Locker Room Quotes

Kevin Mawae

On the storm in New Orleans…
I don’t have any of my family in New Orleans. She (wife) was actually scheduled to go back yesterday, but it was up to the weather. We were watching it real closely Thursday night. When she woke up Friday, the storm turned west a little closer to New Orleans, so we cancelled her trip. Now they’re (family) here.

On last game of preseason…
You know what, it’s a game, it’s a chance to compete. Everybody knows that this game is more for the young guys to go out there and show what they have. As far as the veteran players, we’ll go out there and get a few reps, finalize things, get out timing down and get ready for the season opener.

On Chad Pennington…
Chad looks good. He’s throwing the ball well and I think if you were to ask him, he would say that he wants to work on some of his timing, but physically I think he looks great. He’s going to do a good job for us.

On penalties…
At this point in the preseason, some of that stuff you don’t want to happen. Especially with the younger guys, you see a lot of mistakes and things like that. It’s typical of any team in the preseason. We’re getting to the point where we have to make it to the 45-man roster. We have to adapt, step up and be able to play on September 11.

On the team coming together…
I think that the smaller the roster, the more you know what you have and what you’re going to be working with. You go into more fine tuned stuff and I think that’s what we’re doing right now. We have one more set of cuts but obviously the guys that are going to play pretty much know who they are. We have to get the young guys up to speed and make some plays, but not make too many mistakes. We (veterans) have some have some things to work on too.

Curtis Martin

On last Friday’s game concerning him… If your smart you don’t see any game as that (just a preseason game). You’re always looking for ways to critique yourself and the team. We have some work to do, but I believe we’ll be ready by Kansas City.

On Chad Pennington still being on track… We see what he does day in and day out. That’s the misconception of the game sometimes. We see (Chad show) excellence and performance every day at practice and most of the time in the games. It’s hard to be on top all of the time. Sometimes you don’t have that good game. All of us.

On the team taking shape…
Yeah, it starts taking shape, but I think it really takes shape after this game.

On John Abraham… He’s definitely a guy you need on your team. He’s going to help us like he always has. We’re just looking forward to him coming back and helping us win some games.

Jonathan Vilma

On the Giants game…
It doesn’t concern us too much. We made the corrections that we needed to make. Coach addressed it as a game which we knew we didn’t play it as good as we wanted to, but so be it, it’s a preseason game and we’re going to move on.

On John Abraham…
It brings back a playmaker, a great guy on defense and a leader. We can’t wait to have him back. We know that when he comes back it may take him a couple practices to get ready but he’ll be fine.

On the team taking shape…
Yeah, when we start making the cuts. I also played about two-and-a-half quarters last week, this week I will not play as much, but coach is starting to change up the format at practice to try and get ready for the games.

On John Abraham fitting into the program when he comes back…
He was here last year. It the same defense, the same scheme and it’s just a matter of playing the game.

Ben Graham

On finding out he was the punter to the Jets…
I was actually in the movies with my wife, we saw wedding crashers, and when we got out, I had messages on my phone. It was nice that we got to go out and get a bite to eat. My wife was a little teary because it’s been hard on her and the kids (the move), but to this point it’s all worked out. Micah (Knorr) is a good punter and I’m sure he’ll do well wherever he goes. It’s getting to the point now that it’s up to me to do the job.

On the business of football…
It was a lot different than what I expected, not knowing anything about it. Once we got into the groove, once the first week was over, I kind of realized how cut throat it is. I couldn’t have asked for any more though. Working with guys like Mike Nugent, James Dearth, the snappers. The punting is something that I’ve done for awhile now, but the holding is the thing that probably means the most to me because Mike Nugent, the first draft pick, wants to make all of his field goals and it’s an important job so I worked really hard.

