The Jets lost a tough game Sunday night to nemesis team New England Patriots. Here’s Rex taking to the press.
Opening Statement…
Today I don’t even want to talk about the game, so I’ll open it up to questions.
On what happened with his remark to a fan at halftime…
It was right after halftime, obviously, (we) made the mistake with the timeout (and) gave up the touchdown. I was emotional, it was an emotional time, I’m coming in and I obviously made a mistake. I was just full of emotion and just popped off. Obviously, I know I represent the National Football League, I know I represent the Jets and I know it was a mistake. I apologize for it. It’s who I am sometimes, I made a mistake. I’m about as big a competitor as there is and at that time I was in no mood to hear anything, but I also understand that I have to handle that better.
On if the situation that happened in Miami taught him a lesson about being careful…
I make mistakes all the time and I’m not perfect by any stretch. I try to get better but sometimes my emotions get the best of me.
On why they couldn’t take advantage of the Patriots 32nd ranked secondary…
Well, I think the big thing is our protection had to be better, and not just the (offensive line) but our entire protection has to be better. We’ve got to be able to protect the quarterback. And then Mark (Sanchez) needs to be more accurate with the football at times. I thought he did great. I just think the whole game, we just lacked consistency. There were times when we drove the ball all over the place, and then there were other times that we (had) a mistake here by this guy, a mistake here by that guy, and it just snowballed on us.
On the status of LaDainian Tomlinson…
Not real sure yet. I haven’t heard. I think he’s going to be okay, but I have not heard for sure yet.
On if he made any symbolic gestures today to the team to put this game behind them…
No, we know we have to put it behind us. We play in three days or whatever it is, so we can’t focus on what just happened. We know what happened. We made enough mistakes that you play against a good team, they’ve got no chance to beat them if you make the mistakes that we made.
On if LaDainian Tomlinson will be available on Thursday…
I hope so. Again, we’ll see. That’s not the official word yet, okay.
On if Tomlinson has a sprained knee…
Again, I have no idea what the extent. I heard through our trainers that we think he’s going to be okay. I’m certainly hopeful.
On how they transition from defending the Patriots offense to a college style offense like the Broncos…
That’s going to be a great challenge because you’re exactly right. It’s totally different. (The Broncos) ran 55 (times), they had 55 runs and eight passes. But each week it’s different. Sometimes they spread you out and then they’ll run it, they’ll do a lot of creative things. So it’s definitely (a challenge), in this short a time, we’ve got our hands full.
On if he has seen anything over the years that reminds him of the Broncos offense…
You know, I don’t know. I think Atlanta with (Michael) Vick used to run some read option and stuff like that, but it’s different, you’ve got a different guy back there. I think what we’ve done, what we used to do with Brad Smith I think will help us in that preparation. But the difference is this guy plays quarterback every down.
On if he is concerned that Mark Sanchez will be upset about his assessment of the timeout at halftime of the game…
I was basically saying about myself, and when I talked about the emotion that I was feeling, I was still feeling that obviously, because I know how difficult it is. You’re facing a great team. They don’t need any help, and we just gave them a huge help, and they went down and scored a touchdown.
On him falling on the sword and Sanchez also taking the blame…
Yeah, but I think what it was is that, okay, he physically called the time out, but through my communication, (I) wasn’t clear enough to Mark, so that’s why it was my mistake.
On if Sanchez was directed to call a time out and what exactly happened…
No, I think what happened, my understanding is I went over to Brian and told him, because Brian was going to make the call, and I said, let’s take the clock down and use all the clock and then call a time out, and I think Matt Cavanaugh said, what’s going on, are we going to take a time out, and we said, yes. I think that’s what happened there. You’ll have to ask Mark, but I think that’s what he heard is we are going to take a time out, so Mark heard that, he never heard the full conversation that I had with Brian, and I think that’s where the (miscommunication) happened.
On if Sanchez was hearing the conversation through his helmet…
Right.
Of Sanchez not hearing the specifics of the conversation…
Right, because I don’t talk to Mark directly ever, so I think that’s where he heard (it). I don’t think he heard me and Brian’s comments, I think he heard something else.
On if he said anything to Sanchez about the timeout on the sideline…
I might have said a few things.
On if he remembers what he said to Sanchez…
Not exactly.
On how he explains all of the mistakes and protection issues…
It could have been a lot of things. It wasn’t that we were pressing, I know we were excited about this opportunity. I don’t know. It’s hard to describe. You know, I don’t know if we were pressing or what it was. I don’t know. I don’t know why we made those mistakes.
On if the team felt like Nick Folk’s missed field goal to start the game was a bad omen…
Well, we did the same thing in the playoffs when we played, remember? We missed a field goal after David (Harris) intercepted a pass. But that wasn’t it, it was just one play. But golly, we fumbled a punt, we were doing all kinds of things. We had the wrong personnel grouping in that we thought was out there, and we’re trying to cover three guys in a cover zero with two guys. That doesn’t work well. We made too many mistakes.
