POSTED: Wednesday June 16th 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York Jets Transcript - Head Coach Rex Ryan, 6.15
New Jets Stadium tomorrow for the first time
On Kyle Wilson…
Well because we haven’t signed him yet, Kyle is an average player (laughter). See I’ve learned. You guys told me that I need to quit praising guys (smiling). No, Kyle looks terrific. The thing I’m so excited about is that his study habits and all that stuff we talk about is why you’re seeing him do this, a steady climb. We think he’s got a chance to be a really good one. There is no doubt. We drafted him to be our starting nickel and I think he won’t disappoint us. He gives us great depth on the outside as well as being our starting nickel. I also think he’s going to help us as a returner and on special teams. He’s a tough kid. I love it today. He gets that interception. We’ve got it all set up. We knock the official down. We get some blocks for him (and) he’s running and then Brad Smith comes up and knocks the ball out after about a 60-yard return. The first guy that said something to him about, “Hey we’ve got to protect it,” was who? (Did) anybody notice? (It was) Santonio Holmes. That’s great. “It’s a great play kid but you’ve got to protect that football.” That’s it. He worked so hard to get it, now you finally get it, let’s not make a bonehead play and turn it back over. Now if you pitch it, we can live with it, but don’t get it knocked out of your hands. It was a great heads up play by Brad Smith to make that play.
On Brodney Pool…
No doubt (he is showing me what I had hoped to see). It’s funny. People can tell you things and you’ll look at tape and it’s clear that this guy is a good football player. Brodney Pool is a good player. I remember when he came out of college. There are some people that when they tell you things, you automatically say, ‘Alright.’ Somebody who spent a great deal of time with him was my brother (Rob Ryan) and I’ll get my brother in trouble with Cleveland again, but he thought this guy was a heck of a football player. He told me the same thing once about Fabian Washington who played great for us in Baltimore. He knows what we’re looking for. He knows Brodney is our kind of guy. It was an opportunity for us to get him. Now, obviously there are differences of opinion and medical reports, but he has been fine that way. Mike Westhoff, every time I turn around, “22. Pool get in there.” There he goes and he’s always smiling of course. He goes running in there and Westhoff is going to use him. I think he’s going to be a player. You saw some of that athletic play on the interception he made today. It’s something that we’ve been seeing throughout the OTAs so (I’m) very excited about him. I love the fact that he embraces his teammates. He’s going to learn from (Darrelle) Revis, from Jim Leonhard, from Eric Smith, from all those guys. I don’t know if he’s the number one student, but he’s in the top five students of Dennis Thurman’s group over there. There are a lot of guys that really want to learn. Now that being said, we blew one coverage today on defense. Clearly, it was a defensive dominated day which really is no surprise with the type of talent we have. I told them after practice, ‘You can go 59 minutes, 59 seconds of playing perfect defense and have a miscommunication,’ like they had during that two-minute drill, ‘cost you a touchdown and it ends up costing you a game.’ Those are things that we’re trying to get better at. In a move-the-ball situation, we had three three-and-outs in a row by the defense without giving up a first down. I think two interceptions (as well) so the defense is on track. I think our offense is too. There is great competition. That’s what I love to see. You see what we talked about. We’re going to enjoy it. When the guys go to Cortland, I know how much we enjoy going there, is we get to see the competition every day between the wideouts and DB’s, the O-line and the D-line. It’s really fun to watch. These guys love to compete and love to play out there. Those are things that you see, but again at the end of the day, we’ve got to find ways to close out games on defense and we’ve got to be able to move the ball more consistently on offense.
On if he was able to speak with Darrelle Revis about practice yesterday…
I really haven’t had a chance to talk to Darrelle about it yet. I think we will meet probably later today on it. It’s just so not him. It’s uncharacteristic of him (to try and) get out of anything. I’ve got to hear it from the horse’s mouth. I know what he told you guys, but I’m sure there is an explanation. It might just be that this is a thing that he wanted to do and that’s fine. He knows that’s not right.
On when he’ll meet with Revis…
Whenever, that’s fine. My door is always open. He knows that, so he’ll probably just get me for a couple of minutes.
On if Revis tells him that he sat out of practice to make a statement…
I really don’t want to get into (that kind of thing). I’d rather just go and talk to him face-to-face. Then, if we think it’s appropriate, I’ll tell you guys what happened. To me, I’d rather have this meeting and not get into ‘what ifs.’ That’s why when you guys were telling me that I was like, ‘What? I haven’t heard anything like that.’ I’d rather talk to Darrelle and we’ll just meet man-to-man.
On Santonio Holmes progress…
There are times when he looks like the best player on the field. There are times when that happens. Some of the catches he makes, I mean he’s not a body catcher. He comes and he’ll get a lot of comeback throws where the ball, the toughest ball is to catch right here where you’re in-between, “Do I catch it here? Do I catch it here?” He literally will go back and he just will take it with his hands away from his body. He’s got great confidence in his hands. He’s just a naturally gifted receiver. He’s been terrific for us, (especially) when you combine him with a Braylon Edwards, who I think in the afternoon practice that was the Braylon I told you about. He had an unbelievable day in the afternoon. Jerricho (Cotchery) and those guys, there is no excuse. Our offense should be as dominant as our defense. I believe that. Well, close to it (smiling).
