Mike Pettine Interview Transcript 9/29/11

On Thursday New York Jets defensive coordinator Mike Pettine addressed the media.  Here is the transcript courtesy of the Jets.

On his emotions after seeing the defense give up so many yards…

A bunch of different ones, mostly, obviously, negative. Disgusted, frustrated. That was well below our standards. I know Rex (Ryan) has already touched on that. Sometimes you can handle some technique mistakes, sometimes guys just (are) going against somebody that’s better and coming up short. But when it’s a mental error or whether it’s a guy just being lackadaisical or it’s an effort thing, those are the things that we consider unacceptable. We have our standards of play, and when we don’t play up to them, to an effort standpoint, that’s the most troubling and that was certainly something that we talked about on Monday when we watched the tape.

On how many issues were effort-related…

It’s hard to say, you’d have to look at it play-by-play. But, it was a healthy mix. It was one where there were some plays where guys (weren’t going) to the ball like our trademark is. We tell our guys, just because you have the decal on, there’s nothing magical about it. It’s how we practice and the mentality that we take. The disappointing thing for all the time we put into this, is that we only get a set number of opportunities to go out there and compete. So much time, so much (preparation) is put into one game, and to waste a game defensively like that and not play to our standards is obviously disappointing.

On where that lack of effort came from…

I thought we had a good week of preparation, that’s why, you talked about emotions, puzzling is another word that comes to mind. It’s every once in a while that happens. I compared it to the Miami game from two years ago. When again, we had a great week of practice, went down there and just laid an egg defensively. Just made no impact plays in the game, and you look at this one, it was very similar. We had no interceptions, we didn’t cause any fumbles. The only sack we had was when the quarterback tripped and fell and we touched him. So as far as impact plays, we didn’t make any. And again, that goes against our M.O.

On if it is a good challenge that their next game is against another physical team…

That was the one good thing, in the NFL, win or lose you have to move on. It was a situation, we watched the tape, we learned from it, we walked through some of the issues that we had and then we talked about putting it behind us and there was no better wakeup call than to look at the schedule and say, “It’s Baltimore week”. So, if you can’t get pumped up for that one, if you can’t get your juices flowing for this week, Bart (Scott) always calls these, “double chin strap games”, we tell our guys, if you can’t get ready for this one, then you’re sitting in the wrong room.

On him questioning the defense’s effort as opposed to technique…

It was isolated, I don’t want to say it was overall like we were just lethargic, but there were sometimes where it was pick and choose, and it was across the board. And again, it was frustrating because I don’t know if any of us had a good day. You could probably look at (Darrelle) Revis’ game and say that he played well, but outside of that there was room for improvement, some more than others. Coaches included, we all stood in that room and said this is on all of us. I didn’t have a good day. Our defensive staff, we didn’t have a good day. And defensively, some more than others didn’t have a good day. So that’s something that yes, we’re frustrated, but as Rex said in the team meeting, we’re not going to let Oakland beat us twice and let the lingering effects of a poor performance defensively or a tough loss like that linger into the next week. Because this is the NFL, you better be able to hit the reset button in a hurry. And that’s why we were able to do what we did Monday. Watch it, learn from it and then our guys, I think we reset and showed up Wednesday and we’ve had a great week to date.

On if there are any planned lineup changes…

No, nothing major. There might be some things from a depth standpoint where some of the backups might play a little bit more, roll more guys in to keep guys fresh. But other than that, from a starting lineup standpoint, there are no changes.

On Antonio Cromartie’s size causing referees to call more penalties…

I think there might be some merit to that given his size, but some of them were pretty obvious fouls and he’s proven in the past that he can go through a game and not do that, so again I just think it’s a matter of getting back to the basics with him and getting him right, not just physically, but from a mental standpoint.

On if a few of the penalties were not legitimate calls…

Obviously, we submit the calls the league, we don’t comment on how legit they were. That’s a weekly in-house thing. Each week we evaluate the tape, we submit it to the league as you know and we get answers back. Sometimes it’s, ‘We’re not sure. Why is this (being called)?’ Maybe not questioning (whether) it’s a call, but just, ‘Please explain to us why you’re calling this,’ and that sometimes helps us coach it a little bit different.

