On Wednesday New York Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer addressed the media.\u00a0 Here is the transcript courtesy of the Jets.<\/p>\n
On how Mark Sanchez is looking\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “He\u2019s doing really (well). I think he had great zip on the ball today. I think the weekend off, if you will, was kind of good for him. I thought he has been real into it. (He was) real sharp today. Today was a third-down day, kind of a situational day and (he) showed a lot of zip on the ball, both in the intermediate throws and the down-the-field throws. He\u2019s in a good spot.”<\/p>\n On how much he thinks Shonn Greene\u2019s week off will help him in the postseason\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “I think anytime you talk about a power back like that, I think it helps, just to not take getting dinged and getting hit and things like that. Shonn wants to play all the time, but I think in the long run, as we gear up for, hopefully, a long stretch, it will help him.”<\/p>\n On what amount of reps Sanchez has been getting in practice\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “It\u2019s the same that it was earlier in the year, so Mark\u2019s back to doing almost everything. There\u2019s a couple of plays we always give to the backups, but he took, I think, every meaningful rep today.”<\/p>\n On whether he is more mindful of eating up the clock when the team is facing a good opposing quarterback\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “Yes and no. We\u2019re mindful of trying to sustain drives. We\u2019re mindful of trying to execute. I think there are a lot of ways to do that. I think when you look at this defense, when you\u2019re predictable, they\u2019re pretty good. When they know you\u2019re going to run it, they\u2019re pretty good at stopping the run. When you get in long-yardage situations, they turn those two guys (Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis) loose off the edge and they play that \u201cTampa-Two.\u201d I think you have to kind of keep them off-balance. More important than run-pass (balance) or running the ball is for us to execute and to stay ahead of the sticks.”<\/p>\n On what concerns him most about Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “I think the crowd noise. Crowd noise is a factor. Obviously, we have experience from being up there twice last year. It\u2019s a fast track for those guys. That\u2019s one of those things, going back to Chicago, I thought our line played terrific, but that surface at Soldier Field is a little different than say, this one. It just seems like each and every week, you go against premier pass rushers, at least that\u2019s what it\u2019s been for us. Our offensive line has responded to the challenge, going back to (James) Harrison and (LaMarr) Woodley, then (Julius) Peppers and (Israel) Idonije. All those guys, it\u2019s just like it\u2019s one thing after another. Two premier pass rushers, they play so hard, they need to take some breaks and when they take breaks, we\u2019ll be well-aware that they\u2019re not in the game.”<\/p>\n On whether he thinks the team has to put up a certain amount of points in order to win\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n I think you know whether you\u2019re playing Peyton Manning, Tom Brady (or other) great quarterbacks around the league, they\u2019re going to put up points. They\u2019re good. You don\u2019t go in to the game saying we have to score x amount of points. I think we went in to the Chicago game, not thinking it would be a shootout. The next thing you know, you\u2019re going up-and-down the field, scoring touchdowns and you have to keep going out there. I feel very comfortable however this game unfolds, that our guys will match-up. I think, probably even more than last year, I\u2019m more comfortable this year if it does become a high-scoring game then probably last year, where we were a little more run, run, throw (and) things like that. Hey, they\u2019re going to make plays. We know that, but we think we\u2019re going to make plays. That\u2019s probably it. You look at it and you say, \u2018Hey, we know we\u2019re going to have make plays,\u2019 (with) opportunities in the red zone like I talked about, executing (and) continuing to move the ball. The more we move the ball (and) make first downs, the more we keep them off the field, which is a positive.”<\/p>\n On whether Dustin Keller is a player you have to worry about getting too pumped up since he is returning to his home state this weekend\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “No, I don\u2019t think so. He\u2019s a guy that goes on emotion, for sure, but I don\u2019t think he gets too keyed up. I think it was a couple of weeks ago or something where his mom saw him play or something for the first time in a while, he was pretty into it. No, I think he\u2019s a guy that we like to get going early, but not because he\u2019s going to be amped up. I think he\u2019s always played (well) against these guys, so we expect him to do the same thing.”