On making the transfer to the NFL…
It hasn’t been too bad. My body was probably one year away from giving out back home anyways. I’ve been talking to Darren Bennett a lot about it and he said it’s a great gig if you can get it. It’s easier on your body and you still feel part of the team. You’re coming on to try and put the oppositions offense as far as they can go. So you still feel part of the team.

On wanting to tackle…
Absolutely. Every chance I get during practice, I’ll jump in like in the nine-on-seven drill. I’m sure there will be times, hopefully, that I’ll get an opportunity to get amongst it. I don’t know. We’ve talked about a few things already so I’ll keep you posted. I’ve watched a lot of tape and I’ll just keep my wits about me. Hopefully I don’t have to make a tackle. That’s the key isn’t it. You want them to make a fair catch.

On the biggest transition so far…
Probably the game itself. We play 120 minute of non-stop football, here it’s 60 minutes of stop, start football and it takes twice as long. So the game is different. After ended the season I was able to come over here and was really focused with what I was doing. I can only concentrate on my job and it’s very individual. You have to concentrate on your job and don’t worry about anyone else here.

On challenges for a 31-year old rookie…
Yeah. It doesn’t matter if you’re a 31-year old rookie or a 23 year-old rookie. I’m just trying to cut my teeth on this game and so far, so good. We have three preseason games under our belt and one to go.

On anything he’s had to handle that kids out of college wouldn’t…
I don’t know what to expect coming out of college. That falls up against it because I have never put up any numbers in college. I just had to make sure that everything I did from the minute I got off the plane was the right thing so they could put their trust in me to do the job.

On friends and family reactions…
It has been just a bunch of messages at the moment. A lot of text messages. My teammates played their last game and they won by one point to secure a playoff spot. After the game I got a lot of messages from the boys I haven’t really gotten a chance to speak to anyone in Australia yet apart from my parents. That will all take care of itself I think.

On if anything was said to him when he got here…
No, but it’s the way I like it. Keep it low key. We have two weeks before the season starts so there’s a lot to cover between now and then. I didn’t expect any “whoo-ha’s.� A week ago there were four of us sitting in his office (Mike Westhoff) reviewing the tape, and this morning, there were two.

Chad Pennington

On next Friday’s game…
I’m just determined to get better and that’s what I have to do, keep improving each preseason game. (I have to) learn this offense the best I can and understand that it’s going to be a process throughout the season of getting better and getting more experience in the offense. The bottom line is that starting September 11th, I’ve got to find a way to win games and keep improving on that.

On feeling like he’s getting there…
I look at Friday as a positive I’ve learned also just looking at the film, taking notes and studying where my mistakes were. It shows a lot. Sometimes wins keep you from seeing what you should see and losses definitely let those mistakes stick out even more. I’ve learned a lot from that.

On wanting to get back on the field after Friday’s game…
Unfortunately, the starters don’t play a lot in the fourth game. The next time I get go out there and play in a game and try to win a game is September 11th. But that’s fine. I’ve got two weeks and a half-a-dozen practices to get better and focus in on what I need to do.

On John Abraham…
When John gets here we’ll welcome him. We know that he’ll help us win. We’re excited for him to come back and I’m sure he’s excited to get back on the field and start playing the game of football again.

On the team taking shape…
You see the veteran guys start to concentrate and bear down on what’s about to happen. You shift from training camp mode to in-season mode and start to really concentrate mentally on not just your assignment, but your opponent and what you’re trying to do to stop them. It kind of shifts now.

On what he could’ve done differently Friday…
The obvious answer is not to force the ball while in the red zone, which I normally don’t do. Just take what’s there, and if it’s not there, live to see another down and kick field goals even though we don’t want to. Secondly, I need to see the field better and understand how this offense works. It’s a little different from the past four years. I’m constantly fighting how I read things for four years and now I’m trying to change over. Sometimes I’m consistent with that and sometimes I’m inconsistent with that. I’m not concerned, I’m determined to get better and make sure to correct those mistakes and not repeat them.

