On Monday New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan addressed the media.\u00a0 Here is the transcript courtesy of the Jets.<\/p>\n
Opening statement\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n It is our first day now, here we have (the) regular season. And just think, man, Sunday night, it is going to be special. It\u2019s on. The preseason always is good, you\u2019re trying to get your team together and all that, but there\u2019s something about that first practice when you get back together and you look around and it seems like half the players. Where are all the other players? It\u2019s just the media out there, all our fans for training camp and all that, as much as you like to see them out there, it\u2019s like, okay, it\u2019s get down to business time. So that\u2019s kind of what you notice, at least (what) I noticed out there today. With the injuries, (Mark) Brunell was a little limited in practice. I know we don\u2019t have to give these, but he was a little limited. Kenrick Ellis was limited with a left hamstring, nothing major. Sione (Pouha), with a left knee, but he was out there. And then (Darrelle) Revis has a little hip but he was fine, he was out there going good. Guys that were out were John Conner, still with that ankle. Logan Payne, which I think we all know he\u2019s not playing this week and neither is Rob Turner. But other than that everybody was out there. I thought the thing that really needed improving today was Jack our sound guy. (joking) That was brutal today. Our speakers, something was going on. So I wanted to make sure that I pointed that out. Other than that it was great, I thought it was a good practice. It was an extra practice, but we really focused on offense on red zone. We had like 20 snaps in the red zone and then we focused on defense on third downs. 20 snaps on third down, so I thought that was good (to) get a little jump start on the normal week preparations. With that, I\u2019ll open it up for questions.<\/p>\n On if he is confident that John Conner will play on Sunday\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes I am, there\u2019s no doubt. Here we go again (joking). I\u2019m not going to say the word. I think he will play. I really feel strongly that he will play. We\u2019ll probably keep him out tomorrow and then get him back on a regular schedule on Wednesday.<\/p>\n On if he is worried about Mark Brunell\u2019s health going into the game\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n No, the good thing is with (Kevin) O\u2019Connell now coming in here, our eggs aren\u2019t all tied into that one basket.<\/p>\n On Martin Tevaseu being in the building\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, Martin Tevaseu and Isaiah (Trufant) both will be on the practice squad, and then (Josh) Baker will be off the practice squad, for now.<\/p>\n On playing in primetime against his brother and the Cowboys on the anniversary of 9\/11\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Usually, it\u2019s (going) against my brother and all that and you have a lot of fun with that, but obviously I feel (like) it\u2019s different, like a responsibility. I have to make sure, and every week it\u2019s my responsibility to make sure our team is prepared and all that kind of stuff, but I don\u2019t know, it just feels different to me. The significance of it, I think it\u2019s stronger than any game I\u2019ve ever felt. I feel more pressure on this game for whatever reason than any game I\u2019ve ever coached, it seems like.<\/p>\n On if he remembers what he was doing on 9\/11\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh yes, I was in Baltimore and Pat Moriarty, he did all of our contracts and stuff like that. And I was walking by his office, and he\u2019s like \u201cOh my goodness.\u201d And I looked in there and we were getting ready to practice and so I\u2019m watching it, and right when I was watching, the other plane hit the second tower. I was like, \u201cOh my goodness.\u201d So that\u2019s what I remember, and I was thinking about my cousin who (was) a New York City fireman and all that. So I had a lot of thoughts about those times.<\/p>\n On the challenge the Cowboys offense presents\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s brutal, I mean it starts with (Tony) Romo. That\u2019s a guy that, he\u2019s a Brett Favre-type, a guy that can make every throw, that moves well. I remember we played him one year. We had some free runners and then we couldn\u2019t get him down. He\u2019s one of those really elusive guys and he will remind you of Favre, every now and then you\u2019ll see one go underhand from him or something like that. But the guy is a very talented quarterback and then you look at his receivers, start with the tight end (Jason Witten), he caught almost 100 balls or something last year. (He\u2019s) a big, fast guy, a complete tight end. And then you have Dez Bryant (and) the young kid from here (Miles Austin). They\u2019re loaded. Felix Jones probably only runs a 4.3 in the 40, so they have tons of weapons, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n On his father Buddy Ryan delaying treatment to be able to watch \u201cThe Ryan Bowl\u201d \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s going to be great to have him here. I know this is huge for him, he\u2019s looked forward to it for a long time.