**
HEAD COACH MIKE MULARKEY**
Opening statement…
Well, that was not good. The first half was a good example of (if) you play poorly in all three phases you're going to have a hard time against a good football team, let alone anybody in this league. And really we played poorly in all three phases for one reason or another. The start was not fast in any phase and give credit to them, they played a good game, played a real good game, a solid game, didn't make a lot of mistakes, and we made lots. It's got to be corrected.
On the slow start on offense…
Well, I'll take the first series – we have a drop on the first play. You're trying to be aggressive on the first play of the game, you're trying to make a statement to your whole team. We said we were going to throw the ball more than we have down the field, and we get a drop. The second play we overset protection and should have had another play to Delanie (Walker) on a slant, it gets batted down. Third play, again, it's hard to get guys wide open. We had Delanie wide open again on another route and had an overthrow by Marcus (Mariota). It was just something here or there. Third down, obviously, in the first half on both sides was very poor.
On if there was a lack of concentration…
That's what you think immediately when you see guys dropping (passes); your go-to guys. And sometimes I think they think they need to do more than they're doing. Delanie, he said, 'I was trying to run before I caught it.' That kind of started the whole day.
On the Jets defense getting after Mariota…
That's their blitz package, that's the personnel that they have. A couple things we had breakdowns (on). One protection we could have gotten out of, another one that he took a hit on, Marcus saw it. Again, all the things that we saw today are good for Marcus and our young guys. A lot of young guys on offense played a lot. That's a good defense and for them to have to come in here and play these guys on the road, that was some experience that they're going to have to take away from here and hopefully get better from it. But we could have gotten out of some of those things. After the fact we saw it. 'Hey, I should have done this.' Well, next time he will.
On if this is a step backwards after last week…
I think it's disappointing. It's obviously disappointing. We're better than that, and they all know we're better than that. They didn't need me to tell them that. But I will say this – I thought they came out and responded better in the second half. I thought it was two different halves. Obviously, not a lot of points but it was not what you saw the first half when these guys came out.
On if Mariota was confused…
No, I wouldn't say that. He's got a lot on his plate, and again, in a lot of third downs we had to hold the ball. They were very well schemed with really good players. That wasn't as much confusion as it was trying to dodge some of these guys, (to) get out of their way.
On Brandon Marshall's touchdown…
That was (when) our headsets went down that series prior to running out there so there was no communication to upstairs or to the linebackers. So again, not an excuse but we had no communication to the field or upstairs. And that doesn't give us any reason not to still cover an uncovered receiver. So there was no call. We had no defensive call in. We were waiting on the call and we were waiting to see. And the call, again, is going to base who we match up on and there was no communication at all.
On how much of a backbreaker Marshall's touchdown was…
It's huge, just huge.
On how long the headsets were malfunctioning…
Just the series. By the time we knew, the play was over. It wasn't like we could go, 'Hey.' It was just those two (plays).
On if somebody should have recognized Marshall was uncovered…
We have to talk about it, obviously, as a staff. We can't leave guys uncovered, especially when the center is over the ball. We can't do that. It'll happen again if we do that again.
On talking to the defense to calm them down after the Marshall touchdown…
I did. They're all frustrated. They're not frustrated at each other. They're frustrated about what took place and what was happening. Really, not stopping them that first half. When you defer you're trying to get the ball, see if we can hold them, and get a good field position. When they go down and score a touchdown, those are the things that just kind of build up. That play, that topped it off. I just felt like I needed to go over and say something to those guys. And again, they were very responsive. No long faces. We have a lot of football to go. And I just said, 'This is not who we are. We have not been like this all year.' And I thought they responded in the second half. I do.
On how long they had practiced Antonio Andrews' touchdown pass to Mariota…
That was new for this week. We had seen Houston do it and they actually covered it better. Houston just motioned their quarterback out, (T.J.) Yates, and they didn't pay much attention to Yates. I had a feeling Marcus was a little different than T.J. Yates going out there. And fortunately he ran by them. The guy fell down trying to stop it. But it was well executed.
