Rex Ryan 10/15 Press Conference

New York Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan, 10.15
 
Opening remarks…
The guy that is listed as questionable is Darrelle (Revis).  Everybody else is probable. (Jim) Leonhard, (Nick) Mangold, Brandon Moore, Calvin Pace and (Jamaal) Westerman are all probable.  Guys that were  limited in practice today (are) Darrelle and Calvin Pace.  Everybody else was full.

On Steve Weatherford…
He’s been punting great.  It should be interesting to see how he punts in that thin air.  Get ready to cover it a little longer.  That air actually makes a difference.  It really does.  He’s been terrific.  It’s funny because I remember last year sitting back and saying, ‘Man, we’ve got a good football team, but we have no punter.”  I mean, we had no punter.  We lucked (out).  We were looking at Jacksonville.  They had two really good punters, one kid that they drafted the year before.  We knew they had two punters.  When they kept the other guy, we got Steve.  He’s just done a great job.  I’m sure they look at the numbers.  I bet Steve’s punting better than the other kid.  We kind of lucked into that.  He’s done a great job.  He had a little surgery in the offseason, so hopefully he can punt in the postseason after missing that Bengals game.  He’s really doing well.  The guy takes great care of himself.  This football team is funny because kickers and punters are generally different types of guys.  They really don’t fit in a lot of times with your team.  It’s just the opposite here.  The players all go out with Steve and Nick (Folk).  It’s kind of a unique situation with our kicker and punter.
 
On Weatherford and Marquice Cole having good communication…
Anytime you cross the 50 (yard-line), Steve’s come up with a new punt.  It’s like a kickoff almost.  He’ll drop the nose back down and kick it in over the end. You’re exactly right on the communication.  He’ll communicate where he’s going with the ball and Cole (does) a great job of downing that ball inside the five.
 
On Revis being cited for careless driving…
First off, when I was aware of it, he was late to a team meeting.  That was when he told me about the ticket.  Really, we can all take notice of it.  Obviously, you have to slow down.  He was running late, (but) that’s not an excuse.  You’d hate to see anybody be careless where you put somebody else at risk and put yourself at risk. That’s a reminder for all of us.  We talked about a couple of things.
 
On if he remembers Steve O’Neil’s 98-yard punt in Denver…
Historically, I remember it.  The only thing I remember my dad talking about it was he thought it was a 60-yard punt and it just kept rolling.  I’ve seen it before on a clip, but I never remembered it as a kid.  Quite honestly, I never realized it was in Denver, so it kind of makes sense.  I know the second longest was by Randall Cunningham.  I remember that kick against the Giants.  A 98-yard punt is unbelievable.  How is that even possible? Apparantly it is.  Amazing.
 
On if it’s difficult to weigh the pro and cons of Revis playing…
We’ll see.  He’s either healthy enough to play or he’s not. Be smart.  I want to see how he makes the trip to Denver.  We’ll have a light practice out there and by then we’ll be able to make our decision. To say he’ll definitely play and then he goes out there, this is a long trip, and he’s not feeling well, then we’re not going to do it.  I’ve been impressed with the way he’s looked the past couple of days.  We’ll see what happens when we get out there. 
 
On Trevor Pryce crediting him with reviving his career twice…
He’s helped my career. (That’s) how I see it.  He’s a great player.  When we picked him up from Denver when he was a free agent, we had lost two or three defensive linemen when I was in Baltimore.  I was pouting and stormed out of the building one day.  Then, I got a call from George Kokinis, who was our director of pro personnel, and he was like, “How about Trevor Pryce?” Done.  Sold.  You don’t have to show me tape.  I know this guy.  Bring him in.  Then, the guy has 13 sacks. He’s just a great player, but I don’t see how I’ve done anything for him.  I see what he’s done for me.  He’s a great player.  He’s great in the locker room.  He’s got leadership.  He’s done it all, but, shoot, anytime you can add a guy like this who has that kind of presence in passing situations and closing situations,  you try to pick him up.  You add him to what we already have and it’s a great mix for us.
 
On if he had a stronger belief in Pryce than others did…
I don’t know if that’s true or not.  Apparently we did over Baltimore this year.  You watch (his) tape (and) everybody knows this guy is a great football player.  I just know that I’ve always be a huge believer in Trevor Pryce.
 
On if the Ground-and-Pound can be effective in Denver’s altitude…
I would think it would be more effective.  If we’re dehydrating our running backs, I’ll take it (laughing).  I’ll sign up for that right now.  That kind of physical nature, running the ball and keep running it, they’re going to put nine guys down there this week.  They gave up 200-something yards to Baltimore last week.  They don’t want to (give that up again) because that’s an embarrassing thing for a defense, so they’re going to try to put them all down there.  Sometimes, it leads to big plays with the passing game and the running game.  Yes, you can stop them at the line of scrimmage, but all of a sudden it pops and there’s nobody back there.  It’s going to be interesting to see really how they commit to stopping the run.

On if it’s a disadvantage that Denver played Baltimore last week because of the similarities the Jets share with Baltimore…
No (because) most teams are similar (with) the pass routes and all that kind of stuff.  No, we’re not concerned with that at all.
 
On if the Yankees serve as inspiration because they’ve won championships…
When my dad was with the Jets, I believe that year (was) 1968, the Mets, Jets and Knicks all won World Championships.  We’ll lock arms with the Yankees.  That sounds good to me (laughing).  They’ve won 27 now, I think.  We just want to win number two here.  I always think it’s a good thing.  I think you do push each other.  I know there are a ton of players on our team that are huge Yankee fans.  I’m sure there are some Yankee players that are Jets fans as well.  I’m a Giant fan.  I want the Giants to win in the NFC because I think it’s great for our town, for our stadium and this area.  I think that’s great.  I’d love to meet them in the Super Bowl.  We’ll sign up for that.
 
On what he sees in Jim Leonhard…
I know Denver wanted him also.  They were offering him more money than we were, but he gave me his word and he came here.  That’s no surprise that he was a man of his word and he did come here.  He’s just an excellent football player.  He’s smart.  He’s a playmaker.  He’s physical.  Even though his stature isn’t that big, he’s still a physical player.  When you look at him, he’s a punt returner.  I always say he can catch a ball in a hurricane.  If your livelihood is riding on it, I know Jim Leonhard is going to catch it.  That’s how I feel about it.  He’s just a heck of a football player.  He really is.
 
On his first impression of Leonhard…
The first thing that you see is he’s 5-8.  What you notice is the production, the heart and the passion he plays with.  That’s what you notice about Jim Leonhard, just a guy that’s flying around all over the place.  ‘Who is this kid?’  I saw it at Wisconsin when he led the nation in punt returns.  He also led the nation in interceptions one year, so he’s just a heck of an athlete.  He’s a much better athlete than maybe he’s given credit for.  This guy struck out 20-something guys in a high school game once.  (He) won two slam dunk contests in college.  He’s a great athlete.
 
On if winning this game could set the team up in a good spot psychologically going into the bye week…
Absolutely.  This would be huge for us and we expect to win.  We know it’s going to be (hard).  That’s a tough place to play.  They’re going to be ready to go.  They’re all in orange.  Their fans, their jerseys are orange and here come the Jets.  They’re going to play the Jets.  That’s the beauty of it.  The Jets are going to show up and we’ll see what happens, but I think it does.  We come out of this 5-1 going into our bye week.  That’s exactly where we’d like to be.