<\/p>\n On if the team will attempt to gain any insight from S Andrew Sendejo since he spent training camp with Dallas\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n No question. I don\u2019t think I will, but I\u2019m sure our offense will. That\u2019s part of the gamesmanship I\u2019m sure. But we brought the young man in here because we think he has a lot of traits that we like. He\u2019s a smart kid, not just as a safety, but we\u2019re looking at him more as a special teams contributor than he would be as a safety. But we think he has that kind of ability, but we\u2019re excited to see him and we\u2019ll probably play him this week on special teams.<\/p>\n On how hard it is to work in new guys that are acquired after training camp\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes it is, you\u2019re sitting back and one of these young offensive linemen are going to have to step in there and play, and would be our seventh guy this week. So you hope you don\u2019t have to play him, but you have to coach them up. Obviously, we have Bill Callahan coaching our offensive line, but it\u2019s going to be a huge challenge to get him up to speed. But we have two shots at it, (as) we look at it. So we\u2019ll see what happens. But I think when you look at (Sendejo) from Dallas, I think on special teams, the way (special teams coach Mike) Westhoff is, Westhoff will hold up a card and say, \u201cYou\u2019re that guy.\u201d So I think we can do that.<\/p>\n On what he has learned about Plaxico Burress on and off the field\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, the little I\u2019ve been around him for about a month now, he has been great. I mean, he has been fantastic. He has a smile on his face, he\u2019s excited to be here and he\u2019s a good teammate. He\u2019s always encouraging guys and I love his energy out there. He\u2019s been fun to be around.<\/p>\n On what he remembers about the night Burress shot himself\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n No, I really don\u2019t remember that. I really can\u2019t remember that one.<\/p>\n On what his thoughts were when he found out about Burress\u2019s incident\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n No, I think I was so involved in getting ready to play somebody else, it was kind of in one ear and (out the other). That\u2019s about it. I never really thought about it.<\/p>\n On whether he feels a responsibility to New York to win Sunday night\u2019s game against Dallas\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n I guess so. I think maybe that\u2019s it. (I feel a responsibility) for this whole region, this whole area. I know it\u2019s football and we\u2019re not talking about life or death or anything like that, but I don\u2019t know, that\u2019s kind of how I\u2019m taking it. It\u2019s my job. My job is to get this team ready to go and we will (be ready), but I can\u2019t explain it, why I feel this way or whatever, but I do.<\/p>\n On how concerned he is about his father\u2019s health\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Anytime you have cancer again, there is a huge concern.<\/p>\n On who would backup Conner at fullback\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n We have (Matthew) Mulligan that can do it, as well, so we\u2019re definitely cross-training Mully to do that.<\/p>\n On how he feels about the stage of development of the offense\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n I feel pretty good. Most of them have picked up the system now. You have two veterans that are our only new starters, with Plax (Burress) and Derrick Mason. Other than that, our team has been together. They\u2019ve been with Schotty for three years, at least, with our quarterback, with Shonn Greene, with LT (Tomlinson), he has that experience. Our tight ends have been in the same system, so I feel pretty good about where we are.<\/p>\n On coaching while having concerns about his father\u2019s health\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s it. That\u2019s what everybody deals with, their own issues and things. My job is to coach football and that\u2019s exactly what I\u2019m going to do.<\/p>\n On whether Mardy Gilyard could see time as a kick returner\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Not right now, not this first week. He does (have experience) and he is a decent player on special teams. Obviously, he has receiving skills, but we won\u2019t be looking at him to return kicks this week.<\/p>\n On the start of the regular season\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Now it\u2019s like, \u201cWow, this thing is for real.\u201d When you see the fact that we\u2019re working on kick return and you see that you have no one else to run down on kicks so you have to do it. It\u2019s that realization that, \u201cGuess what, it\u2019s for real now.\u201d You have a 53-man roster and it\u2019s just us. I think that\u2019s something. You look at it this way too, and I talk about it, you guys have heard me talk about, that it is easier to win a lottery than it is to play in the National Football League. It\u2019s a blessing and a privilege to play in this league and these guys are chosen to play, and not just anywhere but to play for the New York Jets. It\u2019s something they should be proud of. I think now (the thought) is that our job is to win football games and our focus is on this opponent (the Dallas Cowboys) and this opponent only.