Saban has led the Dolphins to a 5-3 record since the last time he faced the Jets
Along with reiterating that he is not interested in the University of Alabama head coaching vacancy, Nick Saban told New York reporters that his Miami Dolphins have a lot to prove over their final two weeks of the season.
"I just know that there is only one sin in this business and that is to lose," Saban said. "We certainly have a lot to prove as a team. We went on a stretch there where we won five-out-of-six games and beat some pretty good football teams. We're a little disappointed that we weren't able to continue with that consistency, and I hope we can prove that we can come back in these two games and be able to play at that level."
Read below for Nick Saban's and Jason Taylor's conference call transcripts
Miami Dolphins' Head Coach Nick Saban, 12.21
On how the Jets have been playing…
They're playing outstanding. Their defense has really played well, they're being very aggressive. They certainly gave Minnesota a lot of problems with they're blitzes and their blitz packages and the way they disguised it. Offensively, they have done an outstanding job. Chad (Pennington) has done a great job of managing their offense. Laveranues Coles is having an outstanding year. Their entire receiving core has all contributed in a positive way. They are able to run the ball. The offensive line has come together nicely, they have two rookies starting and they are both playing well for them. This team has done a fantastic job of making improvements throughout the course of the year and they are playing with a lot of confidence right now and a lot of positive energy and I think this is an outstanding football team.
On the Jets' improvement as result of Coach Mangini's coaching…
Eric is an outstanding coach; I think he's done a fantastic job there. I'm sure his staff has worked very hard to all contribute to that. They are an outstanding team right now and that has to be contributed to some of the things that he's done and some of the moves that he's made since he's been there.
On D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold…
They've both played extremely well. To start two young guys like that, was a little bit of a leap of faith, I think, in terms of thinking that both of these guys would develop as nicely as they have. Nick Mangold has played extremely well and done a really good job and played smart. You would never know he's a rookie by watching him play, that's for sure, and he plays like a veteran player. D'Brickashaw is very athletic and really uses his athletic ability and his reach to his advantage. Left tackle is a challenging position and he's done an outstanding job there.
On the motion by the Jets' offense before the snap…
They move their people around so much, I think that's really what's difficult. Being in no huddle, moving, shifting, motioning, putting people in different places each week, it's kind of hard to get a beat on them and I think that's just good coaching on their part. They have done a really good job of taking advantage of some of their skill players and putting them in position where they can make plays. That's something we'd all like to do.
On Jonathan Vilma…
He's played extremely well, he is instinctive and a good finisher when he gets to the runner. He's done a really good job, their defense has played great, they have only given up 14 points a game in the last six games. They've really done an outstanding job.
On Dewayne Robertson…
The transition for him was from being a 4-3 tackle, more or less, to playing nose guard, which was probably pretty dramatic for him. He's just kind of blossomed there of late in terms of using his quickness to his advantage, but he's also playing with a lot of power and strength in there and it makes it difficult to single block him. Of course when they move him, he's an effective player because of his quickness. He's made a lot of good plays and I see him making the transition very well.
On Jason Taylor…
Jason has had an outstanding year no doubt. He's really made a lot of impact plays in a lot of games. He's set a great example for a lot of our players here with his leadership. His production and performance has been consistent throughout the season. I haven't been around many players that have impacted a team any more then he has. I don't know if that's any indication that he should be the MVP, but he certainly has had an outstanding year.
On having the consistency of both Taylor and Zack Thomas…
Zack has had an outstanding year as well and those two (Thomas and Taylor) guys, you talk about character competitors and guys that football is important to and they're giving their best effort to play their best football and working hard every day to get better, even though they both have had an enormous amount of success in their careers. Zack has been a leader for us, he make a lot of adjustments and has just done a fantastic job in the two years. It's been a transition for him because we've haven't always played 4-3, but he's been just as productive or more productive the last two years then ever.
On Ronnie Brown…
He's done a nice job, he practiced today and did a good job and seemed to do okay.
On still having something to play for now that they've been eliminated from postseason contention…
I can't answer that. I just know that there is only one sin in this business and that is to lose. We certainly have a lot to prove as a team, we went on a stretch there, where we won five-out-of-six games and beat some pretty good football teams. We're a little disappointed that we weren't able to continue with that consistency and I hope we can prove that we can come back in these two games and be able to play at that level.
On the Monday Night game making it easier to get ready for…
I certainly hope that our players respond to it that way. It's a big game for us, every game is a big game for us and our focus should be on improving what kind of football team we can be.
On Joey Harrington…
He's done well; he did a nice job today in practice. He wants to improve his performance and we want to get him back to when he did a nice job for us and played with a lot of consistency and we want to support him and help him get back to that level of play. Certainly, it's important for our offense that we can get that done.
On if Harrington will start…
Yes.
On the similarities between his first two seasons…
We had some issues early in the season. We had two new quarterbacks; we had a couple of new coordinators. I think we were getting our sea legs and getting in sync and Daunte (Culpepper) wasn't healthy enough to continue to play, so we had to make a change. We went through a lot of changes early in the season and that affected our consistency. Last year, we were a new staff and got off to a little bit of a slow start and finished strong in the end. Hopefully, we will be able to bounce back and get a couple more wins this year too. That's certainly what our goal is.
On being mentioned for the University of Alabama job…
I really don't know how it is. I told our media today that I'm not a candidate for any job and I'm not interested in being a coach there. I don't know what else I have to say about it, I've addressed it on three different occasions.
On the facilities down in Miami…
We have nice facilities, we have a great owner and he's provided us with everything we need. The addition of having a bubble here now has also been helpful to us, relative to the weather and the heat. We need to continue to work to continue to improve our team so that we can play with more consistency and get the kind of results we'd like to get.
Thursday Injury Report Jets Questionable: FB B.J. Askew (foot), CB David Barrett (hip), WR Laveranues Coles (back), RB Cedric Houston (calf) & Eric Smith (foot)
Probable: *RB Kevan Barlow (calf), *LB Matt Chatham (foot), *C Nick Mangold (hip), *WR Justin McCareins (foot), *OL Brandon Moore (back), *DL Rashad Moore (hand), *QB Chad Pennington (calf), *LB Anthony Schlegel (illness), *DE Bryan Thomas (shoulder), *S Jamie Thompson (ankle) & *WR Wallace Wright (thigh)
Dolphins Out: DT Dan Wilkinson (calf)
Doubtful: WR Marty Booker (ankle)
Questionable: *CB Will Allen (groin/quad) & *RB Ronnie Brown (hand)
Probable: *QB Joey Harrington (ankle) & *DT Keith Traylor (knee)
*Denotes players who participated in practice
