Here are some New York Jets Quotes for 10/9/13:

Head Coach Rex Ryan:

Opening Statement:

“First off, I’m sure you guys know Geno Smith is the AFC Offensive Player of the Week. Obviously, (I am) proud of him winning that award. Obviously, (he is) very deserving of that. (I’m) proud of that. With that said, that game’s behind us. Now the focus is certainly on Pittsburgh, where it needs to be on a short week. Obviously, (they are) a tough team to prepare for. In particular, for our offense with (Coach) Dick LeBeau, and that staff has been there a long time, the players have been there. Obviously, it’s a system, a tried- and-true system. It’s about as tough as it gets in this league to prepare for. I think that’s a huge challenge for us offensively. And then on defense, it’s hard to prepare for Big Ben (Roethlisberger) because he can extend plays. He can do all of that. He has a huge arm. When he throws the ball on time, he’s accurate. Where he kills you is when he creates plays. I’ve been on the other end of it and I’ve seen those plays beat you. His receivers do a good job. It’s going to be a huge challenge. We know what the record is on Pittsburgh. We’re certainly not feeding into it or buying into that by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a Mike Tomlin-coached football team, so we know they’re going to be prepared. They’re going to be hungry coming in here. It’s a proud organization, from top to bottom, we know what we’re going to get. Today’s practice wasn’t bad coming off a short week. We took the pads off them. We know it’s going to be an extremely physical game on Sunday. We have to come back off a short week to get ready. But I thought mentally it was ok, I wish our focus was a little tighter with some things. With that, it was an up and down practice.”

If knew the impact Muhammad Wilkerson could have when he drafted him:

“I think you can go back to my quotes probably when we took him. Certainly, we thought he had a chance to become an outstanding player. There’s no doubt. I think comparisons to Trevor Pryce, a Pro Bowl player for several years in Denver and with us in Baltimore. (He) actually, did a great job when he was here too for the one year – the rare length and size that he has. We just saw a guy that we thought could truly be a dominant player. I think Richard Seymour is another name you kind of compare him like, but he is his own man. He actually does some things better than Richard does. Certainly, I think he’s right there with top defensive linemen in this league right now that aren’t named J.J. Watt. (There is) a stat one of you guys told me before, he was second in the league in tackles for a defensive lineman last year. That’s impressive.”

On Mark Sanchez undergoing surgery:

“Mark, like the rest of us, wanted to get back and contribute as a player for this team. Unfortunately, our doctors said that it’s probably best that he has the surgery. So that’s what we did. But he was doing everything he could to get back out (on the field). Certainly, that was the opportunity this organization wanted to provide for him, to get him back out there and playing. As it went on, it became clear and our doctors told us that surgery was the best option. With that being said, we’re thinking that he has a good opportunity to have a full recovery from this and certainly he’ll have the support of this entire organization from anything rehab-wise or anything else. He’ll have this organization’s complete support that way to getting him back until he’s 100 percent.”

If the road win had an impact on the team’s morale…

“Anytime you win on the road, I think it’s good for your team and the morale. Obviously, anytime you win the morale is great. We know we need to improve as a team. Everybody in our building knows we need to improve. The great thing is the one thing we can count on is the fact that our guys, 100 percent are in line in, “we have to get better and we’re going to work and we’re going to prepare to get better.” That’s what gives us confidence moving forward. We realize where we are, it’s certainly not where we want to be, but we’re working in that direction.”

Quarterback Geno Smith:

On how he feels about being named AFC Offense Player of the Week:

“I feel about the same. We had a great day of practice. Guys came in focused with the right mindset. We put a good day of work in. We’re going to continue to prepare and get ourselves ready for Sunday. ”

Whether being named AFC Offense Player of the Week makes him happy:

“It actually doesn’t. I don’t feel any different at all. Hopefully you guys understand me when I say, no disrespect or anything, I’m definitely happy with the way the we played, and for the recognition, but it doesn’t make me feel any type of way.”

On not letting a big win distract the team from wanting to get better:

“Well it’s early in the season. As an offense we still have things to improve on. We still have some things that we need to get better at and we need to go out there and showcase on the field. We’re just steadily trying to improve. We’re veteran led. Like I said, we’ve got guys around here who’ve played in big games and have won big games, so it doesn’t faze them at all. We’ve come back to work the next day and we’re getting our work done. ”

On this week’s game against Pittsburgh:

“It’s going to be another tough week. That’s a very proud franchise, Super Bowl winning quarterback, stingy defense. In my opinion, two of the best safeties in the game. They fly around, they hit and they’ve been known for causing turnovers. They haven’t gotten as many as they’ve liked to this season, but I’m pretty sure they’re going to try to ramp it up. So we’ve got to continue to focus on what got us to this point, which is just working hard in practice, taking care of the ball and moving the ball on offense.”