<\/p>\n On Jim Leonhard returning after his injury last season\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah, it\u2019s really not a surprise (that Leonhard was able to come back healthy), because we know that\u2019s the way Jim is. The fact that he never had our trainers to go to and all that, but we knew he\u2019d give everything he could to get back, we had to slow him down a little. I think the fact that Leon Washington had a similar injury and was able to come back the way he did last year (helped). So (Leonhard) had that confidence. Obviously, Jimmy had to do the hard work himself. It surprises nobody in this organization that he was able to come back from that.<\/p>\n On whether Greg McElroy was placed on injured reserve because he is the furthest from returning to the field\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n A lot goes into those things. I really don\u2019t think we can say who will be back sooner. I think we have an idea. We don\u2019t really know when Rob (Turner) can come back, Logan Payne or even McElroy. It could be a certain phase, he\u2019s a quarterback, it\u2019s a little different. When we looked at it, it was more of a situation with (Mark) Brunell having a calf (injury), is he 100 percent back? I don\u2019t know if he is. It just gave us insurance. We weren\u2019t going to put all of our eggs in one basket if we don\u2019t need to. I think Greg is going to bounce back. Next year, I think he\u2019ll be ready to go. I thought he did an excellent job in training camp. (We\u2019re) obviously excited to have him. He\u2019s a guy you can\u2019t run out of the building. His dad is actually with the Cowboys. I think he\u2019s a scout with Dallas and a lifer in football. So we\u2019ll see, at least that\u2019s the information I had.<\/p>\n On McElroy\u2019s father being an executive with the Cowboys\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n What\u2019s the difference? (joking)<\/p>\n On if Turner will come back sooner rather than later\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n I hope so. Rob is a tough guy. You know he\u2019s going to go at it. He\u2019s in the building constantly. I think that if you can come back from this, then Rob is the type of guy that can do it.<\/p>\n On facing his brother last season and trying to anticipate each other\u2019s plans\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n No, I think it\u2019s more Schotty (Brian Schottenheimer) dealing with my brother. We\u2019ll talk about different things, but it\u2019s more Brian. The chess match is more (between) Schotty and my brother than it is with me. I don\u2019t call any offensive plays.<\/p>\n On his brother\u2019s comments\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ll say this, if it\u2019s a personal matter than you know what my response is going to be, \u201cIt\u2019s a personal matter.\u201d It was a personal matter then, it will be a personal matter now, tomorrow and years later.<\/p>\n On if he will speak with his brother this week\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n We will definitely speak this week. I spoke with him, he wanted to upgrade his tickets and all that stuff so I talked to him about that. I think they are coming here for a vacation, that\u2019s what it sounded like to me. We\u2019ll get after each other, no question.<\/p>\n On if his cousin was a NYC firefighter during the 9\/11 attacks\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n He\u2019s in the fire department, yes.<\/p>\n On if his cousin was injured in the attacks\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n He was fine. He was not involved in it. Matthew Russo is his name. He\u2019s actually not my real cousin, he feels like my real cousin, he\u2019s my step-mother\u2019s nephew. He\u2019s been like an older brother to me for a long time.<\/p>\n On if his cousin went down to the site of 9\/11\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n No.<\/p>\n On if his cousin is still active in the fire department\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n I think he\u2019s since retired.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Monday New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan addressed the media.\u00a0 Here is the transcript courtesy of the Jets. Opening statement\u2026 It is our first day now, here we have (the) regular season. And just think, man, Sunday night, it is going to be special. It\u2019s on. The preseason always is good, you\u2019re trying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[488],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9079","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-jets-press-conference"},"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peLffi-2mr","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9079"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9081,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9079\/revisions\/9081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miletestsite.com\/jets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}