Todd Bowles: "That's the Mark of a Good Team"

Todd Bowles had the following things to say after the Jets beat the Giants today.

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On the team coming back for the win…

It was a good win. Usually in the games we’ve been winning, we’ve been ahead and the fourth quarter has been nice and easy. So for us to come from behind and show some grit during the season that’s the mark of a good team. We finally got to that point and I’m just happy it was today.

On Ryan Fitzpatrick’s play…

Fitz did a great job. Obviously he had more poise, which we talked about this week, all we talked about was poise and doing the right things in the fourth quarter. He was under control. The guys followed him. He made some good throws. Those guys made some good catches.

On if this was the best he’s seen Fitzpatrick play…

I thought it was great last week as well, so I don’t know if it was the best I’ve seen him, but it was the most poised I’ve seen him in these situations. We had Buffalo in a big game. We didn’t get it done. We had New England, we didn’t get it done. So to come out in a meaningful game, for them to get it done in the fourth quarter we obviously learned some things.

On Fitzpatrick relying a lot on Eric Decker in the second half and if there were any changes he made from the first half…

The Giants did a good job. Once we got down to clutch time, we knew they were going to try and take Brandon (Marshall) away and then they were playing some zone over on that side and Decker’s a good player and he found some holes.

On why Muhammad Wilkerson was benched the first quarter…

It was a culture decision. Obviously, Mo is one of our best players and we respect him a lot. (It was) something we handled in-house and we went to the game and that’s what we decided.

On the media report that Wilkerson was late for a meeting…

Well again, that was something we handled in-house and we didn’t put that out there.

On when the Giants went for it on fourth down and Rontez Miles recorded an interception…

It was a turning point. Those guys they went for it on fourth down. We had a long way to go if they didn’t get it, but we got an interception. Miles came in, he’s been playing great the last two weeks now and we were fortunate to make some plays and the guys didn’t get down on themselves, so we finished out.

On if he changed anything after penalties, lack of discipline and being down 10 points…

No, we just kept fighting. The guys kept fighting, they believed. We knew we were going to come out of this game (and) no matter what we were going to fight until the end and we always talk about finishing and this game we needed to finish and we did.

On if Calvin Pryor is hurt…

He got a stinger.

On if he has seen the play with Beckham and Dwayne Harris back on punt return.

No, I haven’t seen it.

On the penalties on special teams…

I thought initially at the start of the game we got frustrated a lot and we didn’t keep our poise. When we don’t keep our poise, we don’t play well and we get flags. We calmed down a little bit after halftime and we kept fighting and we finished out. But, starting out we didn’t keep our poise early on.

On if the officials explained why Willie Colon was flagged on the bench…

He was out of the box. He was out of the lined box behind the 30-yard line so you get flagged if you do that, especially if you’re not in uniform. But, we took care of that.

On if there was any extra intensity in this game…

There was extra intensity because we needed it and they needed it. That’s all that needed to be said. The fact that the stadium is both of ours, the fans were into it a lot. It was extra intensity at the end of the game for us to come out and win this one. So, we tried to win it by any means necessary and we did.

On why Jamari Lattimore played more…

Lattimore is in the dime package. We are utilizing all of our guys now. Lattimore does some things on third down that (Demario Davis) Double-D and Erin (Henderson) don’t do and from a coverage standpoint and a different type of standpoint. It was a different look for us and got more speed on the field.

On how he feels the team defended Odell Beckham…

We busted two coverages. He got us two plays. He’s going to make his plays, but in the second half I thought we limited him pretty well. Once we got through halftime, I thought we were okay. But, he’s going to make his plays, he’s a great player.

On how he would evaluate the special teams…

We gave up a punt return. Any time you give up a punt return, you don’t have a good special teams day regardless of what else happens, but we made the field goals at the end and we have to correct it going forward.

On if there was a concerted effort to get Bilal Powell more involved in the offense…

With us being down, obviously, Ryan was making his reads because they were doubling on the outside and we consider Bilal another third or fourth wideout when he goes in there, as well as run the football.

On what the thinking was to have Chris Ivory sit a few series after having a good series…

No, he wasn’t tightening up. We just ran some plays that require Bilal’s package in the ball game.

On if he said that he and Fitzpatrick spoke about having more poise in the fourth quarter…

No, we talked about it as a team not just me and Ryan.

On if he said anything to the team in the fourth quarter or overtime about finishing the game with poise…

We were preaching it the whole game and they were preaching it at halftime in the locker room and we came out and did just that.

On what he thinks of the team’s playoff chances…

Week-to-week, I don’t know you have to see what the other games look like today. So, 7-5, I know we’re behind the eight-ball right now. Some people have to lose, so we’ll just see what the games look like later on.

On if he considers this game to be a turning point…

I don’t know if it’s a playoff turning point, but I hope we grew up a little bit from this game and going forward that will be able to be told after the season. But, going forward I think it gives us a boost.

On if the plan was to have Buster Skrine cover Beckham a lot one-on-one or mix it up…

We were mixing it in and out. We were mixing.

On what was the original play call on Fitzpatrick’s scramble…

It was a pass (laughing). I can tell you that much. He just saw an opening and he took off and ran which was good for him. He’s a heady player like that. They played a bunch of two-man and certain coverages that leave a gap for the quarterback and he kind of knows when and when not to take it.

On if he was impressed with Fitzpatrick’s performance during the key moments in the end of the game…

He did a good job. He was under control. He was under control, he commanded the team and some of the things he grew up as well. The team grew up and they made plays. They kept their poise and they believed in each other.

On if there were other injuries…

(Jeremy) Kerley had a migraine. Calvin Pryor had a stinger. (Mike) Catapano has a foot injury, he has to get x-rays.

On if Brandon Marshall got injured…

Yes, he was a little sore but he finished it out