Todd Bowles: If Long Passes Aren't Corrected on Defense, We Need to Change People

Here are Todd Bowles' postgame comments after today's loss to the Seahawks.

LIVE on #Periscope: Coach Bowles' post-game presser. https://t.co/O7f4eIZqe6

— New York Jets (@nyjets) October 2, 2016

On if he feels the Jets have beaten themselves the last two weeks…

We made way too many mistakes. It wasn’t just the turnovers today. We gave up a big play. We busted some things. We had too many holding calls on offense. We had balls down the field on defense and beat ourselves two weeks in a row. We have to fix that. That is something we have been concentrating on and will continue to do. We have to get getter.

On if he is concerned with the secondary…

I’m concerned about them not making any plays and giving up a big ball down the field in simple coverage.

On why the Jets continue to allow long passing plays…

That’s a good question. There should be no excuse at this point in time. We’re not playing anything difficult. It just got busted back there and it needs to be corrected. If it can’t be corrected, then we need to change people.

On whether it was Calvin Pryor’s man on the touchdown to Tanner McEvoy…
He was in post high and we just busted the coverage. It wasn’t Calvin’s guy, but it was a busted coverage. Either way, we have to make plays regardless of who is on the field.

On whether Pryor was not playing at the end of the game due to performance or injury…

He was going in and out. They didn’t give me anything on the injury report. We didn’t take him out.

On his message to the team after today’s game…

Sometimes you need to fight more than one battle to win a war. We fought two battles two weeks in a row and we lost, but the season is not over. We’re 1-3, but we have to grind. We have to get better and we’re going to do that next week. We’re going to get better.

On if he is worried about the season getting away from them with two road games coming up against playoff teams from last season…

I don’t care where we play. We take them one week at a time. We’re going to correct our mistakes from today and get ready for Pittsburgh. We have to show up and play wherever we play.

On what gives him the confidence the Jets can turn it around…

We lost these kind of games last year. We lost three out of four in the middle of the season. We won some and we lost some. We lost some this time. We have a veteran team. We’re mature. We’re a good group. We’re going to come together and get it fixed.

On the play of Ryan Fitzpatrick…

He started out playing decent. Obviously, the two picks at the end – one should have been caught and was dropped, and he was trying to make a play on the other. He played better than he played last week.

On how costly the interception by Richard Sherman was…

Everything was costly, it wasn’t just that interception. We weren’t moving the ball very well to begin with. We gave up some plays on defense. You have to give Seattle credit. He made a good play. Brandon (Marshall) made a play and then he came back and made a play.

On if there is an injury concern with Matt Forte…

He was not reported on the injury list.

On the Jets injuries…

(Brian) Winters has a concussion and (Darrelle) Revis has a hamstring.

On whether Winters received the concussion when he was assessed a personal foul penalty…

I’m not sure what play he got it on.

On if there was thought to making Seattle QB Russell Wilson move around…

We did some of that. They had a good plan and he was getting rid of the ball quickly. They went down the field when they were in max protection. We got some hits on him, but he’s a tough player. He made some good plays.

On Fitzpatrick’s protecting the football…

I don’t worry about questions about his play. I just worry about turnovers. He knows he can’t have turnovers. Some of them are unfortunate and not the quarterbacks’ fault, but nevertheless, the quarterback runs the offense so he can’t turn the ball over. We have to get better there.

On his confidence level in Fitzpatrick…

No different than when the season started.

On if there was a miscommunication between Fitzpatrick and Marshall on Sherman’s interception…

The guy is an all-pro player. He made an all-pro play.

On whether he will consider lineup changes in the secondary…

I consider lineup changes very week. We’ll look at the film, make corrections and see what happens. We’ll go from there.