Transcripts of selected interviews with Jets players before Thursday's midday practice:
T DAMIEN WOODY
On if he trained differently when he knew he was changing positions…
No, once I made the switch I pretty much knew that was going to be the situation. I didn't do anything different. I just wanted to come in and be in the best shape possible. It was my whole focus to come in conditioned and ready to go. Coach Bill Callahan has been really good as far as fine-tuning things. That's really an area where I look at fine-tuning technique and just getting better.
On the addition of Alan Faneca and if he has a feel for how good the offensive line can be…
Potential is definitely a scary word. I feel like we have the ingredients to be really good up front but the whole key is just to continue to work at it. As you know, the offensive line is really the one position that takes the longest to jell out of any position on the football team. We have a bunch of hard working guys up front.
Faneca was brought in to bring experience and he has the knowledge of playing in a lot of football games. I think we are definitely making really good progress. We just want to keep progressing in the right direction. If we do that we will be able to accomplish a lot of things this year.
On how the dynamics have changed with a new QB…
With each new quarterback it brings a whole different set of problems, whether it be the change of cadence or the calls are different. That might not sound like a big deal for offensive linemen, but we are trained a certain way. You hear a certain cadence from Chad [Pennington] or Kellen [Clemens], and then Brett [Favre] comes in and it's a totally different show.
In the first few days it was a crazy ride. There was a lot of conditioning — well, not at practice, especially not on my part, but it definitely got a lot better. Once we got that straightened out, we could actually focus on running a play right. I was encouraged by our last preseason game when we were able to go out there and execute plays. We just have to keep moving forward.
On if he is excited for the upcoming game with the offense on the field for an extended amount of time…
Definitely. This is the one preseason game where it's going to be close to a regular-season game, so we want to go out there and have a really good showing. We are probably going to play the first and/or second series into the third quarter. We want to do all the small things right. We want to be crisp out there for the third game, knowing that we will not likely be out there for the Philly game. This game is going to be as close to a regular-season procedure as possible. We really want to go out there and make a statement this game.
FB TONY RICHARDSON
On the offensive line…
The sky is the limit. The one thing I do like about the offensive line is their work ethic and the way they approach work every day. There is good leadership in the line. They have a professional approach to everything. My locker mate is [Nick] Mangold and I see him every day. It's great. I see myself as an extended part of the offensive line. We just continue to keep at it and keep working.
On if facing the Giants defensive front four is a good gauge…
It's a great gauge for us. If you look at the Giants and what they were able to accomplish last year, they're the best. They're the champions. You want to be able to go out and work against the best and play against the best. Their front four is phenomenal. Any one of those guys could have been up for MVP of the Super Bowl. They took over the game. It's going to be a good task for us and it's going to be a good measuring point for us. When you continue to get better, you want to play the best. We'll get an opportunity this weekend.
On the complexity of the Giants defense…
When you watch them on film you really can't find a lot of tendencies. I think they have a blitz package prepared for each team individually, which most defensive coordinators do. They do a good job of it and they do a good job of disguising it. You have to stay true to your game plan and hopefully you have the answers to what they're doing. There are going to be some times when they get you. That's just the nature of it. They're a very good football team and they do a really good job of disguising a lot of their looks.
DE SHAUN ELLIS
On the Giants proving last season that a team just has to get hot at the right time…
It can be done. The thing about football is you never know who's going to be in the final game. You have a lot of lead-up hype with teams you expect to be there. Everybody expected the Patriots. They held their end of the bargain, they reached the game. The Giants, they got hot at the right time. They ran the ball extremely well in the postseason. It's a good thing.
On if the Giants have the best front four…
They had it all. Across the board, they were stacked. You got [Michael] Strahan, Osi [Umenyiora], [Justin] Tuck in the middle. They had other tackles rotating in and out. They had a great front. One of the things that they did, they put a lot of pressure on [Tom] Brady. Their defense played extremely well. Their offense matched the challenge of the Patriots defense. They kept going at them. They never gave up. There were times in the game where it could've gone either way. There were some crucial plays and they made the plays. They ended up getting the win.
C NICK MANGOLD
On getting excited to play on Saturday…
You're always excited about the games. This is the next one, and I'm excited that it's against the Giants.
On if the challenge for the offensive line…
It will be a good opportunity. They did a lot of great things on their defense. It'll be a good opportunity to see where we're at and see how we're doing our things.
RB LEON WASHINGTON
On assessing where the running game is…
It's a process. We're still working hard.. We're never content with our part of the game whether it's run, pass or whatever it may be. In the meantime, me and the rest of the running backs, we're working hard at practice and in training camp, trying to get that camaraderie. We win games through practice, not just in games. If we practice, we'll be better off in a game.