His ability to lead fourth-quarter comebacks:

“I’m just proud of the fact that we get wins, that we’re able to fight as a team. If it comes down to a fourth-quarter comeback or if it comes down to a last-second drive then that’s what we need to do in order to get a victory. I’m just proud of the fact that is the way that this team fights. We’re never out of it and we’ve always got a chance. And we’ve shown improvement so far.”

On what makes him be a person that doesn’t get nervous:

“I don’t know. It’s just the way I have been growing up. I don’t really get nervous, especially in football. It’s just something that I love to do. I just look at it as if I was playing in the backyard playing sandlot, you wouldn’t get nervous then. I walk into the game (and) I feel prepared. So, I’m never really nervous when I’m prepared.”

The importance of having many options to throw to:

“It’s important, but I think more so it’s just great to have guys like that. I mean to have so many guys who can get open, can make great catches, can extend plays, get (yards after the catch). To have guys like that makes my job a bunch easier because those guys do all the dirty work. A lot of times it goes unnoticed but they’re really the heroes of this offense. The offensive line, the receivers, the running backs, those guys lift me up every single week.”

On how his personality has helped him deal with everything that has happened in his career:

“It has just helped me stay in perspective. Just reminding myself every single day what I’m here for, which is to get better. Whether it’s year one or year 10, I’m just here to get better every single day. I take that approach on the practice field. I take that approach in the meeting room and I just try to find ways to better myself. That’s the way I am in life as well.”

Defensive Lineman Muhammad Wilkerson:

On if he feels that he is on his way to being a Pro Bowl player:

“I feel like there’s always room for improvement. I feel like Monday was one of my best games that I put on tape, but I still have plenty more to play. It’s a long season. People say that I’m going to make the Pro Bowl and I appreciate the kind words, but at the end of the day I have to play each game and hopefully we’ll see at the end of the season.”

The team’s confidence level after Monday’s win:

“We always had confidence in each other and we’re going to keep believing in each other and playing good ball like we’re capable of doing and that’s playing Jets football.”

On the Steelers looking for a win after their bye week:

“We can’t worry about their record. Like I said, anybody can get beat in this league on any given day or night. They won two Super Bowls in the past couple years. They’re a great team over there. We have to be prepared knowing they’re just coming off a bye week, they’re ready for us. We’re going to do our job and come out, follow the game plan and hopefully come out with a win.”

Linebacker Calvin Pace:

On how the team approaches the Steelers:

“It’s the Steelers. They’re record says they’re 0-4, but to me that doesn’t look like an 0-4 team. They still have (Ben) Roethlisberger at quarterback, some playmakers outside. You just have some back luck. I don’t think anybody is really buying into their 0-4 too much.”

How the defense looked after watching film:

“(We) did alright. There’s always something that you can improve on. We can tackle better, be better in certain situations, know what’s coming. We won, so you take the good and the bad and you move on.”

On what makes Roethlisberger challenging:

“He can extend plays. He’s never down until you actually see him lying on the ground with the ball in his hand. And he’s a big guy. It’s like tackling myself, 6’5”, 250-plus, I don’t know. He does some things, I don’t want to say he’s careless with the ball, but he’s going to do whatever he can to keep the play alive and move around and get the ball to his outside guys which is challenging for a defense because I know those guys can’t cover forever, so we have to do a good job of getting him down and try to force him into some mistakes.”

On Muhammad Wilkerson and how he has grown as a player:

“In my opinion, I would say he’s the best. He causes a lot of matchup problems because he’s athletic. He’s good against the run. He’s good against the pass. The thing I like about Mo (Wilkerson) is he works at it every day. The sky’s the limit for him. It’s funny, I don’t think he knows he’s as good is he is. It’s going to be good to see him continue to grow.”

Guard Willie Colon:

On Geno Smith’s makeup:

“I think it just shows his mental toughness. He understands that if he does his job and he does his job accordingly, we’re not going to have too many problems. We have a strong enough line. We have a good running game. We have a good receiving corps. We have a great defense. He just has to do his job and if he does it accordingly, everything will work out.”

If the team is performing to their expectations:

“I think we’re right on course. I think this team has high hopes. But we’ve got a long ways to go. Obviously, it was a greatMonday night win and we were able to come from behind. Pittsburgh’s no joke. I tell you that from being an ex-Steeler, knowing how those guys think in the locker room. There’s a lot of pride in that locker room, from the organization, from any man that wears a helmet. They’re going to come in here battle ready. We better be ready to go too.”

On if he expects to see a desperate Steelers team:

“I see a desperate team and I see a team that, coming off a bye week, they’re kind of like, “Alright, we’ve laid an egg. Let’s start our season again.” Knowing how those guys think, they’re going to be ready to go.”

On the mentality the team needs to have Sunday:

“I think the biggest thing we have to do is start walking with a bigger swagger. We don’t have to win one and take a step back. Good teams start stacking wins. Why not against Pittsburgh? We have to be efficient, no turnovers, no penalties, just come out and start fast like we did Monday night. We don’t have to drop an egg just so the pressure’s off our back. We’ve got to own up to it. Good teams smile in the face of adversity. We have to too.”