Opening Statement…
Overall I was really pleased. If we’re looking at it from the numbers standpoint, we never threw X amount of touchdowns, alright, no touchdowns (joking), but it was much more competitive than that. I I tip my hat. I think our offensive line did a nice job protecting the quarterback against traditional rushes, four-man rushes (and) five-man rushes. It got a little dicey when we had some exotics out there. Dennis (Thurman) put in a couple things. That was a little tough, but other than that I thought our protection was decent. I was really impressed with our tackling. Most of the time when you start your first real live tackling, minus goal line situations, you have a lot of missed tackles but I don’t think that was the case today. I was happy with the way our defense tackled. And then obviously the communication I think really from both ends, I think our communication was good. I think there’s a lot to gain by it. Obviously, we scrimmaged a lot more than we had done in the past. We had our guys going against each other several times. I think it was good for us to push us a little bit. The weather has been kind of cool but I think the guys, conditioning-wise, it was pretty good.
On Geno Smith’s performance…
Well, I thought it was pretty decent. I thought he did hit the one deep ball. I think you’ve got to give credit to the defense. I think the defense, the coverage was pretty tight. Guys did a great job and I think it started with communication. That’s the big thing. If we communicate well, we know what we’re doing defensively, it’s going to be a tough unit.
On the defense’s goal line stand…
It was awesome. (I) love it as a defensive coach. You want to punch it in there. I love the fact that Marty (Mornhinweg) ran it four straight times. It was like, “No, we’re going to knock it in there.” To the defense’s credit, that wasn’t the case. I was happy to see it. The collisions down there are pretty fierce.
On Rontez Miles…
Well it’s true. I talked about the depth all camp at safety and, oh by the way, our first-round pick (Calvin Pryor) hasn’t practiced. I think that’s it. We have a lot of good football players. Rontez is one of them. He got his chance to shine a little bit. And sometimes the cream rises to the top and obviously Rontez had a big night.
On if there were any injuries besides Jermaine Cunningham…
No, I think that was the one. I think the little big man I call him, (Jeremy) Reeves slash Revis, take your choice (joking), he kind of got stepped on at the end there. I was worried about him a little bit. I think he’s going to be alright. But yeah, Cunningham, it looked like he came out with a knee or a leg. I’m not sure really what it was. I don’t think it was a knee but obviously he wasn’t able to continue so I’m concerned there.
On what he would like to see more of from the offense…
Well, I just think we’ve got to keep progressing and I think we will. This night I thought we ran the ball at times effectively. And some of the times I thought we threw it well. Just put it together, keep working and I think good things will happen for us.
On Greg Salas having a good practice…
He did. All Salas does is catch the football except that one drop. It’s funny, but that’s what he does. He’s not a blazer by any means but he certainly gets the football. He gets open and he competes as a blocker, so those are all encouraging things.
On if the quarterback reps will be the same next practice…
Yeah, absolutely.
On if Salas had a performance that stood out like Leger Douzable’s Green & White performance last year…
Yeah, I think we know a little more about Salas, though, because he was on our roster for half the season. But again, it is. Something like that, guys will jump out. You guys mentioned Rontez Miles, that’s a young man that jumps out. Jaiquawn Jarrett has been outstanding, by the way, at this camp (and) might be playing as well as anybody. Again, I’m also excited to see our rookie (Calvin Pryor) get out there. I think he realizes, he looks out there and it’s like, “You know what? Every one of these guys can play,” and that’s a great sign for the Jets.
On if he was disappointed that the offense did not score a touchdown
No. That we couldn’t get in the end zone? Not really because I think, again, we had the one’s with the one’s it wasn’t like we’re softening up. We hope we don’t give up a whole lot of points. We don’t anticipate giving up a whole lot of points with that group and it’s just great competition. And I think we’ll just continue from there. And again, I think when we tee it off for real on Thursday night, I think we’ll probably put up some points.
On if Michael Vick still looks fast…
Oh yeah. Shoot. My gosh. The dude can flat fly and we know he can. And (Chris) Johnson still looks like he can run. We definitely have some speed. But against Mike it was funny. I think the funniest play was when he had that big 20-yard run. He knows where the sticks are. We didn’t have a stick up there and he still found it. The most impressive one was when Garrett McIntyre, he sees that it’s Vick and he’s like, “Oop.” He changes his angle and just flies to the sideline. It’s like, “Yeah, that’s pretty smart right there,” and starts grabbing his hamstring a little bit. So yeah, Mike, he can absolutely still run.
