Rex Ryan interview transcript 10/1/10

On Friday New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan addressed the media.  Here is the transcript from the press conference, courtesy of the Jets.

Opening remarks…

“Injury report: Wayne Hunter, Darrelle Revis and (Jamaal) Westerman will all be out. They will not make the trip. Questionable is Nick Mangold. He was limited in practice. So was Calvin Pace. Both of those guys are questionable for the game. Guys that are listed as probable but were limited in practice (are) Jason Taylor, he was limited, but he is probable, and also Damien Woody was practicing full. He’s listed as probable. I really don’t have anything today. It was a good practice. I think the guys are ready. We’re focused and we’ll see what happens.”

On Darrelle Revis practicing today…

“Yes, that was encouraging today. He was doing some individual work today. He looks so good out there, you’re tempted to just let him go, but we’re going to wait. He never did anything as far as team practices or team reps. We’re going to make sure he’s back and close to 100 percent before we put him out there.”

On if it is more difficult to recover from a hamstring injury…

“We’ve had a history. It’s a different hamstring than (Revis) had in preseason last year. This one was a little worse. We held him out a couple of preseason games and then he came back and was fine. Lito Sheppard had one (hamstring injury) last year. We had a couple of those hamstring (injuries). We feel confident that he’s going to bounce back pretty soon. Hopefully, he’ll be playing next week.”

On how Trevor Pryce looked in practice…

“He looked like Trevor to me. When I was watching him on tape, the big thing when you have a veteran player is can they move anymore? Can they run? He definitely showed that on tape that he can still move. We’ll see. He won’t play as many snaps this week as he normally would because he got here late. We’ll have some things dialed up for him for sure.”

On if there is a certain number of snaps Pryce will play…

“No, not really. I could give him the (Tony) Siragusa deal I gave him once.  When he held out, I said he’d play 15 snaps. We were playing Pittsburgh and it was about 100 degrees on the field opening day in Pittsburgh. (In the) first quarter, he had 15 snaps and we were shutting them out. He goes, “Ok, what’s that about? 15?” I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s 15. Let’s go.’ (He said), “I thought you said I was only going to play 15 snaps?” I said, ’15 plays a quarter.’ I forgot to mention a quarter in there I guess (laughter). Goose (Siragusa) always reminds me of that. I forget what he said after that. That would have been for HBO. (Pryce) should be fine. You say he’s maybe not involved in the entire package that he would be, but he’ll play enough. You guys can get to see what I know about him.”

On if Pryce will be used the same way he was used in Baltimore…

“We’ll be using him the same way. It’s not like you can hide a 6-7, 295 pound guy and play him at corner. He’s in great shape and he’s a big kid. He loves soccer. That was part of the deal getting him here. We had to buy him a new soccer ball. He’s just an athlete. (He’s) a big guy that loves to play. He had a torn (pectoral muscle). He had a broken wrist and he’s had a back (injury) in his career, but he’s out there and looks healthy to me.”

On his former players’ desire to play for him again…

“I don’t know if I have anything to do with it. I think it’s just the environment we have here, the type of players we have here and the organization that we have. I think that’s what’s going to be the driving force to get people to want to come here. One of our things we’ve talked about, and you guys know, one of my things is I’d love to have every player want to come here and every coach want to coach here. That’s the kind of environment I would want to work in. Again, it’s going to be hard work. We work as hard as anybody in this league. It might not be portrayed that way, but it’s the truth.”

On Drew Coleman starting at cornerback…

“I’m really more excited to see our offense because I don’t want to see our defense. I’ve seen the defense out there too much. We have to get off the field. Really, I think Drew has earned the start. I think Kyle (Wilson) has looked really good this week, but I think Drew has earned it. He started off on the bottom of the totem pole and worked his way up. You have to earn it, and I think he’s done that.”

On what has impressed him about Dustin Keller this season…

“I think the number one thing that jumps out at me is the way that he’s blocking.  I think that’s something. He’s always had great receiving skills. Before I got here, when (Brett) Favre was the quarterback, you knew he had great receiving skills, but the blocking, I think, has really come on. It looks like Mark and him have a great connection, like he knows where he is going to be. Mark knows how he’s going to break his route off, so those guys are clearly on the same page. Then, the fact that, with the guys we have on the outside, it kind of opens up on the inside for him. He has been outstanding. It won’t be too long before people are comparing him with the best tight ends in the league.”

On what specifically Coleman has done to earn the starting spot this week…

“I just think sometimes it takes a while, but we saw signs of it last year. He stepped up and played well. I think this season he has elevated his game. He studies, he knows the defense (and) he knows what we expect. His coverage is tight. He is better at recognizing routes, in my opinion, and he’s playing them (better). He just seems to be a more aware football player, in my opinion.  He’s always had great quickness, a change-of-direction type athlete. He’s always had that. It’s just that awareness. I think he’s really dialed-in.”

On Damien Woody’s health…

“Nothing is physically wrong with him. We put him on there (the injury report).  I thought we had to since he missed two days of practice. He just shows up. I didn’t know where to put him, so I put him at probable. He’s definitely playing.”

On Nick Mangold playing this weekend…

“I hope he’s ready to go. He did a few things. He was limited today. It’s still not 100 percent, but I think he will go.”

On if he thinks Calvin Pace will play against Buffalo…

“We’ve got to see how he is. He did practice. He did have some reps today in the team period, so we want to see how he comes back from that. That one could be a game timer to really see. Is he going to be starting? Is he going to be extended? There is no way. I would not do that right now.”

On if Coleman’s special teams role will be affected because of his increased role on the defense…

“No. He’ll be on all of them. We kind of look at it like with Eric Smith, that he’s so valuable on those special teams, that if he’s going to get a break, he’s getting a break on defense not on teams. You’re a starter on those things.  Coleman does a tremendous job. He and (Marquice) Cole both do a great job on teams.”

Tyson Rauch

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