For our Jets fans here are some quotes compliments from the team from July 27
QB Teddy Bridgewater
Opening Statement…
What’s going on guys, excited to be back. First day of camp on the field with the guys. Talk about those six weeks off you get anxious to get back here and compete with the guys. Especially coming off the type of spring that we have, so it’s going to be fun. It’s great to get out there today, fly around with the guys and continue to build off of what we started this spring.
On how his knee feels after coming back off of injury…
It’s been a journey, it’s been a fun journey coming back from my injury a couple of years ago. I’m excited to be where I am today, and I’ll continue to look forward to the days ahead.
On is this the best he has felt since he got injured…
I don’t know if it’s the best I’ve felt, I don’t know how to really answer that because I feel good every day. I’m alive. Knowing that I’m here is a great feeling, knowing that we can do something special is a great feeling. I’m excited and I’m looking forward to a couple weeks of training camp.
On obviously Sam Darnold wasn’t here today, what do you miss by missing a practice during training camp as a rookie…
You gain knowledge with experience. I was able to develop relationship with Sam over the spring and continued throughout the summer. I look forward to him being here, when he gets here. I’m excited to have him on this team, I’m excited to be in the same room as him. A guy who can bring so much value to the team. We know how important he is in the quarterback room as a young guy also. We look forward to him being here and picking up right where he left off in the spring.
On his relationship with Darnold and if he has spoken with him…
Yes, I saw him the other day and I didn’t know what was going on. I am just now finding out really, so, I look forward to him, I’m pretty sure he’s a guy who is ready to get to work. So, we’re all going to just continue to support him. At the end of the day, we are all family and you take the football game away, we’re still brothers. So, we’ll look forward to when he gets here.
On when he seen him if the contract came up…
I wasn’t aware of what was going on. I had just got in town and I saw him. I was just trying to get some sleep.
On splitting the reps with Josh McCown…
For Josh and I, it’s great work for us. We get to compete against our defense. We get to go out there and continue to expect those victories through each rep. Each rep is more and more important for us, especially being a quarterback. Just looking forward to it right now and taking advantage of it.
QB Josh Macon
On if he has had contact with Sam Darnold over the break…
We stayed in contact over the summer. I am always going to keep up with him. When you develop a relationship over the spring like that and spend so much time together, you want to check on him. I understand, he is going through the business side of this sport and we understand that. I just wish him the best and can’t wait to see him.
On what his message was to Darnold on preparing for training camp…
I think when we left from minicamp, all three of us talked about it, you have to get away from it but you don’t want to be completely away. You need to stay brushed up on it, maybe look over it once a week, stay in tune so that when you get back out here you can be sharp. Everyone is different, but I know for me that has to be part of my routine. We talked about that and obviously he was getting work in, getting throws in, staying ready. So I think the break was good for all of us and I am just excited to be back.
On if he is surprised that Darnold is not here…
No, I have been there before with different guys and I understand that it is part of the business. Obviously we wish everyone was here all of the time, but as a player, you understand everyone has the business side of it that you have to take care of. We respect that and he and his crew will handle that the way they see fit, and we will keep working here.
On if he appreciates the extra reps with having only two quarterbacks…
Yeah, I feel like I can have some ice cream, maybe an extra bowl or so. It was good work from our standpoint. Teddy (Bridgewater) and I, we are excited about it. I think both as competitors and loving the game, you come in and you do what they ask you to do and you practice as hard as you can. That is the situation, and like I said we will be excited when Sam gets here obviously, but until then, until it changes, we are going to carry the load and be excited to do it.
On what point Darnold’s absence will become an issue…
Obviously from a learning standpoint, you want to be here as soon as possible. There is no substitute for being here, the walk-throughs in the morning where so much teaching takes place, and just these practices where you can get reps. Obviously there is no substitute for it, like I said it is just part of this sport and part of business and you deal with it and move on. As a player, use it to focus on your job, being here. Like I said, when he gets here, he gets here and we will welcome him and get rolling, but until then me and Teddy will hold it down.
On if it is tough when the business side creeps into the football side…
Yeah, it is, but I think guys get it and like I said it is unfortunate because you are coming together as a team and all of those things, but we focus on the guys that are here and those guys come together as a team. Whenever Sam gets here, he gets here. Like I said he will roll right in and get going. I miss him, just because I enjoy being around him, because he is such a good kid. I cant wait to have him back, but like I said Teddy and I will hold it down until he is ready to go.
On how Quincy Enunwa looks…
Quincy was good today, looked good today and was running good. It is great to have Q back out there, just his energy and his work ethic is great to have on the field.
On what Enunwa brings to the offense…
I had the opportunity to play with Anquan Boldin and Quincy kind of has that after catch, that tough mentality. He reminds me a lot of Anquan, so he brings that edge to an offense. He gets the ball in his hands and makes plays. He is a tough tackle and he plays with incredible will. Everyday he is on the field with us and is back I think is a good day for us and I am glad to have him out here.
Head Coach Todd Bowles:
On if there is an update on Sam Darnold and his contract…
No, not at this time. He’s not here, so we’re coaching the (89) other guys.
On what Darnold loses by not being at training camp…
Anytime you’re not here you lose something. It’s been a day. Obviously, when he comes in we will get him caught up. Right now, we’ve got (89) other guys to worry about.
