Opening Statement…
Obviously, it was a tough loss. I want to, first, congratulate New York. They certainly were the better team today. We have to do a better job, starting with us as coaches. The game really got one-dimensional and part of that is on me. I thought the turnovers hurt us. We felt, coming in, that there were a few key points to this game. We were going to have to be able to hold up against the run. We weren't able to do that. I thought our protection and the penalties hurt us today. We had nine (penalties). Overall, we'll take a look at this film. It's a tough loss. It stings, but we have to turn around and get ready for another tough game next week. So, any questions?
On losing Darren Sproles so early in the game…
You lose part of your plan. (Travaris) Cadet is a player that's pretty familiar with some of his role. But that early, it happens. It's happened to us before. It happens to other teams. You just have to be able to adjust to it and make some adjustments.
On the end-around call on fourth down late in the fourth quarter…
No, listen, it was a short-yardage call we felt pretty comfortable with. They made a good play on it. They stayed at home. The first short-yardage call we ran, which I guess they got the timeout called prior to us running it, so then we came back with the little play-action (pass) and then that last call.
On if he thought of attempting the field goal instead of going for it on fourth down there…
No, I was comfortable with where we were at down and distance-wise.
On the decision to run the end-around on fourth down…
It was something we saw on tape that we really liked.
On what hurt the team most today…
I think the penalties, that's the one thing we really have to clean up.
On if the conditions today made it tougher than usual on the receivers…
I don't know. I would say it was probably a little less windy than we expected. I thought, overall, we're going to play in tougher conditions than that, I think. I didn't think (it made it tougher on the receivers).
On the offense's third-down struggles…
Number one, the penalties that put you into some of those yardage situations, I'd have to go back once we get a chance to look at the final numbers, but when you end up in that longer situation, you're behind the numbers a little bit and that's not going to help.
On if penalties also kept the offense one-dimensional…
It's back-and-forth. When we ran it, I thought we did some pretty good things. We knew they were going to be a good run front coming in, but I thought we did some things that helped give us some balance. But overall, late in that game, all of a sudden you find yourself getting out of a whole with a completion to Lance (Moore) and it comes back. So what's going to be first-and-10, now is a 20-(yard) situation. Those are the types of things that I think just make it difficult. They make it difficult for the quarterback, I know that.
On if the Jets defense adjusted after the offense's early success…
No, I think we got a pretty good dose of zone today, more zone today than maybe we've seen from them in the past. They did a pretty good job, though. I thought their front did a good job of getting up the field. I thought, offensively, they were able to have that balance and create the plays in the running game. I thought, in the kicking game, they were better than us, as well.
On Chris Ivory running well today…
Absolutely, yes, I saw it, too.
On using three timeouts in the first quarter…
It was combinations of noise, we had a couple of audible situations and I have to get (the plays) in quicker. Obviously, that's something for us that is unusual. The second half, we were much quicker with it.
On if he felt Geno Smith's ability to run was a factor in the game…
There was a touchdown play where he was able to kind of cut up underneath the end and score, I thought that ended up being a big play. He's a good athlete, good decision-maker (and) he made some good decisions today. He got to audible to a wide receiver screen when we had a blitz look. They had a good balance going, a good mix. That caused us some problems.
On if they planned to use less of the nickel and dime packages against the Jets offense…
A lot of it was going to be based on their personnel. They were in some heavy sets and then they were in some nickel sets, so it was kind of back-and-forth.
On working Jonathan Vilma back into the lineup…
We had two packages with him. We felt like we had seen enough during the week on tape and we felt comfortable with it.
On how losing Sproles so early in the game affects the offense…
Well, we just talked about that earlier. What it does is, it eliminates a handful of your plan that he's going to be involved in. Some of it Cadet was able to take and yet some of it was different without him. It happens, it happens to other teams, it's happened to us before in the playoffs with Pierre (Thomas). You just have to quickly be able to say, 'All right, here's what we're going to get to. Here's how much we'd like to do with Cadet that we might normally have done with Darren.'
On if he felt the Jets did get that timeout called before the third-and-one play in the fourth quarter…
I can't say because, obviously, it was called on the other sideline. You can't hear whether a whistle was blown. It's a loud place, so I have no idea. From our vantage point, we're just running the handoff and then you see the conversion and you're on to first down. So you're getting it kind of delayed, but I wouldn't know. Obviously, it came from their bench and we'll see. But, it was too loud (to know).
