Coach Eric Mangini Transcripts: 09-04-06 . . .

New York Jets? Head Coach Eric Mangini Transcripts: 09-04-06
By the New York Jets
Posted Monday, September 4, 2006
Transcripts were republished courtesy of the New York Jets.

On claiming Rashad Moore?
Rashad is a player that has excellent size. He's played in a system that has some carry over to our system. Rashad is someone that I know very well and who is a close friend of mine. He carried over elements of the system to Oakland. I liked on tape how stout he was. He's another big body. He's another guy that has good strength. And doing the research on him, I like all of the things that I've heard about him in terms of his work ethic, his ability to learn, and the exposure to the system helps as well.

On new players catching up in the system?
Those are all things that we're going to find out here pretty quickly, and the faster they catch up and the quicker they show us that they can help us win and play a role to help us win, the quicker they will play. And to me, it's dependent upon them as well as the coaching staff working with them to make sure that they are as prepared as possible.

Bobby has a real advantage because he played in the system, and the first time I was here with the Jets and in New England, and to some degree in Oakland, he has a wealth of experience. I know him personally. There's a lot of carry over there. He should be able to transition pretty seamlessly.

On the rookies playing in a hostile environment?
I think these guys will appreciate the break from practice with the loud music. That's something that we've had for a long time, and they have had to communicate in a loud environment and that's part of the reason we do it is for these away games. Another reason is to force the communication. And it's definitely a very loud place to play, playing there in the past I appreciate that. They have had quite a few practices now where they have been in an environment that is also loud and I think that will help them.

On T D?Brickashaw Ferguson and C Nick Mangold progressing in the preseason?
I think that's going to be part of the transition from college to pro football, and to learning all of the new things. And to me, it's not necessarily the mistakes they make. It's what they do with the mistakes they make and how they approach those and how well they learn from those. And these are two guys that are very smart guys, very conscientious guys, and they are smart enough to get with the veterans and to pick their brain and to attack problems proactively which I really like. I like that from the entire rookie class. I like their approach. They have been excellent that way.

On making a decision at starting RB?
That's something that will be evolving, but not just with the RB position. I think all of the different positions now will have various packages where there may be one TE in one group and another TE in another group. Even though a player may not come out and be listed as the starter, the things that they do well or where they help us in the package, the reps could actually work out to be more, and I see it go the other way where one guy was a starter, one guy who was not listed as a starter actually plays more plays. Some of that will be dependent upon the various packages, whether it be third down, in the red area, short yardage; trying to play to our strengths and attack their weaknesses.

On Kevan Barlow entering the offensive rotation..
What I like that Kevin's done is he spent a lot of time with Jimmy and with Brian pre meetings and post meetings. He?s going to spend some time with Chad and with the group and he's really working to get the playbook down. The positive thing about game planning is the playbook goes from ?War and Peace? to something a lot more manageable, because it's so opponent specific, and that's actually what gives you a little bit of an edge when you do bring in new players and transition them into your system.

On claiming Zack Hilton?
Zach is a guy that I had exposure to last year when New England played the Saints; Mike had exposure to him last year when we played the Saints. We both saw him from the other side of the ball, and I thought he did some really positive things in both of those games, and really, throughout his career. In talking to different people who knew him and spent time with him in meetings, he is a very conscientious guy and a hard worker. He's got good size. He's a big target. He has had some productive games and seasons receiving. All of those things are positives that we liked about him.

On Hilton?s height?
It's the same thing with tall corners. The transition is a little bit harder, and you just have to take into account those things when you're working on technique and you really have to consciously try to counteract that height. And it happens, too, with the really tall offensive linemen or defensive linemen. It's an edge, but to some degree, you have to counter that because you do get a little bit more erect.

On RB Leon Washington?s performance on special teams?
I am really happy with Leon. From the day he got here to the preseason, the things that we really pinpointed as problem areas, he's worked on and he's been consistently working on it. And that to me is always going to give a player like Leon or any player a chance to be very successful, is taking the coaching, understanding what we're trying to get done and then working as hard as you can to get those things done. I think Leon is a great example of that.

