Opening Statement…
This is a great win for us. We’re 9-2. We knew the Bengals would give us their best shot. They played well, but we found a way to get it done. Today, it was our special teams and Brad Smith that got it done, along with our defense. It wasn’t a great night for our offense by our standards. We did run for 171 yards, so I guess we’ll take that. It was good to see the defense and our special teams really lead us today.
On the Jets play in the second half…
I just believed that momentum was headed our way. If we stopped the penalties and things like that, we felt that it was just a matter of time before we took control of the game, and that’s really what happened.
On the Jets defensive backs and the defense’s two interceptions…
It was huge for us. We almost had another one, but it was good. It’s crazy that we’ve only had five interceptions up until this game, so now we have seven. They happen in bunches, and now we get Tom Brady on Monday night. He hasn’t thrown an interception in something like 199 attempts, so we’ll see if we can change that. Again, I’m happy with our guys.
I want to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving. I want to make sure that everybody knows this: I ask my wife for green bean casserole twice a year – for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She’s not making it. I’ve got issues right now with that.
On the New England Patroits…
I’m not looking forward to going against Tom Brady and Bill Belicheck, but we’ll see. They’re clearly the best team in football. That’s what it looks like and that’s what all of the experts say, except me. We’ll see.
On Jets WR/KR Brad Smith…
He is an amazing guy and an amazing talent. You want me to give you the stats like I always do? He is the only guy to throw for 8,000 yards and rush for 4,000 yards in college. He had 200 total yards and two touchdowns today. I’m definitely glad he was on our side. He’s a phenomenal athlete. Everything we asked Brad to do, he does. Quite honestly, when our DB’s were down, I was like, ‘We’ll put Joe McKnight in there, and we’ve always got Brad Smith.’ He’s just a great football player.
On the Jets slow start…
When we’re on defense first and we defer, I think that has something to do with the slow starts. I think we do really well when we start the second half with the ball. We’re close to leading the league in scoring when we have the ball to open up the second half, so that’s something I always lean on. The fact that we’re pretty stout on defense…I don’t know how many points we’ve given up in the first quarter, but it’s not many.
On the Jets’ defense once the team led by two touchdowns…
It was just a great job. You have to tip your hat to our coaches, Dennis Thurman and Bob Sutton, in particular, do a great job with the linebacking corps and our back end. They do a tremendous job. Mike Pettine leads the group, and they just did a great job today.
On if the Jets have to play better against New England on Monday night…
I don’t know. Maybe they’ll have to play a lot better, too.
On the performance of the pass rush…
We got big Trev (Trevor Pryce) going. I think Calvin (Pace) got one I believe. That’s what happens. You get ahead of people and you make those plays. I felt good about unleashing those guys a little bit.
On a big win affecting his confidence against the Patriots next week…
No, I don’t think so. I’ve always been confident, as you guys know. I don’t care about what people believe and all that stuff. I know what I believe, and our football team believes that we can beat anybody, so we’re going to have to prove that. I think they’ve won 25 straight at home and we’ve won eight straight on the road. We plan on making it nine. It’s going to be tough, but we’re just the men for the job.
On any Jets injuries…
No, not that I know of. I think with Damien Woody we had an extra lineman up. We had Vladimir Ducasse (Thomas) up as well as big Wayne (Hunter) and Rob (Turner) just in case. He played well. He played the whole game. I thought he played really well.
On the Darrelle Revis-Terrell Owens matchup…
I told T.O. after he caught an eight-yard pass, ‘Hey man, don’t be shaking your head. That’s the longest catch you’ve had all day.’ That’s when I grabbed Wayne (Hunter), so he never came after me. Revis is Revis. He’s back to being Revis, the best in the league.
I tell you what - (Antonio) Cromartie did a great job. Chad Ochocinco is a great receiver. With both those guys, the Bengals are the only team in the league who can match up with those two.
On battling the Patriots next week for first place in the division…
It is really special. If we win this game, we’ve beaten them twice. That’s huge. One of our things going into the season was that we had to do a better job in our division. Right now, we’re 3-0 and we’ll see. It’s going to be a huge test for us, but we’ll look forward to it.
On his halftime speech…
I don’t know. I don’t remember what I said. It was probably nothing. You guys give me too much credit. I really felt that the momentum was getting ready to shift. I just thought if we could play Jet football that we were going to find a way to win, and that’s exactly what happened.
On the Jets defense tonight compared to Sunday…
The communication was really great. Let’s face it: we played pretty well this past Sunday for three-plus quarters, but when you make mistakes in this league against good talent and all that kind of stuff, people can burn you.
On watching the Patriots game earlier today…
I was all excited at halftime. Then, after I watched more, things started going on and I was like, ‘Man, oh, man.’ But that team, I’ll give them their props. They look pretty darn good right now. There’s no busting about it. I’m not going to tell that lie. But when you look at it, the only thing that matters is that they are 9-2 and we are 9-2. I think you have to put us ahead of them because we beat them here.
On team being conditioned to play well in December and January…
That’s a true statement. Everything we do in the offseason – the way we lift, the way we train, the way we take care of ourselves on and off the field and our practice structure – it’s all to get to this time of the year. That’s what you do when you get to December and January, you have to win. I think that’s what we’re built for. Like I said, when we had that time off, it wasn’t just to win one game. It was to win a bunch of games at the end of the year. That’s why we do that. My record is horrible after a bye week, but my record is pretty decent in December and January. Granted, I only have one year, but my record is pretty good.