On if it is frustrating not having him at training camp considering he’s the quarterback and number third pick in the draft…
It’s part of the business. We’ve got two other quarterbacks that can play too. If he came and got hurt on the first day, we would have to play everybody else so we adjust to that and move on.
On how many practices Darnold would have to miss for it to become a concern…
It is not a concern now because I can only coach the guys that are here. As a coach, we’re going to coach the guys that are here. When Sam gets here, we’ll get him caught up. Until then, we go as planned.
On when another quarterback may be needed reduce the reps for the two quarterbacks that are at training camp…
You always talk about it regardless of the fact. And we keep a close monitor on them and we’ll keep a pitch count. We’ll understand when we need to do something and when we don’t.
On if he has been in touch with Darnold at all…
No, I have not.
On if it’s annoying that Darnold’s contract has not been completed…
I’ve played, I’ve coached, I’ve scouted. It’s part of the business. It’s just another day in the office. There’s no animosity there. It’s just the business part. When he comes in, we’ll get him caught up to speed and get him ready to go. So right now we’re just coaching the (89) other guys. It’s not frustrating. I’m a coach – people get hurt, people go down, people get suspended and contract situations. That has nothing to do with the team. I’m worried about the team.
On if Sam Darnold had reached a point in his development at the end of mini-camp to miss a few days of training camp or if he will be behind…
Everybody needs practice full-time, whether it’s a rookie or whether it’s a 15-year veteran. He’ll get caught up when he gets in here. Other than that we will go status quo as usual.
On if Darnold’s absence alters the plans for dividing the reps…
I can’t worry about the guys not here getting the reps. I have to worry about the guys here getting the reps.
On team’s plan for Marcus Maye in terms of his involvement with team drills…
We are bringing him along. We’ll make sure. He’s making great progress. We will have the timing right for when he plays.
On team’s plan for incorporating Terrelle Pryor into team drills…
Same thing. You know he did a lot of great things today and he’s moving well. And we’ll just make sure everything is status quo after a couple days and go from there.
On nature of injury to Eli McGuire…
I’ve got to go in and check it out. I know he left the field with a foot injury so we’ll see what happens.
On his level of disappointment with the suspensions of Rashard Robinson and ArDarius Stewart…
It’s extremely disappointing to me. Obviously, you know it happened at the same time although isolated incidents. You deal with them as a team and as a coach and move on. But at the same time, you don’t want that type of thing happening on your team and we don’t like that environment that we have and you’re in the news for the wrong reasons. But we have other guys that have a chance to play and prove themselves and you let the chips fall where they may.
On what a healthy Quincy Enunwa can do for the offense…
Well, we’ll get in pads and we’ll get going. I’m just happy to see him out there now running around right now doing plays. But obviously when he’s healthy, he adds some depth and he adds some speed and he adds some power to our offense.
On if Enunwa has to participate in certain number of practices before he takes off the red jersey…
At times, we’ll just monitor him, get him caught up and when we feel it’s necessary, we’ll let him go.
On if Enunwa will fully participate when the team practices in pads on Sunday…
According to the trainers and doctors — we’ll just take it day by day and he’ll play when he plays.
On Courtney Upshaw being placed on the non-football injury list…
Yes, we just saw some things yesterday where we decided to put him on the bike for a few days.
On what he means by “saw some things” with Upshaw…
We saw some things where we just put him on the bike for a few days.
On if the challenges were conditioning or medical with Upshaw…
No, we just saw some things where he’s not ready. He hadn’t had a full training camp, a full off-season, so we just put him on the bike.
On if it’s a major injury for Upshaw…
No.
On the services and his thoughts for Tony Sparano…
They were fine. I was scheduled to go in yesterday and flights got cancelled and everything else. We spent seven years together and he spent eight straight with Kacy Rodgers. I was his assistant head coach. Me and his family are very close. My heart goes out to them and words can’t describe what happened. You know that one will stick with me forever, a very good friend. Very good friend. Tough pill to swallow.
On the thought process behind Antonio Cromartie serving as a minority coaching intern with the linebackers…
I want him to learn the overall defense. And you can learn the overall defense at the linebackers spot. He can stand up and coach corners and safeties all day, but to learn the defense and get a grasp of the scheme and the run game and how the backers are underneath the DB’s (defensive backs) in the passing game, he needs to start in the middle and expand his horizons a little bit so I put him with the linebackers.
On if Cromartie contacted him regarding the minority internship…
He wanted to intern. He reached out.
On what he is doing specifically during practices to become a better fourth-quarter team…
Just understanding situational football when it arises. We’re practicing hard and we do things the right way for three and a half quarters and we let some slip away last year. We’ve got to understand when it’s time to put a knife in somebody, we got to stick it in. Sports speaking, I don’t mean that personally. But we’ve got to understand when to go for the kill and when not to go for the kill. We should always be trying to go for the kill but we’ve got to understand situations. It’s always a guy here or there and we’ve got to get better at that so they can understand the moments and they can be in the moment and make those plays.
On if his approach to improving in the fourth quarter is about creating a mindset…
It’s really repetition and putting them in the situations and creating the mindsets. It doesn’t come as a mindset. You’ve got to be in the situation to finish those types of games so we try to put them in as many as possible.
On if he expected a lot of push-ups because of penalties on the first day…
First day, we’ve got to get the kinks out. Obviously, there are some late penalties at the end. It’s a little humid, but it’s part of camp. We’ll be fine.
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