Transcript of head coach Rex Ryan's news conference following Wednesday's afternoon practice at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center:
Injury report, guys that did not practice today: Wayne Hunter with that shin, that ugly shin. It just keeps getting worse, not better. Calvin Pace never participated. He was off on the side doing different things, which is encouraging, but he did not do any of the team drills. [Darrelle] Revis still did not practice with the hamstring, still questionable there but I don't want to rule him out yet. I'd hate to be fined by the league if he did play, so let's not rule him out. [Jamaal] Westerman with the ankle. I know there was some talk that he would practice today after you guys left. That is not true [smiling]. He's got an ankle injury. I think it started off, he tweaked a hamstring. Sometimes when you have an injury like that, the body sometimes, an ankle shows up. Damien Woody missed practice today. He had a personal issue. Limited practice was Nick Mangold with his shoulder and Jason Taylor with his elbow.
Now about practice today, I thought it was an excellent practice. The focus is there. We definitely challenged our guys to pick it up. It's a huge game for us. Clearly, another game in the division, back-to-back-to-back games. This will be a huge accomplishment if we close out the first quarter of the regular season with a win here, three straight divisional games. We'd be right where we want to be. We know it's going to take a lot of work. Our guys are focused and ready to go.
As far as the defense today, we were working Drew Coleman in there some with the ones just to not necessarily push Kyle [Wilson] but to make sure that Drew is ready to go. I thought he closed the game out pretty well for us. He did have one missed tackle. He had a great tackle on Ronnie Brown. I think he deserves a look there, so we'll see how that develops as the rest of the week goes on.
On Calvin Pace…
I think of the two, I think Calvin's got a better chance to play. But I'm hoping they both play right now. I don't feel great about Darrelle right now.
Of if he's as optimistic about Pace playing as he was the other day…
Yes, I think so. There is nothing that he didn't do today that would lead me to that. I'd like to see him get out there and practice a little so hopefully we can see that tomorrow.
On if Pace would play in limited situations…
Yes, if he can go, I think that would be the plan for him. Get him out there on third down. We all know we've had struggles getting off the field on third down which is usually our forte. Or is it really "fort"? I guess you could use both, right? Forte, it sounds right but is it fort or forte? I don't know. It's forte. I always used forte, but I was corrected by an English teacher once that I had a great deal of respect for that said it's really fort. I'm like, "Excuse me? I'll take my D-minus and leave." [laughter] So anyway, the thing stuck. Don't think things don't stick with people. Anyway, where were we? [laughter] It is forte.
On Mark Sanchez's performance the last two weeks and his five interceptions against Buffalo last year…
I'm sure he remembers that. We all do, don't we? First off, Mark never lost confidence. Anybody can have a bad game. Joe Montana has had a bad game. It wasn't necessarily his fault. He never really had a horrendous game that first one. It's just that we couldn't get anything going. We never converted on third down. We couldn't get any kind of rhythm. I think the last two weeks, this is who he is. This is what we saw in training camp, on the practice field, in the classroom this year. He's having the kind of year we expect. The thing I loved about Mark was his confidence. He's got plenty of confidence and the team has confidence in him, the staff and everybody else. We know he's the leader of our team right now.
On if ground-and-pound is the offense's forte…
I'd much rather ground and pound than throw it all the time, but we're going to win no matter what it takes. We expect to throw the ball more this year. We just don't want to have to do it out of necessity. We want to dictate when we throw, dictate when we run. With the guys that we added, when you add Santonio Holmes when he comes back, we know Dustin Keller, the kind of chemistry that Mark and he have, Braylon [Edwards] knowing the offense now and not just being thrown to the wolves, and of course Jerricho [Cotchery], and adding LaDainian [Tomlinson] and with Shonn Greene, we should have an outstanding offense. We can do more than just run the ball at you, but if you ask my preference, I'd just as soon run it.
