Transcript of Jets head coach Rex Ryan's news conference following Wednesday's midday practice:
We'll start with injuries. [Dwight] Lowery [ankle] and [Donald] Strickland [concussion] did not participate today in practice. Guys that were limited were Shaun Ellis [knee] and Vernon Gholston [hamstring]. The people that were full were [Jim] Leonhard [thumb]; Bryan Thomas [toe] and Rob Turner [knee]. That's pretty much it as far as the injuries go.
On if Lowery and Strickland will play this Sunday…
I'm thinking no right now. You've got Strickland with the concussion. Obviously, the doctors are looking at that. That's something you want to make sure that he's ready to play. Then Lowery with an ankle injury, some guys recover quicker than others. I would be pleasantly surprised if he could go. I really don't anticipate that.
On Kerry Rhodes moving to the second team…
Kerry is still starting in a lot of our groups. You have to make some decisions that you think are in the best interest of the football team. The particulars of this, I'm really not going to get into. I will say this: Kerry Rhodes has been a pretty darn good football player in this league. Do I expect more of Kerry? I would say that's a true statement than what we're getting. He probably expected more of himself, also, playing this season. I really don't want to get into the family business part of it. Kerry will obviously be available and he can answer any questions that he wants.
On if Rhodes is still a guy who is going to an important part of the team now and moving forward…
Absolutely. I'm almost banking on how Kerry will respond. I'll say this: I know Kerry wants to be out there with his teammates. I'm banking on that.
On what has changed in the two weeks since he said Rhodes was playing well…
If you're playing pretty well, I think that's probably a true statement, but I think when you're capable of playing better than that, maybe that's where the issue is.
On his standards for benching a player…
I think every situation is different. Every circumstance is different. I'll say this, and I've it said from day one, not everybody is going be treated the same, but everybody is going be treated fairly. That's how I honestly feel about things.
On if it's fair to the team for Mark Sanchez to remain the QB starter...
Again, that's your opinion that he's losing games. I will say that Mark Sanchez has played well enough to win seven games this year. I think the three games that he never played well enough for to us win were obviously the games where he had the multiple interceptions. Clearly, he never played well enough, but in seven of the ten games, I think he did play well enough to win.
On if Rhodes' lack of big plays is the reason for him being moved…
No. I think with Kerry, some of those things you can go back and look at when we first put in the system, and that there are some growing pains. You've got to learn the defense. It's tough because Kerry had to learn everything and not just Kerry. It's a brand new defense, and it takes time. I would always tell him, "Listen. Stay back and let the play come to you." The one thing I didn't want him to do is jump something when he's not real familiar with the system and the ball get thrown over our head, OK?
It was almost to be expected, some of this. It takes some time. When you look back, I think the obvious one with Ed Reed playing in this defense, there were games and times when ED wasn't making an interception every game. They come in bunches, and I believe they will. I think the opportunities for us to make plays in the back end will be there. It's really making it your defense and our defense. [It's] really taking that ownership in it understanding all the little things. [With] experience and knowledge of the system, that's when it's going to become possible. That's when you're going to see some dominant performances.
On if his statement to Rhodes was as much a statement to the team as Rhodes himself…
No. One thing I want you to understand is that I'll do what's in the best interest of our football team. Sometimes this is tough to maybe accept, but I think I'm doing it in the best interest of Kerry as well. I know how much it hurts him and how much he wants to be out there with his guys. Sometimes more than money, more than anything else, you take something like that away from somebody and there's only two ways to react to it. Like I said, I'm banking on Kerry Rhodes and how he's going to approach it.
On if Rhodes puts his off-field activities before football…
No, I don't see that. In fact, I was proud of some of things he does off the field. I was at one of his events and it was impressive. He had the bowling. It was really a great event, so I'm proud of some of the things that he does off the field for the community. That's not it. Football is first to Kerry.
On moving Eric Smith to the first team…
I just think it's time. It was time to do something and time to react. That's what we thought we did in the best interest of the football team. I think Eric Smith is a good football player. He'll make a good account of himself.
On if Drew Coleman will be active this Sunday…
Yes, he'll be active.
On if it was a mistake to have Coleman defend Wes Welker so much…
We tried several combinations on Welker. Drew wasn't the only guy getting beat by Wes Welker, and he's not the only guy that gets beat by Wes Welker.
On if he was embarrassed that Welker had 15 catches against his defense…
It is embarrassing, I guess, if you take a look at the numbers. The thing I was more embarrassed about was the big play that we give up to Welker. You can live with 2- or 3- yard receptions, which he had plenty of, but it's the big ones. I forget the exact number, maybe a 46- or 43-yard completion we gave up in a blown coverage. That was the thing that was more embarrassing to me. I've been on a defense that gave up the record, I believe, 20 catches to Cris Carter once. That's certainly something I'm not proud of, but things like that happen. You've got to give New England credit. They realized they couldn't complete a pass to Randy Moss, so they were going to complete it to somebody.