On how disappointing it was to still be in the ball game but not be able to take advantage of opportunities…
Well, the whole thing was the consistency. We did some good things. Like I said, we moved the ball at times. On defense, we forced five three and outs against New England. That doesn’t happen. There were good things, it’s just overall consistency wasn’t there for whatever reason. I think the big reason I want to give them credit, obviously they’re the ones that made the plays, we’re the ones that didn’t.
On if he still thinks winning the division is out of reach…
I still think it’s doubtful. I look at New England as an excellent football team. They’re a game ahead of us. They might as well be two games ahead of us. I look at it realistically.
On if he has started looking at the wildcard picture…
We’re looking at Denver. That’s the only way we’re going to get in the playoffs. You have to win one game, one game per week, and that’s the way we’ll approach it.
On if there is anything the team will do about defensive signals when they play at home in front of a loud crowd…
I mean, there’s some things that we can do, and one of them we won’t share because it’s some things that we’ve done before in the past against teams like that. But we’ve just got to do a better job.
On if they will make any changes moving forward in terms of defensive signals…
We’ll certainly look at it.
On if losing twice this season to New England has made him rethink his defensive strategy of loading up on defensive backs against the Patriots…
Well, this time we stopped the run (laughing), so maybe if we can combine both of those, maybe we’ll have a better opportunity.
On if offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer wanted to take the timeout when Sanchez took it…
No, Brian wasn’t wanting to take (the timeout), he was calling the offense, and then I went down there and made sure that he knew, look, I wanted to run the clock down and then we’ll take the time out.
On if Schottenheimer definitely did not want to take the time out at that point…
No, no, no, absolutely did not.
On if he is worried about the team unraveling at the end of the season after the Patriots loss…
You know, I mean I haven’t looked at it. We’re playing a game in three days, so I think that’s all that we can focus on is winning this game. And we know it’s not going to be easy, that’s for sure. But I haven’t thought about it. I think as a team we’re just focused on this one game.
On why Joe McKnight was fielding punts in the game…
We’re trying to make a play. One thing we all know about Joe, he’s a homerun hitter. We weren’t thinking about him fumbling the punt. We were trying to get the ball in his hands because he is an explosive guy. We thought we had an opportunity there, and unfortunately we don’t field the punt.
On punt returning not being McKnight’s strength…
No, but we’re trying to find a way to put the ball in the end zone.
On if Jeremy Kerley can be explosive in the punt return game…
Well, I think Joe is probably one of the most explosive athletes in the league as he’s proved on his kick returns. He also has that breakaway speed that you look for. We were just at that time looking for a big play.
On if the team has two injured wide receivers…
Right.
On how the wide receivers are doing…
No, again, to be honest with you, I’ve had one conversation with John (Mellody), and that’s been it, so I can’t really tell you the extent of the injuries.
On if Brodney Pool will be able to play on Thursday…
I’m not sure. Again, he’s (questionable).
On how much they missed Pool…
Well, I think you miss him. I think he’s a big guy that matches up with some guys, and Brodney is a good player and he’s a good physical guy and a good tackler. Certainly you miss a good football player.
On what happened with the fan at halftime…
Yeah, we brought that up earlier. You know, it’s just, I think my emotions got the best of me.
On if he was disappointed in Sanchez’s pocket presence…
Well, I think part of it is when you get behind quite a bit, you’re trying to make throws down the field, sometimes you think a protection is one way when your eyes are solely focused on what’s down the field, and sometimes that can happen.
On if he thinks Sanchez has regressed…
I don’t think he’s regressed. I just think that obviously you’re coming off a loss where the whole team we lacked consistency. I’m glad Mark is our quarterback.
On the pre-snap confusion for the offense…
Well, they put a safety down on the line of scrimmage which was kind of new for them and then dropped down, played two man. We’ll run the same kind of scheme. So we identified some things.
On if there was pre-snap confusion with the defense…
Yeah, there was. Some of them were based on personnel, when we thought it was a certain personnel and it wasn’t, and they do a good job of that. And then others we just have got to get it communicated quicker and lined up quicker.
On if it was difficult for the defense when the Patriots went no-huddle…
Well, but that’s what we had talked about. There’s ways around it, there’s things that we can do, and I’ll just leave it at that.
On how he addressed the team today about moving onto the next game…
Well, we have no choice. We have to get over it. But I’m not going to deny the fact that it was a huge game. Obviously it was emotional for both teams. I think that’s obvious.
On if he took any offense to Bill Belichick’s reported negative comments on the field after the game…
Yeah, you know what, but that tells you, that’s even what we’re talking about how big a game that was for both teams. You know, I don’t take offense to it. Quite honestly, I said the exact same thing to my son when we were walking off the field after we beat them in the Playoffs about their offense being the number offense in the league. I’ve got no problem with that.
On if he thinks Belichick knew about the exchange between coach Ryan and his son…
Realistically you know my son wasn’t at that Playoff game, right? (laughter) It sounded like a hell of a story, though, didn’t it? It’s something I’ll bring up to him after we beat them in the Playoffs again this year. (laughter)
On his evaluation of Tim Tebow coming out of the draft…
(That he was) just a great competitor. You can go back and when people ask me about him, I thought he was a great competitor and he is a winner, and that’s what he’s showing right now. Are there prettier passers than him? Yeah, absolutely. But again, (we) just (have to) try to find a way to beat him.