1495 Sports is proud to bring these New York Jetsquotes from 8/23/12.

Rex Ryan began with these opening statements:

“First things first, I know what I said before about Wayne (Hunter) being the starting (right) tackle this week.  The more I went back and looked at where we are at as a football team and getting feedback from coaches and knowing the history of Wayne, the success that Wayne had basically as a sixth man, I have decided that is the way we are going to go.  I am going to put Wayne in that role, where really he excelled and that is being a guy that basically fits, whether it is being a tackle, guard, tight end.  I am going to move Wayne back to that role.  Again, you have played ten years, and I know he has been heavily criticized, and is he perfect as a starting tackle? No, but nobody is perfect. I am saying this, I know the success that he had and the success he had when I got here for the first two years in this role, I think can really be helpful for this team.  That is what I have decided to do.  We are going to give Austin Howard a shot to be with this first group, and I think when you look at the preseason games, this is really the last opportunity for him to work alongside Brandon Moore because obviously Brandon won’t play against Philadelphia.  I thought (Howard) earned that right.  He played extremely well against Cincinnati, did okay against the Giants, but really played well against Cincinnati.  This is what I want to do.  I am going to put him in that situation and we will see how he does this week.”

Hunter had this on his conversation with Coach Ryan:

“To kind of simplify it and put it in a nutshell, it was, ‘I want to help this team anyway I can and right now it’s not at right tackle.’ I’ve had struggles, everyone has seen them. It’s just moving back to a position where I excelled, did really well and helped the team to two (AFC) championship (Games). Even I feel like I can help the team more (by) going back to those days.”

Coach Ryan said this on when he spoke to Wayne Hunter about his new role:

“I told him this morning.  I feel great about it.  Wayne’s reaction is exactly how you want it to be.  He is a great teammate; he just said, “Look, I just want to help the team.”  He told me, “Coach, if you want me to play defensive tackle again,” because I actually played Wayne some at defensive tackle in goal line situations, he is just there for this team and it doesn’t surprise me that that is his attitude.  He is a team first guy without question.”

Hunter had this to say on whether he was surprised by the move:

“No, it wasn’t a surprise. Everybody knows, the whole New York City knows that I’ve been struggling the last year and the last game I didn’t do much better. So, I wasn’t surprised. I was waiting for it to be honest with you. I knew I was struggling. Everything was kind of going south for me, but at the same time I still wanted to help the team in any way possible. I love the Jets. I love this organization. So again, moving to this position is the best thing for me right now and the guys.”

Austin Howard who will now take the place of Hunter on the offensive line on if he has spoken to his teammate:

“I talk to Wayne every day and he is still teaching me up certain things and I’m still learning from him, it is just something we do we’ve got to get through.”

On if he is ready to be a starter:

“I think that Coach Guge (DeGuglielmo) and Coach Sparano and our whole offensive staff have done an amazing job of making sure that every single one of us is prepared to go out there and play a game, whether that is a first string guy, second string guy or third string guy, we have an offense where we all know we have to get better and learn in the classroom and go back on the field and continue to learn there as well.”

On his reaction to being named a starter:

“Right now, it is the preseason.  As a stand-in, I get to go out there and do as I am asked to and just focus on Carolina.  Whenever they ask me to play, I will be ready at all times.  Like I said, our coaching staff has done an amazing job at making sure we are all prepared and ready to go.”

Santonio Holmes who sat out the first two pre-season games with bruised ribs, tightness in his back and hamstring issues all on his right side.

Holmes had this to say on if he will be able to play on Sunday:

“I feel pretty confident that I can come back and play this week.  The things that (Head Athletic Trainer) John Mellody and the rest of the training staff have been doing for me has been really good.  I have been working a lot extra, overtime spending with these guys treatment wise and they are doing a really good job trying to get me back on the field.”

On if it is important to play in Sunday’s game:

“I honestly think it would be to get the speed back up and get the feel of the game, try to get my wind back and play behind these guys and hopefully as much as I can do for the team come Sunday, Coach (Ryan) will allow that to happen and we will move forward from there.”

On the offense:

“There is a learning curve for us right now, (with us) having a new offense thrown at us and the things that Coach Sparano is expecting from us, we have to get better as a group.  We have to play better all around, especially with our receivers.  We have to be a lot more physical than what we have been showing.  It doesn’t show up as much in the games, but as far as film work has been going it has not been good for our group in particular so to help myself and this group get back on the field is what we are going to be looking forward to.  I think it will help get us going.”

Quarterback Mark Sanchez had this to say on the change at right tackle:

“I trust coach’s decision.  I think both guys are going to help us.  Austin’s (Howard) earned his shot to play and I know that’s a good role for Wayne (Hunter).  Ultimately, its coach’s decision and both of those guys have my support, so whatever works best for the team.”

On his goals for Sunday’s game:

“I think the most important thing is just being sharp.  On Sunday night, we want to play well, we want to play fast (and) keep up our tempo.  And then when we get down into the red zone, we have to execute a little better.  We can’t have penalties. We have to avoid penalties and turnovers in the red zone.  That’s what has been keeping us from scoring.  Other than that, we move the ball fairly well between the 20’s. We have to keep that part of it up.”

On what he liked about the offense from the Giants game:

“There were a lot of good plays (and) some catches out on the edge by Patrick Turner.  Stephen (Hill) got involved with the second unit pretty well.  I thought the running game looked great.  I thought Matt Slauson and Nick Mangold and Shonn Greene, the three of them probably had one of their best 30 plays of football that they’ve ever had on film.  It looked awesome.  So there’s been flashes; now we just have to put it all together.”

Tim Tebow had this to say on practice this week:

“I feel like it’s been a really good week. I feel like we’ve done some things really well. We’ve gotten better every day. I feel like as we’re getting ready for this game against Carolina, we’ll be prepared to go out there and execute and hopefully do some good things.”

On having fans at practice:

“It’s feels good to be able to have practices that fans can come out to. That’s always great for the fans. I think there’s definitely a line where you want to work on some stuff. You also want to be open to the fans and let them be involved. It’s definitely been fun having them out there. Also, it’ll be interesting to see the dynamic when that changes.”

On learning the new offense:

“I feel like it’s something we have down now. The more reps you can get in real live situations, the better it is. The communication between quarterback and receiver, running back and offensive line, the more reps you get in more live situations to see how everybody reacts is always great too.”