Here are some New York Jets Quotes for 12/16/13:

Head Coach Rex Ryan:

Opening statement:

“Again as always, you watch the tape and maybe not everything jumps out at you like you thought after the game, but for the most part, it’s not surprising, (and) you pretty much have the idea after the game. I think that was the case (here). Some individuals absolutely had tremendous games and then there’s others that never played quite as well. (The) challenge to our guys is, are (you) doing what we’re asking you to do? In this league, no matter who you are, no matter how good you are, you’re going to get beat physically in this league. It happens. It’s not something you except, you step right back up and you take that challenge again, but that does happen. Are our mistakes physical or are some mental? Is (it) something that’s, why we’re not doing exactly what we’re asking you to do and that’s the challenge to the team that I put out. And then as a coach too, put your guys in position to be successful and that’s always going to be the thing that you look for. The other thing you do is you get out there and you do the corrections and you can’t move forward unless you correct some of the mistakes that were made and that’s what we did today. And that’s what it’s always about, win or lose.”

On the blocked the punt:

“Well, what you do is like you have the flyers. The three flyers is something that we’ve done in the past here. We’ve been fairly successful with it and by numbers we have the numbers that you look for, you know what I mean. There’s six rushers and you have seven blockers. We have seven blockers, but are there things that we could’ve done a better job physically? Absolutely. It wasn’t really necessarily a bust in assignment, it was more of a technique deal. But, we could’ve helped. Obviously, certain guys (are) in a tougher predicament. Tanner (Purdum) is in a tougher predicament because he’s got somebody over his nose. So, you’re challenged a little bit that way, but we just have to do a better job of it.”

If he thought the punt would be blocked before the play occurred:

“No. We had the numbers. Again, they hadn’t really shown that they would bring the guy over but they did. But you’re certainly aware that that’s a possibility. And again, it doesn’t really change your number count. It’s just obviously you’re not in an ideal situation if you’re snapping the ball and then having to protect. But, that’s always been the case in this league. Before they changed the rule, that happened all the time.”

On how he approaches the final two weeks:

“This team’s going to play hard regardless. Whether there’s a playoff scenario out there or not, this team will play hard. I’m confident of that. I’m confident we’ll prepare, we’ll do everything, we’re professionals and this team is close. You never want to go out that way. You want to go out being true to yourself and everything else. Did I flash the playoff scenario up there? Absolutely. Absolutely I did. And I think there’s only one playoff scenario (for us) of all the lists of a million of them. A lot of things have got to happen. Are we aware that Detroit needs to beat Baltimore for us to be alive? Yeah, we’re aware of it, there’s no doubt. I don’t care how small the chances of getting in (are). I think this league has proved that you’ve just got to get in. I don’t know what the percent is. (If there’s) a one percent chance of getting in then, by gosh, we’re going for it. We’ll see tonight. There might be (a) zero percent chance if tonight doesn’t go right. Our guys certainly are aware of it and I’m sure we’ll all be cheering for Detroit.”

If he thinks he needs to win the final two games to remain the head coach:

“We need to win these two games because we have two games left, that’s what we’re trying to do. Again, I’ve said it I don’t know how many times, but this is about we need to get a win. All that other stuff, it will take care of itself down the road. We know what we have in front of us. The opportunity to make the playoffs might not be big but I still hope it exists tomorrow. If it does, again, we still have that and that’s what we’re playing for, the opportunity to get into the playoffs. Even if not, even if that opportunity is taken away, we have two more opportunities and we’re going to do everything we can in our power to play as well as we can possibly play.”

On whether he thinks the team has played to its potential:

“We certainly haven’t played to our goal. We want to win. We don’t go into any game that we don’t think we’re going to win. We think we’re going to win every single game. Clearly, that hasn’t been the case, but to a man, if you ask anybody if we think we’re going to win, absolutely I think we’re going to win regardless of who we play. I haven’t seen any tape on the Cleveland Browns yet, but I think we’re going to win. It’s just the way it is and as a competitor, you go into that arena thinking that.”

Quarterback Geno Smith:

On the feeling around the team today:

“We got guys in here, once again, as we do every week. Everyone is coming in with the same mentality, that’s to get better. We were very hard on ourselves today, as an offense and as a team. We looked at things to improve on and we’re going out and practicing with the same mentality as we always do, to get better and to improve.”

On the improvements that need to be made over the next couple of weeks:

“I think everything in general. As far as myself, just being better with my eyes and feet, making better throws, just putting us in better situations as the quarterback.”

If he felt if he was having one of his better games before he threw the interception:

“I wasn’t thinking about it. Obviously, the pick-six hurt us, it was very detrimental. I really wasn’t thinking about it, I just went out and competed. I tried to compete every single snap as hard as I could. For the most part, we did some good things, but overall we had some negatives that ended up biting us in the butt.”

On what the team did well:

“We were pretty good on third downs. I thought we ran the ball well against one of the better run defenses. Overall, I think we were pretty precise. Marty (Mornhinweg) called a great game, there were plenty of opportunities there in the passing game. I think if I complete a few of those passes and make some better throws, we’re in a better position.”

If he has met his own expectations:

“No, I haven’t. I think I could have played a lot better. I obviously understand there are growing pains you have to learn from and experiences you have to get better from. I set the bar high for myself, I always will. That’s the way I’ll improve, by setting that bar high and keep climbing.”

On if playing in the NFL is harder than he thought it would be:

“I don’t think so, it’s always going to be hard at any level. The quarterback position is one of the, if not the toughest position, in all of sports. I fully expect it to be hard and I don’t take it lightly. It’s just about continuing to progress, continuing to get better and going out and competing every single week.”

How important it is the team stays together and finishes the season strong:

“It’s vital. One thing I do know is that we will, we will stay together. That’s been the team we’ve been all year long. We’re a close knit bunch, we fight for one another. I don’t see any problems with that.”