On Cromartie needing to be more consistent…

You hit the nail on the head, that’s the key word, consistent. We need him to be more consistent. We don’t need the great game and then all the sudden it’s a clunker the next week. We need to get (Cromartie) to the point where we can be a little bit more middle of the road with him where he’s just solid. Learn from (Revis). (Revis) can, I think bounce back from a bad play. I think (Cromartie) sometimes, because he’s so competitive and he wants to please. That (it’s) one of those things where he feels he’s letting everybody down and maybe that snowballs on him. But again, that’s key with (Cromartie), is getting him consistent.

On Terrell Suggs and his development…

I just think he’s become such a complete player now. When he first came out of Arizona State, he was coming off of 22 sacks and we used to joke about his college end zone tape. We couldn’t evaluate him because he lined up so wide that he was off the film. All he was about was rushing the passer. And then I think we understood that and wanted to take a year to teach him how to play the run. And that’s what we did. He was third down only his first year in Baltimore. Until the end of the year when we had some injuries, I think Peter Boulware got hurt, he had to go in a little bit more full time. But he was just third-down only as a pass rusher and I think he ended up with 12 sacks, caused six fumbles, was Defensive Rookie of the Year, but that was primarily being a third-down pass rusher. But over time we were able to develop him into a complete player where it was, ‘Hey let’s learn how to play the run, let’s learn how to study film and understand, am I getting run? Am I getting pass?’ He doesn’t want you to think that he’s smart, but he’s very intelligent. Especially from a football standpoint. He understands offense, he understands formations and blocking patterns and things like that. I think that’s where he’s really evolved over the years to a comfort level, that he’s essentially been in the same defense now, that they were fortunate there when Rex and I left, that there was such a strong carryover on the staff, still that through Greg Mattison they essentially ran the same system and now through Chuck Pagano it’s very similar. I know the terminology is all the same and how they play blocks and things like that, so I think that’s really helped them, being essentially in the same system for so long.

On what it will be like walking into the stadium as a visitor…

It’ll be a strange deal now, for an actual game. I think we’ve played down there in the preseason and that was strange enough. So yeah, it’ll be different. I’ll probably hang out in the locker room for as long as I can. Just being out, there’s too many familiar faces, things like that. You’re trying to get ready for a game. It’ll be hard to see so many people that you spent so much time with. Again, Baltimore was, I think, very special to Rex for sure, Dennis Thurman, myself just because it’s a great organization, a great place to work, a great group of people down there. They know how to take care of people. So again, that’s tough, and you go down there and kind of see your guys defensively, guys like a Suggs that you drafted and guys you took under your wing. I just remember as a young outside linebacker coach, I had Terrell Suggs and Jarret Johnson and I’m like, ‘Wow, I’m a pretty good coach’ (joking). So it’ll be difficult, I think, on both sides. Obviously, it’s well-documented the loyalty there to Rex, a lot of those players on defense. And we hear from each other throughout the season. I already got one nasty text message from Jarret Johnson, so I know those guys will be ready to go.

On the numbers the Ravens offense put up last week and what stood out to him…

Well, obviously the rookie (Torrey Smith), the kind of coming out party for the rookie wide out. The number of targets in the first quarter, it was an obvious thing (that) they wanted to get the ball to him. And he’s a guy that, that’s his strength, is that he can blow the top off the defense. I think they took maybe in the first quarter alone, five shots to him, and he caught three of them for touchdowns. So that’s obviously well-documented, so again, I think they’re throwing it a little bit more, but I think Cam (Cameron) is the type of coordinator, he’s going to tailor his gameplan to what he thinks will help them win the football game. So again, if it’s going to be an emphasis on the run, obviously he felt against St. Louis there was a weakness in the secondary and they exploited it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean now all of the sudden they’re going to be chuck and duck for the rest of the year. I think he’s very smart in how he crafts his plans based on what the opponent is going to give you.

Tyson Rauch

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