJ Conley have won starting jobs…
Yes, we'll confirm that, that they're here. So without question, we let the other two kickers go. Novak and Bryan, we let both those young men go today.
On if there are any other cuts…
Yes, Courtney Smith. So we let him go as well. It's more, especially in Novak's case, I think he has a great chance to kick in this league. If there is a situation where somebody needs a kicker, obviously we kicked him all through the preseason. There's going to be a lot of tape on him. He made a 63-yarder in practice, the same thing that Nick Folk made as well, the same day. So I think the young man will be able to kick in this league, I don't think there's any question about that, but I think this will maybe give him an opportunity to hook on maybe for a game and who knows what will go from there. That's something we've always said. I always feel like, let's let guys play. If you don't think they can make it or have a good chance of making it, release them earlier rather than later.
On if he has a comfort level with Nick Folk…
Yes, absolutely, I thought Folk has been kicking outstanding. When we chart all of our kicks, he's been absolutely outstanding. And quite honestly, Nick Novak had a good camp. I think the competition was good, but clearly I feel that Folk is our guy.
On the defense…
I think we're where we thought we'd be. I feel good about where we're at. I think this is going to be one of the premier defenses in the league. I feel good. We gave up the one touchdown to Cincinnati. I'm still trying to figure that one out and then I think we've given up three more points with that first group. I feel good about where our defense is. I like the fact that we're creating turnovers. We are getting pressure on, we're not necessarily getting sacks, but we are getting some heat on the quarterback so I've been pleased with where we are defensively.
On what he sees from the young defenders along the front seven…
I think we've been pretty stout on the run. The runs we have given up have really been on the perimeter, so it really hasn't come through the inside. So I've been happy with the way our guys are playing. The fact that we've only had Sione for a game has allowed us to play [Martin Tevaseu] and Kenrick Ellis. Those guys have gotten a lot of reps. They'll continue to get reps. They'll play on Thursday as well. I really feel good, I think we have some young depth, that we'll roll these guys. I feel good about Dixon, I feel good about [Tevaseu] and obviously Ropati. So I think this is going to be a strength of our team.
On Aaron Maybin…
I think he's going to have to do more. I think he's going to have to show that he's that pass rusher we think he has a chance to be. Quite honestly, Westerman and McIntyre are playing really well for us. So he is going to have to show more. I think he's going to play in this league. We'll see if he can play for us.
On how Jamaal Westerman has played…
I think he has, I think he might be one of our best pass rushers. Right now he's probably rushing the passer as well as anyone we have. I'm pleased with him, I thought he played well this past week in particular. So we'll see, he'll get an opportunity to play Thursday night as well.
On Maybin playing with the first-teamers…
I wanted to see him against the number one offensive line. We know he can blow by the second and thirds, I wanted to see him against the first unit there.
On if it's the case that Jeremy Kerley will be the primary Wildcat quarterback…
That is. But when we had Leon Washington here, we had Leon, we had Brad [Smith]. Here we kind of have LT [LaDainian Tomlinson] to do it, obviously we felt really good about Kerley doing it, and also Joe McKnight. So I think we have three guys that can do that role.
On how he thought Kerley played in the Wildcat…
I was, the biggest play I thought he made was the poise he showed when our center thought the quarterback was underneath. It looked like he just rolled the ball back there, and the kid was as poised as can be. He has a little bit of that Brad Smith in him. He can throw the football. He's just a football player. He's not obviously as big as Brad, but the young man did the same thing at TCU and we're seeing it here as well.
On the defense creating turnovers at the end of long drives by the opposing offenses…
You look at it, they gave up maybe 50 yards per game up until that point. I mean that's a good football team, they made some plays on us. We missed a few, those things happen. You're not going to be perfect. But will we end up being the best defense in football? I think so. So believe me, the least concern I have is about our defense. I think our defense is going to be outstanding.
I've always said that and I challenge everybody: put your negative comments out there and we'll see what happens at the end, because I think our defense is really going to be outstanding. The fact that this secondary has been together now for a while, I think that's going to really help us with communication and things. We got off to a slow start in that game, there's no question about it, but again for us not game-planning anybody specifically, we're just out there making some standard calls that we would make, I think our guys played reasonably well. And I'm excited, obviously that first week we're going to have a huge test, but I wouldn't trade this defense for anybody's in the league.