On why David Harris doesn’t get more attention in the league…
Because David is in the last year of his contract and we’re not talking about David Harris (laughter). It’ll just snowball. Just let it go. No, they will be. It’s hard to ignore that he had eight and half sacks last year if you include the postseason. He has a ton of tackles on the number one defense that forced 99 punts last year. How’s that for a stat? I think it’s accurate, too. He’s a terrific player. Any move we looked to do that first year when I got here, (whether) it was trading up for Sanchez, every single time it was, “How about David Harris as the player (we get).” He was the player to be named, “Oh, and by the way, how about we take David Harris?” How about no way (laughter)? There’s not a chance. Do you think I’m going to give up a great defensive player like him? There’s no way. He’s young. He’s tough. He’s a great player. It’s funny, with him and Bart (Scott) you have one extreme as far as the way he goes about his business. Bart has to play that way. Then, you have David who plays the other way. Bart talks enough for both of them, so we think that’s a great combination.
On what he can count on from David Harris…
Everything. Consistency. He’s tough (and) dependable. He makes game-changing plays, whether he’s blitzing the quarterback, whether he’s in man coverage (or) zone coverage. There’s not one coverage you can’t play with him. That’s what is rare about him. Sometimes you have guys that are great at stopping the run and maybe playing three receiver hook, a true hold back MIKE linebacker. This guy can also run with the vertical receiver. He can play man coverage on backs. He can do everything. That’s what our system needs. We need linebackers that can do it all. It’s rare that you find any team that can keep two linebackers on the field in passing situations like we’re able to do, so that really helps us as a team. Those two are quite a tandem back there.
On playing in New Jets Stadium for the first time tomorrow…
I’m excited about the guys who haven’t been there yet. I was there and was blown away. I remember texting my wife saying, ‘Oh my god. I’m the head coach of this team that plays in this stadium. This is amazing.’ It blows you away. I don’t know if everybody has seen it or not but, wow, it is amazing. I haven’t been in a finer stadium than (that one). I haven’t seen Dallas’ yet because I’ve heard that one is unreal, but hopefully we’ll get there (this year for the Super Bowl). We’ll play them if they want.
On discussing players with his brother Rob Ryan…
We’ll always be honest about a guy. We had some guys, Jason Trusnik, that we’re involved in a deal and I let him know what I thought of them. It will always be like that. I’d much rather have a player that I feel good about go play for my brother than play for someone else. I think he feels the same way. If cares about a player, he’d rather him come here and play for me than go somewhere else because he knows we’ll take care of those guys. We’re twins. He cares about his players and I care about ours. We always want those guys to be successful even when they leave you.
On if he can imagine being on the same staff as his brother…
That would be great, but they’d never let that happen. Cleveland’s not dumb. They’re not going to let him go. We put in for him every year to see if they’ll bite (laughter), but they’re not going to do that. That would be great. Plus, I don’t think his wife wants to come here (laughing).
On Brad Smith getting reps at quarterback…
I never saw him back there (laughter). You talk about the (Tim) Tebows, well Brad Smith, go ahead, we all say it, threw for 8,000 yards, ran for 4,000, didn’t he? I’ve said that once before (or) maybe a thousand times. That’s how athletic this guy is. If that means we’re going to put him out there and you think he’s a receiver and going to play our regular offense, then prepare for that. If you think we’re going to be in a Wildcat, or the Brad Smith offense with him back there, we can run a regular offense. That’s going to be a big advantage for us. He’s a tremendous player. (Next time) I suggest we throw, when we run a crossing route to a guy that’s bigger than (Larry) Taylor. Taylor’s been outstanding for us, but I don’t know if he’s the guy you want to run your in-routes with. The target is probably not that big. The thing that scares you is when you play against some of these quarterbacks, Michael Vick comes to my mind, you just say let him throw because he kills you with running. That’s the same thing with Brad. You drop Brad back there and it’s like, ‘Keep him in the pocket. Let him throw.’ He’ll kill you like he did in that third down period today. You can have him all covered, but that might not be smartest thing to do.
On keeping Kris Jenkins out of 11-on-11 drills at the end of practice…
That was a two-minute situation. The big guy would have to break a shoe lace to get off the field if he’s out there more than three or four snaps. He looks pretty good. His weight is down to the lowest it’s been in a long time and he’s moving around pretty good. I hear him talking a lot. I always think it’s funny (because) he’s not doing anything. I look over, ‘Jenk, you’re not even out there’ (laughter). I love him. He’s still going and he’s being himself. It’s good to hear him.
On if Holmes will get more reps in the preseason games because of his suspension…
We did the same thing for Calvin (Pace) last year when he was suspended for four games. He got a ton of reps. When the first group has already been in and showered, there he goes. Calvin (was) out there running in the third or fourth quarter of games. We should be good. We should be able to come back on people in the preseason games (laughter). Does anybody remember what our record was last year in the preseason games? I don’t think it was very good. I know we got beat in that first one against St. Louis. It’s still scarring me (smiling). He does need to get some work. He is going (have) four weeks where he’s not in our building training here or working out here. That would make sense to make sure he’s ready to go.
On if he would prefer that Holmes stays in New York during his suspension…
I haven’t even thought about it.
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