On what Washington has had to work on?
There were a lot of different things, whether it be exactly where you fit the passing game in terms of the blocking, some of the ball handling issues, either on special teams or working with the quarterbacks. You see the improvement, and then he gets the different opportunities in the game and he takes advantage of those. I've been pleased with the way that he's approached things and the progress he's made.

cont'd :

 

cont'd :

On if Washington will be in the RB mix?
I think he's definitely in the running back mix. I think it's a good situation, and there's another example of a guy who carves out a real solid role on special teams, which now is going to create some opportunities to go into the game, which, you know how that goes. Sometimes that opportunity looks like it's going to be one thing, and then it turns into something else.

I remember Curtis was telling me a story about when he was in New England, and he's a pretty modest guy, but he told those other running backs, "Look, you guys better hope I never go in the game," and they all laughed and thought, yeah, okay, buddy. And then he got in the game and there's no looking back. I'm not saying that's necessarily the case with Leon. I'm just saying that's a great example of when the opportunity comes, what you do with it and how you take advantage of it. And then Leon has now carved out his chance to go to games with what he does on special teams.

On RB Cedric Houston?s performance versus PHI?
I think Cedric has done a good job with his opportunities. There's been some things that we've talked about with Cedric to work on and he's been conscientious about that and worked on it.

That's what we're always looking for from the players is understanding; do you know what to do is the first thing, and are you doing the things you're being coached to do; those are the first two criteria. And the last one is, are you the same player every day. That's the core evaluation of the group that we explained to the players and that we look for as a staff and as an organization.

On who the back up QB will be?
We're going to let that go here a little bit and take a look at that throughout the week.

On WR Brad Smith working in at the QB position?
Brad, there's another great example of seizing an opportunity and the moment. We had talked about it. We hadn?t really worked on things, which was intended because I wanted to give the core group the most reps. We always told him to be aware of the things that were going on with the quarterbacks. Brad is one of those guys where he studies his assignments, gets it down, and then studies their assignments. I really wanted to put him in there without much preparation and just see how he responded, and I thought he responded really well.

On Smith being a playmaker for the Jets because of his versatility?
What we're looking to do is as we go from 53-to-45, there's got to be a plan in place for each one of those guys that's on the 45. How are they going to contribute to the victory. What are they going to do to help us win. Because it's always difficult to carry someone to the game, to watch the game. There's so many areas that with limited spaces that you need help and depth with, and Brad goes in he gets a 30 yarder, 35-yarder, got another penalty, causes a penalty, threw a completion, ran for a touchdown, covered punts. That's flexibility; that's versatility.

The same thing is true with Leon. He returns kicks, got a chance to return punts, did that okay. Has covered kicks, has played running back. To me, those are all positive things, and if we can get some of these guys to run defense, we'll do that, too.

On TEN?s QB situation?
We're going to look at all three guys and they all provide different problems and different strengths, and that's something that we need to examine and be ready for all three of those potential quarterbacks.

On giving PIT head coach Bill Cowher advice on handling Ben Roethlesberger?s current situation?
I don't think I'm in a position to give Bill Cowher any advice. He's an outstanding football coach, so I'll let him handle that one.

On C Trey Teague?
Trey Teague, he's a nice guy. You'll really like him as you get to know him. I really like him. We'll let you know on Wednesday his exact status. Trey has made a lot of progress since the initial injury. We will have to wait until Wednesday to give anything.

On what Teague brings to the team?Trey brings the same versatility. He's played center. He's played tackle. He's really good with the young guys, just like Pete's really good with the young guys. He's seeing a lot of fronts, he's seeing a lot of blitz looks. He's very willing to help guys out and he's been good with Nick and Brick. I like all of the different things he brings.

On Teague playing at guard?
I think we might work him a little bit at guard, as you say with Adrian, that was part of the process there; work him at right, work him at left, work him at guard. It's just that you get in these game, you could lose two guards. It's one of those, you just never know how it's going to go, so at least give him some exposure to that. If you did have to get through a game, it's always good especially with a veteran guy to be able to plug him in there. And, you know, it may not be perfect, but you've got a real shot, and he can lean on his experience.

> http://www.sportspagemagazine.com/published/pro/new-york-jets-head-coach--2.shtml