Jets logo seen at MetLife Stadium. Photo by: Stacy Podelski
1495 Sports is proud to bring these quotes from the last day of New York Jets OTA’s.
Head Coach Rex Ryan Opening Statement:
“What I would like to start with today, because this closes out the OTAs and all that kind of stuff, it really closes that out, all of the voluntary workouts. This is where when I talked about this team coming together, how hungry this team is, here is an example of that: Of the 2,211 possible workouts, so all the individuals that you have all that kind of stuff, for the entire off-season program, this football team had 2,178 in attendance at voluntary workouts. That is 99%. That just shows you about this team and how much this team is looking forward to this season. I don’t care if people are motivated through the negative things that we hear, the fact that we missed the playoffs, whatever the driving force is, 99% of those workouts were attended in a voluntary setting. I think that is impressive. I know that is impressive.”
On whether team will consider acquiring a veteran receiver:
“Mike (Tannenbaum) is going to look at everything out there. If we are going to make our team better with a wide out, guard, tackle or whoever, he’ll be open to anything. I feel good with this group. It’s a hard working group. I think Chaz Schilens has done a nice job coming over here. He’s familiar with Sanjay and I think that helps because he knows the tempo and everything. My brother asked me how Chaz was doing and I said he’s doing really well. He said the thing about him is he’ll get better when the pads come on because the best thing he does is block and he’s physical. He thought he was right there with the Braylon Edwards of the world as far as blocking. That’s impressive. I think (Jeremy) Kerley had a good practice today and he needed to. Quite honestly, I’ve been waiting for him to show up a little bit. He’s had some issues, minor things. It was good to see him pick it up. I like Jeremy as a slot receiver and Patrick Turner. I like our group. We have young receivers. Hill was really impressive until he had that hamstring. He was really starting to come around.”
On Tim Tebow’s intangibles:
“Let me give you a little story about Tim. I saw this in the weight room. A player had challenged him, holding these big huge sledgehammers. They held them doing this big iron cross kind of deal. The big lineman went first. He (Tebow) said you want to go first or second. The big lineman said he’d go first. He went for about a 1:04, shaking. Tim went for 1:18. This guy is crazy with how strong he is and the kind of focus (he has). I see that from him. He’s super competitive. You can be in a team deal, he sees cover five, which is two-man, he’s back there and you’d like to see him throw the football, he’s going to run it. If he sees two-man, guess what? He’s going to run it anyway. You see some of that in him. He’s done some things in some previous practices, where it’s like, wow, that’s a football player.”
On Tebow’s play at quarterback:
“The defense will start chirping about him, ‘Come on. Throw the ball, stand back and throw the ball.’ Why? If he sees two-man, he’s running with it. Some one better go out there and make a tackle. I think everyone sees Tim for what he is. He’s a super competitive guy and a good teammate. I’ve noticed he’s always building guys up. By the way, he’s a talented kid, or young man.”
Tebow had this to say on how OTAs have been:
“I think it is fine. It’s been going pretty well, having a lot of fun, learning a new offense, getting to know everybody here in the locker room and the coaches, so it’s going pretty well I think.”
On if he enjoys playing on special teams:
“I have fun playing football. We will mess around with different things and have fun. Some days we will be doing it and some days we don’t, so whenever I am on there, I go as hard as I can and have fun with it and we have a good time.”
On what the biggest adjustment has been:
“You have to know the offense. So its understanding that and then going against a great defense, one of the best in the league. (You have to identify the) Mike, understand hot (routes) and sights, and get the ball out. Then, it is getting the timing right with these receivers on some of their routes. It might be live scrimmage but it might be the first time you’ve hit one of these receivers on that route. Sometimes that can be a little bit off but that’s something we’re working on. I feel like every day we’re getting a little bit better at it.”
Quarterback Mark Sanchez had this to say on OTAs:
“It was a great nine practices. I thought the energy was great. Coach Sparano really lit a fire under the offense this last day of OTAs. We have a long weekend coming up before this mini-camp, but the defense had a hell of a day. That’s the kind of competition Coach Ryan wants. We have to try to win the day when we come back. The first day of mini-camp, we have to come back stronger than we did today. Overall, it was a great learning process for us and a great look at the speed and ability of all our guys. Overall, I think we’re doing very well and have to keep improving.”
On if the offense accomplished what they wanted during OTAs:
“We’re still getting there. It’s a long process when you include this mini-camp into that as this first real chunk of football you get in the offseason. I think we’re making good strides. One of the most important things as we get moving here you install the playbook, guys have a basic understanding of the plays and the picture the words of the play paint for you. Then comes, what happens if a defender does this? What happens when you face a defense like Rex Ryan’s and now you’re forced to do this? When you play against Coach Ryan, you have to know that they’re going to test your troubleshooting ability. They want you at your weakest point and then they’re going to test you right there. The toughest questions about the offense get handled here first against Coach Ryan. We’re learning on the fly. Hopefully, all these mistakes will be cleaned up come September and we’ll be ready to roll.”
On what he wants to accomplish next week during mini-camp:
“I’d like to see us be a little more crisp on offense and come back strong from today. I think it will be a good test. We’ll have four days off to get a chance to get into the playbook on our own, come back with some questions and be prepared for a quick install and a fast camp. It’s going to go fast so I hope guys look at the film from today, really study it, understand it, talk a little about it over the weekend and get after it next week.”
On the feeling of coming back to work after an 8-8 season opposed to an season and if he feels more motivated:
“Each year is such a new year. The personnel are a little different. We want to get back to the playoffs. That’s for sure. That’s one of our goals. We have to play well in our division. All those things are the same. So whether you get to the AFC Championship and lose or you don’t make the playoffs and you lose in your last game, either way we want to play better than we did so nothing’s really changed there. We’re just eager to be back.”