On if he is confident that he will have both Pouha and Connor for Week 1...
I think so. I feel great that we'll have Sione for sure. John, we'll see how he is. I'm hopeful that he'll be ready. He's an awful tough kid, I would assume that he would be ready.
On if he would reach out to Tony Richardson if Connor cannot play…
Yes, but I feel good though with John. It's not like his ankle is broken or anything, so I feel good that he's going to get through it. But clearly if you're down in the season and things like that and something unfortunately would happen to John, then absolutely, Tony would be an ideal guy for the simple fact that he knows our system and Tony is a great football player and a great teammate. So certainly that would be the guy that I would be interested in if we did have to replace John or something happened to John. But right now, it's not even close to that. This is just a left ankle sprain or something like that. I'm not a doctor, but I don't think it's going to be that big of a deal.
On whether he spoke to DL Muhammad Wilkerson about controlling his emotions…
Yeah, I think it was just one of those things where it was getting a little hot in there, and the guy clearly crossed the line. It's just one of those things where calmer heads have got to prevail. In that situation it's tough when somebody hits you in the face first. It's hard to hold back sometimes, but he's a young man. I think we obviously have got to do a better job at restraining ourselves.
On being able to run complex packages on defense because of returning so much personnel…
Well, I think part of what makes us really successful is the fact that we are very multiple. We're not just a Tampa-2 defense or a whatever, where you better have better players than what you're playing against. We can do a lot of different things. We have great football players. They're smart, they play collectively, they play as a team. It's not just about individual success, it's about the entire unit's success, and our guys understand that. That's why I think we can make that leap, get back to where we expect to be.
On whether his defense can be more multiple in year three than in his first two seasons as head coach…
I believe so. You look at adding [Donald] Strickland back, getting him back. The fact that [Antonio] Cromartie's now in his second season, we got Brodney Pool in his second season, and then of course, having Eric Smith and Jimmy [Leonhard] and even [Emanuel] Cook coming back. I feel that this is a group that we can do a lot of different things against you, having Marquice Cole. Everybody's played in it. We understand the coverages, we understand the communication. We're going to be tough to beat physically, and if you can't beat us mentally, which you shouldn't be able to do, it should be a long day for you, and that's been our plan.
On RB Joe McKnight's preseason and what he envisions for him this season…
Well, I think you hit it right on the head. This is an explosive athlete and he's a great talent. Compare this preseason to last preseason, when he was just a young rookie, making rookie mistakes and all that. Now, you fast forward to this year and how much he's grown as a professional football player. I think, as far as a role, good things happen when you put the ball in his hands. He's one of the fastest athletes in the league. He is an explosive athlete, so you want to get him some touches. I think he's doing a better job in his pass protection. It still needs to improve, but I'm excited about his progress.
On his biggest concern…
That's a good question. I just think, trying to get our offense in rhythm. Usually, you've had a little more time to work with them if you've had the offseason, and blending some of our new players into our system and things like that. I think concern is too strong a word, but it's something I think, right out of the gate we've got to be ready to go. We're going to play against an excellent Dallas team and my brother going over there, he'll have those guys juiced up, ready to go.
Again, I think our guys are going to be ready to roll. I know we will be, but I think that will probably be it. Usually, this time of year you've had a little more time to get the continuity and everything else down, and traditionally a defense is ahead of an offense. Our offense has done a lot of good things this preseason, but it seems like we've gotten better. The first week, the pass protection needed to improve, we did that. Then the red zone, well that improved. Now, it's just a matter of putting it all together and when we kick this thing off for real, I think we're going to be that team that I talked about.
On the biggest thing he's looking for in the final preseason game…
I just think it's going to be about evaluating. This is going to be an opportunity for some people to step up and make the football team. If it's close, whoever plays the best will get that job. And it's an audition for a lot of guys, maybe they're not good enough to play for our football team or we decide that they're not, but they're playing for somebody else. It's just going to be about playing physical, playing fast and getting after it and we'll see what happens.
We feel good about our guys. It's really a young guys thing, but they're fighting for some of those roster spots. And we'll also have a lot of our key players, [they'll] still be out there. Muhammad Wilkerson is going to play. You're going to have Kenrick Ellis, you're going to have Kyle Wilson still playing. It's not like it's going to be just the third team out there, we're going to have a lot of guys that contribute as front line players as well.
