Unfortunately, not good enough because the New York Jets lead by QB Mark Sanchez lost to Houston 23-17 which followed the devastating loss a week earlier to San Fran 34-0. However, Coach Rex Ryan still feels strongly about his main QB Sanchez and has no plan to bench him as of now to stand-by QB Tim Tebow.
He spoke to the media. Read:
Opening Statement…
Obviously, not a whole lot has changed in (the) six (or) seven hours, whatever it is. You know, really what we saw, the four PBUs (pass break-ups) that they had, where they tipped the ball, obviously was huge. The two interceptions on the deflections hurt us, without question. They did a good job stopping our run and I think that was the big thing with their defense. Then, offensively, we helped them, there’s no question. The first touchdown, for whatever reason, we totally blow a coverage and just a simple cover three defense. We don’t have a middle third safety. That kind of hurt, obviously, just a “gimmee” touchdown. Then we had a critical alignment error on that 50-yard run. (To) their credit, they made the plays. We made a mistake, they made the plays. It’s a good football team and obviously, you can’t help them. I think that was (what) the disappointing thing to me (was). We knew we’d play well, but not that that team needs it, but they certainly took advantage of mistakes we made. That’s what we have to definitely get better at.
On Mark Sanchez’s performance against Houston…
Well, I think when you look at it, last night I thought he played pretty good. I thought he was accurate with the football. We had three drops, obviously, one of them, I think it was a drop that led to an interception. Then he was just off, the other one that we had. (Antonio) Cromartie beat his guy, beat (Johnathan) Joseph about three or four yards behind a guy. That’s probably one throw we wish, (and) Mark probably wishes, he had back. But other than that, I thought he was accurate with the football. It’s just (that he) had four tipped passes at the line of scrimmage and then obviously, we had three drops. I think his night was going to look a lot better had those things not happened. Now, we have to be smart, we have to really look at it. (Are) there things that we can do? Obviously, J.J. Watt does it against a lot of teams, but (are) there things that we can do to maybe help them to where we’re not getting as many balls tipped at the line?
On why he didn’t leave Tim Tebow in the game after he made a 13-yard run…
Because if that was the call, if we wanted to run the football at the quarterback position, I’m sure he would have been the guy in there, but we had a guy wide open. It’s just that Watt makes a play. We had two guys open, but J.J. Watt ends up making a great play. The next play we come in, we run a bunch (and) they don’t even cover Chaz Schilens, he’s standing all by himself in the end zone. Then, Jeremy Kerley beats his guy, so we had two guys standing wide open (and) try to throw the ball. The kid (Watt) just makes an unbelievable play. Again, I think that was the right play to call, and the kid actually comes all the way from the right side, all the way across the football (field) to tip the ball.
On if managing a two-quarterback system and making the substitutions is more difficult than he thought it would be…
No, I don’t think so. I just think when you just pick up a guy (and) he’s with you about four days and all of a sudden now he has to go in, (and) he hasn’t practiced any of that stuff with Tim as a quarterback. So when you call the package, for whatever reason, we had some issues with our substitutions. So it might look like that way, but quite honestly, we put it in practice, we work it. It’s just that we had to put somebody in, in an unfamiliar position for him. (He) hadn’t practiced it. Hopefully, we get guys that will be here longer than three or four days or whatever (and) maybe he’ll pick it up.
On if he likes the way things are going with Tebow’s packages…
I wish we would have a little more success with it. At times, it looks really good and we just have to stay with it. I can tell you this, when I talked to Wade Phillips, I know how much preparation time it took from them. Hopefully, it’s not just about preparation but it’s that we can make some plays. Clearly, we have the pass ends, we have the one-on-one coverage that we wanted. He delivers a perfect pass down the field, We’ve just got to catch it.
On if Sanchez is still the starting quarterback…
Yes, no question.
On when he would consider a quarterback change…
You know, I’m not going to get into the what-ifs and all that. We’re not preparing to lose, that’s for sure, so we’re thinking we’re going to win. Starting this week, obviously, it’s going to be a tough test for us. This team’s top 10 in the NFL in offense, they had 100 snaps yesterday. That’s something that we have to do. We’re planning on winning, we’re planning on having success, and I’m not going to get into the what-ifs.