On if Smith was the one who blew the coverage on Welker's 43-yard completion…
Trust me, it looked like nobody was there. I'll blame it on nobody if you want because we totally blew the coverage. It's funny, because that's the obvious. I don't disagree that Drew was on Welker for a lot of those receptions, but Eric was and the linebackers were, too. It went around. It wasn't like we just stayed in the one coverage and just had him locked on by himself. There were time he was actually doubled and the pass was still in there. If we wanted to bench him, there would be a lot of guys getting benched. Wes Welker is a tremendous receiver. I think that's why the matchups, when you play a team like New England, it's a full day's work. There's no question. Even No. 11 [Julian Edelman] is a tough player, too.
On if Rhodes has to win his job back or it is a one-week demotion…
Kerry knows what he has to do. Leave it at that. He knows what I expect.
On banking on Rhodes…
I just know how much this hurts him and I believe football is first to Kerry. I know he's embarrassed by this, as am I, quite honestly. I think he's going respond. I really do.
On why he's embarrassed…
I'm embarrassed because I have a guy with a lot of ability, and maybe it's just not quite there yet.
On if he would consider benching Calvin Pace…
I'd consider benching anybody. That's the position that I have as the head coach here. If you're just basing games on sacks and the numbers, then New England, that guy [Tom Brady], I think, is the second or might be the least sacked quarterback in football. Last time we played them we had no sacks and 23 knockdowns on him.
On Pace…
I think Calvin has been really doing a good job for us. We ask him to do a lot of different things. We ask him to sometimes rush the passer with his hands in the dirt. Sometimes [we put him] as an outside linebacker. Sometimes we put him in man coverage on tight ends and sometimes in zone drops. We ask him to do a lot. Do I think he's playing well? I absolutely do.
On if he was upset that Rhodes wasn't physical against the Patriots…
About him getting run over, if you've got a running back barreling down and being untouched, no safety in the league is going to not get run over there. Most will miss the tackle. At least Kerry made the tackle. Did he get run over? Absolutely. We just tell our guys to get them down any way you can on the field. If that means you get run over, you get run over. Would I prefer a guy to be able to knock somebody back? Absolutely. In that situation, it calls for you to get that guy on the ground. Now as far as some other hits or opportunities, sure, you want to knock the heck out of somebody.
On if he told the team that they could be demoted as well…
No.
On if D'Brickashaw Ferguson's job is in jeopardy…
His job as starting left tackle in the Pro Bowl might be in jeopardy. In my opinion, if he's not the best tackle in football, off-hand, he and the kid from Miami are probably the two best tackles in football, so absolutely not. His job is not in jeopardy.
On Ferguson giving up two sacks against the Patriots…
There are probably a lot of things that go into things, sure. Everybody gets beat. Obviously, you're disappointed when something like that happens. When he's putting people on their backs, I don't think we need to dismiss that either.
On people saying that the Jets are crumbling…
Everybody's got a right to their own opinion. I don't believe this team is even close to crumbling. I think it's just the opposite. We're competitive and we want to win in the worst way. We have certain standards that we think that obviously we're not living up to right now. It's more of an urgency than it is that we're crumbling. I think that's not even close to the truth. Again, I would invite to you talk to any of our players, anybody around here in this building.
On his first day of being more hands-on with the offense…
I was in some of the offensive meetings and I like to say it's French class. I will say this: It is a lot different, the verbiage and everything else. I wanted to recognize more of the calls and understand it. There's a system that I put in with our quarterbacks and with Mark [Sanchez] in particular, just for him to understand what we need, what we can't have and what we can have. We'll see how it works. I believe it will work. I thought he did an outstanding job today doing some of the things we're asking him to do.
On what type of system he put in for Sanchez…
You can ask him that. We'll see, but it's just a thing that basically it's helping him manage when he gets out on the field to understand the parameters and the game situations. He's not just hitting the field thinking that he's just running plays. He's got to understand what we're looking for and how we're going to protect the football. Every situation is different in every game. Sometimes you take the field and you've got to take more chances than other times. There are times that that makes absolutely no sense to take that chance. That's basically what I'm trying to get him to understand.
On if Brian Schottenheimer needed further explaining as to what role he will have with the offense…
No. Like I said, is there something I can do to help? Whether it's talking to a player, I want to make sure that I'm here to serve in that capacity, whatever we need there. I just wanted to say that, 'Hey, obviously this is my responsibility.' That's the way I'm going to approach it. I don't want to pass it off on anybody else. I'm going make sure that Mark knows what we need as a football team and what we can't have in those particular times in the game. That's where I think maybe I can help.
On if he's disappointed by Braylon Edwards' play the last couple of weeks…
No. I tell you, I'm disappointed in the drop. The one ball that looked like it got defected, I still thought Braylon could come up with it. It was a big third-down play for us. I love the fact that he took responsibility. Mark's struggling and things, but he's looking at it and how he needs to be better. That's how he's going to help, and I thought that was terrific. He's dictating a lot of coverage. That's what we knew would happen.
I think that's why I feel great about our running game. If teams want to overload and try to take Braylon away, you absolutely can do that. There are times when you go in and say, 'Look, this guy, I don't care how great a receiver, if they want to put two or three guys over there, then you can take him away.' Hopefully it opens up other things for us. He's had a huge impact in the success of our running game. I think it's just a matter of time before he has a huge impact in our passing game as well.