On how Mariota began the play…
He motioned out.
On how the play was executed in practice…
It was not real good in practice the first couple of times. And then Saturday we went through the mechanics in detail again one more time. And I said to Marcus, because we got up to the ball late, I didn't want to show the play, there was 14 seconds so I called timeout because I thought, 'This is a touchdown.' I thought it was a touchdown during the week and then when we called it I told Marcus, 'I'll see you when you get done scoring after the play.' I knew the play was going to be there, but we had to get it to a certain point on the field and we had to get it to the right hash to call the play. So, we knew we were going to get the play called.
On if Andrews sold him on having a good arm…
Yeah. It was a good throw today. It was a better throw than he threw during the week.
On if there could have been better tackling on Bilal Powell's touchdown reception…
Yes. Tackling was questionable today.
On why they ran Dexter McCluster up the middle…
It was a trap. We've seen traps have been successful against them and we couldn't get to the linebacker. It was one of the better runs against this defense when they went nickel.
On what he thought of the team's effort in the first half…
There were some loafs. Yeah, there was, I thought, which we'll correct. But as far as effort, I thought it picked up in the second half.
On if effort was addressed at halftime…
Yes.
On if this game is part of Mariota's learning curve…
Yeah, like I said, he takes this all in. He's learning a lot in his first year. This is Week 14. We're playing a team that's vying for the playoffs in their place. We knew it was going to be a good environment with this crowd. And we're going against a very good defense. It's a good defense. He's a young quarterback. He's working with some young guys on our team, on our offense, that it's going to be good for every one of them.
On how much they miss Jason McCourty…
Obviously, when you lose a starter it hurts your defense. Without (Derrick) Morgan it's been difficult. Probably a little harder on (Brian) Orakpo. Anytime you lose a starter it's going to affect your team somehow.
On if the team is losing on separation on offense and defense…
Well, I think that obviously there were going to be some matchups today with their secondary, and we have young receivers who really probably haven't faced some of these guys with their capabilities. Again, (it's) a good learning lesson for them. Really, on both sides, if you think about it, young (receivers) against some experienced receivers, Marshall and (Eric) Decker. They're good players and we have some young guys that are trying to do their best against them. But there are some matchup issues.
On why there were effort issues in the first half…
When I say, 'Loaf,' it was more of not trying to tackle. Finish the tackle. Finish the play. No, I'm going to find that out.
On why Perrish Cox did not try to tackle Powell on his touchdown run…
That's the one I'm addressing that I remember, that sticks out, more than any of them.
On if he wanted Cox to front Powell…
I want him to tackle him.
QB MARCUS MARIOTA
On why the offense struggled in the first half…
Third down. We weren't able to convert, really any third downs. Hats off to the Jets defense. They did a good job of changing up their looks and bringing different pressures.
On how challenging it can be facing a defense that blitzes often...
I can do a better job of moving our protections or getting us out of things to help those guys up front. I thought those guys for the most part up front did a good job and I've just got to do a better job of getting us in better plays.
On trying to get the team back after facing a large deficit…
When that happens you've just got to take one play at a time. The mentality of our team wasn't any different. Guys were putting in all the effort that they could. Sometimes it just happens. It's the way the ball bounces sometimes.
On whether he thought his intended target was supposed to run a different route on the interception…
No. Number 41 (Buster Skrine) I think it was, played it pretty well. We had the matchup we wanted inside. He just kind of covered it well. I should've just eaten the ball instead of putting our team in a bad spot.
On the last time he caught a touchdown pass…
Sometime in college.
On his receiving touchdown…
Sometimes it happens that way. The guys did a great job of selling it. Antonio (Andrews) made a good throw. I just had an opportunity and yeah, it is what it is.
On whether he was concerned about catching the ball when it was in the air…
No, not too much. I played receiver growing up. I had some experiences in high school playing receiver. So, I was pretty comfortable.
