**
**
HEAD COACH MIKE MUNCHAK
(on the Jets' offense)
They had a huge day there. They seem to be playing better offensively every week. I think when you have a good defense—when your defense is playing well—you're taking more risks to throw down the field with a young guy, assuming that if it's not caught, if it's intercepted, it's almost like a punt. They've been making plays; they've been very successful. I think they're one of the best in the league with the explosive plays. So, for a young quarterback, that's really a great stat. The fact that he can move and he's mobile and all those things has really helped their offense. They seem to play better each week. This will be a great challenge for our whole team.
(on the Jets' front three on defense)
They're just big and strong. They remind me of when we used to play against the Patriots. They take up space, they know their jobs pretty well, they're pretty well-trained within their system. The whole front seven is big. The linebackers are tall; they're all six-foot-two, six-foot-three, good size, long arms, bat balls, get off blocks. They're in the top-five in just about every category defensively early in the season. It's going to be a great challenge. This is one of those teams—like last year when we played them—that when you have an opening you have to take it. CJ (Chris Johnson) had that big run last year on them. That's kind of how they are. They're going to close lanes, make it hard to do things, discourage you with a lot of different looks, and then all of a sudden there's going to be a play there whether it be a pass or a run that we need to capitalize on. That's when you make good plays against a good defense.
(on DL Muhammad Wilkerson)
He's good. I liked him a lot when he came out. We spent time with him. We figured he'd be really good, a good football player. He has been. It's hard to do much with him because he's so big with long arms. He has some quickness to him so you can't just set up a bull rush. He's a different type of guy, but he's definitely one of the better guys in the league. He's just getting better. He had a couple sacks on Sunday, so yeah, he's going to be a handful. He plays on both sides, so everyone will get a little feel for him.
(on Darius Reynaud adjusting special teams returns because of penalties)
He's come out though. He came out twice, and on those we didn't have the penalties. He came out to the 24-yard line I think twice. The first one, to me, that was a tough call to have that on the opening kickoff. That set us back, and that really put us in a bad way the first half of the game. They got the ball at the 50-yard line and ended up scoring on the first drive. That is definitely a factor. We're not going to worry about it because of penalties. This is the first game we had a penalty on special teams. The first two games we didn't have a penalty on special teams. This game we had four, and three of them hurt us on field position. Hopefully, it won't get to that, but we need to take advantage of what we think he can do. We think there's opportunities against certain teams to get the ball out and make plays. He got to the 25 twice, so it was close, but we've got to be smart with the hands.
(on teams blitzing Geno Smith and the dangers of blitzing a mobile quarterback)
No one's blitzed him more than others. Again, you're nervous for a couple things. When we've had a running quarterback, if you don't get there, if they don't stay in the rush lanes, you create a big lane for a quarterback. A quarterback like him that can run, Jake (Locker) can run, you be careful with that. That's why I think coordinators are a little careful. If you have a lead and you have the game going your way, it's a different story. You'll take some risks, but you have to be careful if a quarterback gets out there…you all remember when Vince (Young) took off for 50-yards to win the game against Houston on a cover blitz. I mean, you just got to be careful with those things. So, I think teams are careful because he can run. You can pressure him in a lot of ways without being silly with it. He's handled it well, learning the league, and having a good time.
(on room for improvement with Rob Turner's floating shotgun snaps)
He's had a couple…especially we've had so many with it being on the road for those first two games. None that have been terrible, but it's something you're always working on. You want it better. You don't want Jake (Locker) worrying about catching the ball when he's trying to keep his eyes downfield.
(on getting Kenny Britt back on track)
I think like anyone, he wants to have a great game; he wants to have a bunch of catches that makes a difference. He's been close, but we haven't gotten that done. All we can do is keep playing. If it's there, it's there. You can't force things to happen. If he's healthy and playing, he has to make the catches that come his way. We got to put the ball on him and let him do what he can do and it'll work itself out.
(on whether Kenny Britt is healthy)
Right now, he's not. He didn't practice today (because of) the fall he took when he went up that caught his legs. He came down and landed on his neck and his shoulder. So, I think he's got body soreness. He's just sore, and he wasn't ready to practice.
(on potentially bringing in Tommie Campbell to cover Stephen Hill)
Well, we feel comfortable with who's out there now with Vern (Alterraun Verner), Coty (Sensabaugh), and (Jason) McCourty. So, I think we're good there. He's a guy though that, yes, can match up in spots.
(on getting off to faster starts on defense)
We're talking about it. We talked about it after the first week. I think we talked about it in preseason. It seemed like our first drive especially for the defense…I think the offense has had some good first drives. Last week it was bad field position, but we still didn't make a play to get off the field. I mean, it's a focus. We're all aware of it. It seems like we settle down after that, but we got to find a way this weekend if they get the ball first to get off the field in three plays.
(on whether the slows starts are a source of frustration)
I mean, it's not affecting us in that way, but I think it's just one of many series in the game. You always like to start better than we have been. I think the second half we did much better against San Diego. It was a team that had come out and scored touchdowns in the third quarter in the first series every game, but you know, the first series we didn't. We've just got to keep working at it.
(on talking to Kenny Britt and his performance in practice)
It's a lot of different guys talking to him. Obviously, I've spent time with him. Dowell Loggains has, his coach has. He's heard it all. Like I said last week, after having a couple weeks that weren't the way we wanted, he practiced well. He practiced hard Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. It's one of those things where you want to have great practices, but he went out there and had great practices and played like you hoped he would. It's frustrating because you wonder what you could do differently because he had a really great week in practice. He worked hard, he concentrated, he put behind what happened; it didn't affect how he worked during the week. He had some drops and some penalties. That's frustrating. You just got to not give up on what you're doing, believe in your work ethic, believe in yourself, and come out there this week and change those things.
(on getting Kenny Britt involved in the offense early on)
We tried that. We're not doing it on purpose; if he's open, we're going to him. There's plays designed for guys, but I think just like the quarterback the same way or the running backs, you want to get them the ball early and get them going. You want to get a lot of guys going early, and he's one of them that we know has to contribute for us to win.
(on the cornerbacks playing more man coverage this year and whether this has made a difference on defense)
I think it has, I think we have been. The way the games have fallen this year, we've been going more man, more press. I think they like being aggressive. I think they like that whole style. I think it starts building an identity because you just feel like you're playing more physical. I think as a general rule, the corners enjoy that part of the game. You know, it's all tied in. If we get a good rush, if we get good pressure on the quarterback, they don't have to be covered as well. I think they're working well together, and some things they're doing real well. Some things we have to work out, but this will be another challenge with their receivers.
(on whether Jake Locker's game-winning drive builds confidence)
I think those kinds of drives definitely help, there's no way around saying it doesn't. Again, it's one of those things where you say as a team, 'We believe in ourselves, believe in our quarterback, we believe in the players.' But, then you have to go do it. You have to have games where you do run the ball when you're supposed to run the ball like we talk about. You have to have games where you finish the game in two minutes so you can prove you can do it. You have to have a game where you go 94 yards and win a football game with no timeouts. You hope that's not every week, but once you've done it, I think the guys realize we can do anything. Now, if we stay close we can win. I think that was exciting for them. It was good for the whole team. It was a great lift for everybody I think.