On just playing the game…
I can be my own worst enemy when I analyze things and try to be too perfect. When you’re too perfect sometimes you screw it all up and you get no success. What you have to do is be as successful as you can and not try to be perfect in everything. Just play the game.

On dissecting what went wrong Friday…
I’ve taken a long look at the film. I’ve looked at it twice. The major point of emphasis would be to protect the ball in the red zone. Number two, get a better feel for my reads and be more decisive. Not look for the perfect read, but just get a read, go with it and make something happen with it. You’re not going to have the perfect read, and when you don’t have the perfect read, the challenge is to make your decision work. A lot of times, if you do that, you’ll be more successful than not. You’ll steer away from interceptions and turnovers. Those happen a lot of time because of hesitancy rather than bad reads. In this game you cannot be hesitant. It’s kind of like deja-vu. When Paul (Hackett) first got here with his offense, I was over analyzing things. From here on out I’m just going to concentrate on being decisive, making decision, going on what I see and feel, trusting myself and work off of that. Once you get the feeling then you can learn from it, but when you’re on the field, just play.

On Vikings showing anything different than the Giants…
No, it’s just working on the offense and understanding the reads. Some of the plays we have now are similar to what we have had the last four years, but we read them differently. I’m trying to put the mental and physical together and then have that anticipation. Instead of being a second too late or a split second too early type of thing. It’s the little things. Just like correcting your golf swing. A little thing can really make a big difference.

On mentality changing from Paul Hackett’s offense…
The mentality has changed, no doubt. I like the mentality, it’s just getting more consistent with the mentality. That’s where I am. Old school versus new school. Some times I have that new school mentality and things work out right and sometimes I fall back to my old habits and have the old school mentality. That’s where the indecisiveness comes from. I just determined right now to be more decisive and make crisper decisions, anticipate and let the chips fall.

On a vertical offense…
Well, all that means is that you have a green light to take a shot if you have a good reason for that shot. We’re not concerned about being at 70 percent completion percentage, we’re concerned about scoring points. If you’re going to score points, you do have to push the ball downfield. You do have to have more explosion plays, plays over 20 yards, not only to change the field position, but to score more points. It goes back to the mentality of the offense. Instead of just getting completions and moving the chains, when you have a chance you take the shot. You believe in that shot and if you don’t have it you go back to what coach calls managing the game. If you don’t have a shot you manage the game and take what they give you. We’re not long-ball happy. We’re not just firing them up every play but at the same time, if we feel like we have a chance, we’ll take it.

On what is considered vertical passing…
I’d say 20 yards. Anything under 20, you’re taking what the defense gives you. If you have three or four explosion plays over 20 yards you change the field position and continually put pressure on the defense. If you have four plays over 20 yards and you take eight shots and let those guys know that we’re coming after you and that they’ll have to defend us.

On being more lenient with turnovers from taking chances…
Yes, but when they come I want it to be because it was an arrant throw, not because it’s an arrant decision. There’s a difference. When Steve McNair was the MVP, I think he only had seven interceptions. We can still protect the football. No matter what offense you’re in, you have to protect the football if you’re going to win. It becomes a turnover battle but that doesn’t scare you from taking the shot. You just have to know how to throw the ball where it’s us or nobody.

Ty Law

On teammates asking about going to and winning the Super Bowl…
We kind of talk about it but not too much. I didn’t come here to dwell on coming from a championship team. I think I can lead by example and motivate by getting on the field and doing what I need to do. I’m not a big talker. If there are questions, I’m here to answer them. I want to bring my experience and overall Ty Law to the table and that should be enough.

On the Jets having Super Bowl potential…
I think every team in the NFL has potential, but that only takes you so far but we’ll see. Were still here in training camp. We’re going to get better as time goes on. There are a lot of things that go into winning a championship and potential is just one of them. If we were just trying to win the Super Bowl on just potential, that’s not the type of team that I want to be on.

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