<\/p>\n On whether his approach to the game-plan against Pittsburgh and Chicago was different, since all of the players gave him credit for them\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “There really wasn\u2019t that much change. Again, I always think that one of the things when you\u2019re a play-caller is you call good plays that don\u2019t work and you call plays that are bad and they do work. I think we\u2019re hitting our stride. Again, we\u2019ve done a lot of different things. We\u2019ve scored a lot of different ways. I think, if you look at the Pittsburgh plan and the Chicago plan, there were some similarities, but there were also a lot of things that you saw (different), like we didn\u2019t run any naked (bootlegs) at all against Pittsburgh because of the 3-4 defense, it\u2019s harder. We come out and we hit a couple of big naked (bootlegs) against Chicago, one for a touchdown to Santonio (Holmes). I appreciate them saying that, but I think as a group, it\u2019s clearly more of the group is very confident and they feel like we\u2019re kind of hitting our stride right now, more than the game-plan.”<\/p>\n On balancing controlling the clock and taking some shots down-field against Indianapolis\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “I think, obviously, Mark has to control that. We always say a shot called is not a shot taken. You call shots to throw it up the field. If they cover it, he has to be smart enough to say, \u201cOk, it\u2019s not there. Where\u2019s my outlet?\u201d I think that\u2019s what you\u2019ve seen him do. We\u2019ll call our shots. There were some shots that we called in the last couple of games, where we haven\u2019t gotten it up the field, we\u2019ve checked it down. Last game, obviously, we hit a couple of shots against Buffalo. Again, it\u2019s the discipline of the quarterback, I would say.”<\/p>\n On how integral the Wildcat formation has become to him and if Brad Smith is the reason for its effectiveness\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “I think, obviously, a lot of the credit goes to Brad. It\u2019s a big part of what we do. We always have quite a few plays, I don\u2019t know, maybe eight to twelve plays of it in the game-plan each and every week. Sometimes it gets dialed more times than others. Anytime we get a chance to get the ball into Brad\u2019s hands it is a positive for us. Again, because he plays receiver, it\u2019s always easier to get the ball into a running back\u2019s hands or a quarterback\u2019s hands. By putting him back there, it\u2019s a way of guaranteeing that the ball gets in his hands and he just always seems to make things go. (Assistant Offensive Coordinator) Mike Bloomgren, a guy on our staff, he takes a big role in that. He does a great job of coming up with some of the ideas and he does a great job of getting with Brad and coaching him up on some of the finer points of that Seminole package.”<\/p>\n On what authority Brad Smith has to audible from a run to a pass play\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “We give him some freedom. It\u2019s based on the play. There are some plays where we just call it and run it. There are other things where he has what we call, kills, where he goes from one play (to another), run to pass, or pass to run and vice versa, based on the defense.”<\/p>\n On whether he feels it\u2019s less of a risk letting Brad Smith throw now\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “I\u2019ve always trusted Brad. That\u2019s one of the things. A couple of years ago, when we were first here, there were a couple of preseason games or something where he played the whole second half at quarterback. I\u2019ve always trusted Brad. As a play-caller, that\u2019s what you want from a guy that\u2019s in that position. If you don\u2019t trust him, you\u2019re not going to call a lot of those plays, like the play in the (AFC) Championship game last year. We had total confidence that if it wasn\u2019t there, he wouldn\u2019t throw it, that he would pull it down and run. That\u2019s a big part of it.”