On how his life has changed since one year ago when he won the Heisman Trophy in New York…
Well, my whole life's changed. I've experienced a lot of different things. Coming out of college, being a part of this now, being a professional, it's been an incredible ride and I'm very blessed to be a part of this journey. It's been a crazy year for sure.
On whether he was disappointed in how the team performed coming off of last week's victory…
It's tough. This is the NFL. I thought we were going to be able to use our momentum a little bit, but the Jets played well. They did a good job of holding us as an offense and making plays. So, it is what it is.
On the drive in the second half when the offense was moving the ball, but then had three straight plays of negative yardage…
I've got to hold onto the football. I put us in a really bad spot. That really kind of killed the momentum of that drive. Again, the defensive player, whoever kind of stripped me of the ball and did a good job. I tried to avoid the first one and he kind of swiped the ball which again just kind of put us in a bad spot. I needed to be better.
On the offense being without Kendall Wright…
Kendall's a very dynamic player for us. He's very versatile. He can play inside and outside. It's unfortunate he wasn't able to play today because he really does bring another dimension to our offense, but we're going to do our best to get him healthy and get him back on the field.* *
RB ANTONIO ANDREWS
On his 41-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Mariota...
I made bad throws this week when we practiced the play, but running at game speed it worked. I told Coach Mularkey I'm a game time player and that I will be ready come game time. We took the play from Houston. Earlier this season they ran a play with the quarterback lined up outside at receiver.
On Marcus Mariota as a receiver...
He's a well-rounded athlete. He can catch, throw and everything in between.
On the mindset with three games left...
Finish strong. Don't give up.
WR HARRY DOUGLAS
On why today's game was different than their other recent games…
You never want to go down. You never go into the game wanting to start slow. We always harp and preach on starting fast. We didn't do that today offensively, defensively and on special teams. It was a rough one in the first half. When you come out in the second half you have to put it behind you and go hard no matter what and trim down the lead.
On why they started slow…
We just didn't execute. We didn't do the things we needed to do to be productive in any phase. We're going to go back and watch the tape and correct those things that we didn't do well.
On if today's game was a false representation of the strides they have made…
It's one game. We know the team that we are. We know what we're capable of. It's definitely not the team that we are, what we showed today. We're going to go back and work even harder to get a win next week.
LB BRIAN ORAKPO
On why today's game was different then their other recent games…
They got the best of us (during) that first half. Things just weren't going our way. They came out ready to play. I felt like we were very sluggish for whatever reason. We definitely needed to address that during the half. We did, but you can't start like that if you plan to win games.
On why he thinks today was different…
I don't know. It's hard to say because we all, all phases, started very slow and those guys on the other side obviously felt like they were playing for something. It was tough to recover. We definitely made some adjustments come halftime. We came out a lot better, but we can't expect to win games when you start like that. That's definitely going to be addressed.
On Brandon Marshall's touchdown reception…
It's just one of those situations when things get ugly, it gets ugly. That was one play. Obviously, headsets went out and we were scrambling and trying to get lined up. The quarterback saw us in a bind and he made a veteran play. That's what happens in the league. You see guys scrambling to get lined up and you make a veteran play to get the ball to his big-time receiver and just go down the field.
CB COTY SENSABAUGH
On Brandon Marshall's 69 yard touchdown reception...
The headsets ran out. We were looking at the sidelines to get the play call and by the time we realized it, they were running the play. Usually the referee spots the ball and says, "Come on", or there will be a whistle. Everyone on our side said they didn't hear a whistle.
On the Jets offense in the first half...
They came out quick and I don't think we got them off the field at all in the first half. In the second half we played better, but you can't play the type of first half we played and expect to win the game.
On if they played man coverage or zone...
It was a lot of both. I would tell you more but it would give away our secrets. If you watch the film you can see what we were in.
On wide receivers getting open against their defense...
That's what they get paid to do. I think we did a good job except for a couple plays. We will go back and watch the film and see what happened.