On how Sanchez's performance in the past two games compares to his performance in the playoffs…
I'd say right there with it. We had a fourth-quarter comeback in that game, which I don't know how many we had last year. I'm not sure, but I don't think we had many fourth-quarter comebacks. That just tells you about Mark. I mentioned that all of us are expecting plays now. It's not a mistake. When we played Buffalo, after two or three it was like "Oh, no" and that's what happened. Nobody feels like that now. Everybody thinks we're going to make a play, whether it's running the football or throwing it down the field. There's that much confidence in the group right now.
On not expecting interceptions anymore…
No. We want to get some boomerang balls [interception returns for touchdowns]. We want to get some and bring them back at them.
On if last season's first game against Buffalo was a low point for Sanchez…
It was certainly a low point for us. We threw six interceptions. That was one of those Ripley's Believe It or Not deals. We rushed for 318 but we lose the game. I don't know if that's ever happened in the league before. You guys would know better than I would. That was rough. You lose a divisional game like that, that was tough. We know the Buffalo Bills are a very capable football team, but if they're going to beat us, they're have to beat us at our best and that's the challenge to our team.
On putting in a claim for Trent Edwards…
The obvious thing would be we were going to pick his brain. Absolutely, that would be true. The other thing is, I think the young man can play. I think he's a good quarterback and we always look at every opportunity to make our team better. We felt that he's got a chance to be a good quarterback in this league. Before I did this, I brought Kellen Clemens in and was like, "Kellen, are you OK with this? I won't even claim him if your not OK with this." I said, "Just take your time thinking about it." And he goes, "Hey, Rex, I want to win as bad as you do. Absolutely, claim him." So that's what we did.
On what has held Edwards back…
I don't know. At times he's looked good. I was on the receiving end of a victory that he had when I was in Baltimore. They beat us. I thought he was a decent quarterback then. I still think he's a decent quarterback and has a chance to be. He's from Stanford. That's pretty good. He's a smart kid, a big kid and can make some throws. He doesn't have a Harvard education, but he's a smart kid.
On why the Bills are a cause for concern…
They've always been like this. They are a scrappy team. They'll get after you. They've got a lot of good players. Their secondary is loaded. You have two excellent safeties [Donte Whitner and Jairus Byrd], you're loaded at corner, you've got the linebacker coming back [Paul Posluszny]. They fly around and get after it. Their nose tackle, Kyle Williams, is really an active player. They've got Dwan Edwards, who I actually care about more than the rest of the guys over there because he was one of my guys. He's done a terrific job and is a good football player. They're tough there. On offense, they have a lot of weapons on the outside. Now, you have three running backs with Marshawn Lynch, [Fred] Jackson and [C.J.] Spiller. This team has plenty of weapons.
On if Coleman is practicing with the ones on defense because of Wilson's struggles…
I think Kyle's struggling a little bit, without question, but I think Drew has earned it. When we put him in, he stood up. Both of those guys will play a bunch. We think as coaches that he deserves a shot.
On Wilson not getting his head around to play the ball…
Right, you are either in control or out of control. When you're in control, you should play the football. If you're out of control, you have to play through the defender, the offensive receiver. He really did a good job the first game even though he got flagged. I thought he looked back a couple of times. Clearly, the one penalty he had, it was poor judgment. It looked like the ball was going out-of-bounds anyway. He's playing green right now a little bit, but he studies. Everything he does is like a professional. I really think he's going to get better, and soon.
On if they are surprised Wilson is struggling…
I think, ideally, we wanted him to come in and be the nickel while he's learning. It's tough enough when you need to learn to play the nickel and the outside. That's kind of hard. This guy, quite honestly, has been much better than I thought picking things up. I think the communication part, it's definitely not a physical thing, it's more of a technique issue and maybe tightening the thing down a bit more. I think he's going to be fine.
On if Wilson will be moved inside if Coleman starts…
I think that would be an ideal situation for Kyle.