<\/p>\n On Sanchez not attempting any passes last week against Buffalo\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “I think it was one of those deals where his shoulder was a little bit sore, so we obviously wanted to be smart. We knew we had a couple of days rest. Then, of course, it was a situation where we knew we wanted to look at some of the wrinkles with the Wildcat. We wanted to get the running game going, so it was a lot of different factors that factored in. Of course, Rex plays a joke on me before the very first snap. I look out there, I called a run, and Mark\u2019s (Sanchez) in an empty-shotgun (formation). I\u2019m like, \u2018Uh-oh\u2019 (laughter). Of course, nobody told me, so it was a big joke that if he throws the ball, it\u2019s not good for me. I look out there, he\u2019s in the shotgun. I\u2019m looking around like, \u2018Do I call a time-out? What do I do?\u2019 (Laughter). Of course, it was Rex playing a prank on me. A lot of factors went into it and, obviously, we were able to go get some points out of it because of the execution of the running game.”<\/p>\n On how much Sanchez\u2019s shoulder impacts his play-calling\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “It doesn\u2019t at all. I feel very good. He\u2019s looked good the last two days. He took all the reps today. He has great zip on the ball, so really, it has no bearing at all, whatsoever.”<\/p>\n On how confident the team was going up against Buffalo considering the Head Coach was playing a practical joke\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “You\u2019ll have to ask him (Coach Ryan) that. That\u2019s kind of the world we live in with Rex. You never know what to expect sometimes.”<\/p>\n On when he realized that they were playing a joke on him\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “(I realized) when the ball was handed off. That\u2019s when I took my first breath, too. I didn\u2019t breathe for about 20 seconds. Then, he handed it off and I was like, \u2018Ok.\u2019 Mark (Sanchez) came over and said, \u201cWhat did you think of that?\u201d I was like, \u2018Ok.\u2019 I guess it\u2019s good when you play a game like that and you find a way to win like that anyway.”<\/p>\n On whether guys like LaDainian Tomlinson have a the mentality that this might be one of their last shots at the Super Bowl\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “I think there is, but I think the thing with LT (LaDainian Tomlinson) is you see the same thing every day. Here\u2019s a guy that, from the time he got here, from the first offseason practice to today, he has not changed. There\u2019s a hunger there. There\u2019s a desire. It\u2019s one of the few things, if any, that he hasn\u2019t accomplished. It\u2019s great to see those guys. I think Rex asked Jason Taylor the other day, when the last playoff game he won was, and it was like nine years ago. That\u2019s crazy when you think about what a great player he is and the good teams he\u2019s been on. I think the message to the young guys is, \u201cHey, this doesn\u2019t happen all the time and you have to prepare. You have to put everything aside and just focus on the task at hand, which is going and playing awfully good football and trying to find a way to win.\u201d<\/p>\n On what possible benefit Sanchez could have from playing in a game where he did not attempt a pass\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “I think, obviously, it shows that we feel pretty comfortable and confident in Mark\u2019s abilities. We feel comfortable that he gets the reps in practice. It wasn\u2019t so much that we were trying to hold Mark back. It was that we wanted to feature the running game. Again, it was one of those deals where you make a decision, you go into a game (and) we didn\u2019t play a couple of our key players because we wanted to keep them healthy. With Mark, we just wanted to put him in there to hand it off some.”<\/p>\n On whether the Colts defense has done anything different after holding opponents to under 70 yards rushing on average the last three weeks\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n “They\u2019re very simple, but they\u2019re very good. They\u2019re very fast. They\u2019re moving a lot up-front, meaning the line is slanting and angling, so they\u2019re creating piles. It makes it harder for people to get from, what we call, the first level to the second level, up to the linebackers, and so there are a lot of free runners on the back. You mix that with the fact that it\u2019s a heavy eight-man box on most first and second-downs, it makes it hard to run. You definitely see a difference from the last couple of weeks, where they\u2019re playing very well.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Wednesday New York Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer addressed the media.\u00a0 Here is the transcript courtesy of the Jets. On how Mark Sanchez is looking\u2026 “He\u2019s doing really (well). I think he had great zip on the ball today. I think the weekend off, if you will, was kind of good for him. 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