Head coach Chan Gailey
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
On if WR Brad Smith will practice today:
He is going to go out and work a little bit. This is sort of the transition day. We will hopefully get him on the field a little bit more tomorrow and then a little bit more Friday. Hopefully we will have him Sunday.
On if Smith cannot play, does he have a backup Wildcat QB in mind:
No.
On if the Wildcat will not be used if Smith cannot play:
Yep.
On if there are any other aspects of the game plan he would like to reveal (jokingly):
Nope.
On the Jets' defense:
They are really about confusing the offense. That is what they are all about. They have good players and they are trying to confuse your communication, confuse your techniques. That is what they do a good job of. They have an active front. Their linebackers are good. We obviously know about their secondary and they have added two strong secondary safeties. That is one of the strengths of their football team.
On the offense improving against the Jets from the first game to the second game last season:
Yeah (we take things away from that). We left points on the field in the first game, in my opinion. I thought we did not, I mean we played bad do not get me wrong, but I thought we had opportunities that we did not take advantage of in the first game.
On how eager he is to see DE Mario Williams in regular season action:
I am eager to see him. I am eager to see everybody. We all know that the intensity level goes up a notch now. It is going to be interesting to watch everybody play. It gets different when you get to the regular season—to real games.
On if he has been encouraged by the play of the defensive line:
Yeah. The thing about it is I think they all help each other. That is the great thing about where we are right now. We have good players all along the front so if you try to focus on one or two, then we have other players who can make plays, which is great. We are in a much better situation than we have been in the past in that area.
On the Jets not using the Wildcat during the preseason:
It is a little bit of a disadvantage. You would like to know some of the things that they have got. It makes you prepare for a lot of different things because you do not know what is coming. I'm glad we have had this extra time to be honest with you. We have had a couple of extra times to take a look at all that stuff and at least give our guys an idea of what they might see.
On if QB Tim Tebow is the most problematic Wildcat QB all-time:
If you get somebody that can throw the football and still be able to run it effectively, he creates a problem in the Wildcat. That is what you are trying to do. You are trying to find that guy that can just keep them honest enough in the Wildcat where they cannot just throw everybody right on the line of scrimmage. That is what (Tim) Tebow has proven he can do. He beat the Steelers in the playoffs last year throwing the football to win the ball game. That does create a problem. He does create that kind of problem for a defense.
On what QB Ryan Fitzpatrick needs to show this season:
He just needs to play. He is good enough to take us where we need to go. That has never been a question in my mind. You can probably go back and find out how many times I have said this but every time I have said the same thing. There is no question in my mind. We just need to make sure we protect him and let him go play. If he goes, plays the way he is capable of playing and we get better as a football team he will be just fine.
On his concern for the offensive line:
I have a lot of confidence in the line. Are there going to be some issues here and there that we are going to have to solve problems during the course of a game and the course of a season? Always are issues. But I have a lot of confidence in the guys that are going to walk on the field. We are not going to ask somebody to do something that they cannot do. We would not make somebody block somebody the whole day without any help if it is not a good match-up for us. We will change things up enough, I hope, to help things out some.
On if last year's offensive line success means higher expectations for this year:
Yes, they are higher. I'd be lying to you if I said that expectations are not higher. They are higher for the offensive line, they are higher for the defense and they are higher for the kicking game. Our expectations as a team are higher now which is where you want to be.
On how OT Erik Pears is progressing:
He got through (Monday's practice). I fully expect him to play Sunday. I think that he has progressed well. Today we will be in pads. We will find out even more today. I think as the week goes on he will either get stronger or weaker. That will tell us how much he is going to play.
On how much of a boost it would be to have Pears back:
He is a really good player. He was very good for us last year, did a lot of good things. You need your good players back. The more you can have experienced players on the field, the better you are as a football team—as long as he is good enough and he is.
On who the backup quarterback will be:
That will be Tyler's (Thigpen) job.
On the necessity of seeing improvements going into his third year in Buffalo:
Sure. It is really important, but it was important the first year, it was important the second year and it will be important next year. Every year it is important. That is life in the NFL. It is a production business. If you do not produce, they try to find somebody who will. That is life. You understand that. Yeah, it is time for us to do it but it was time last year. We should have done it last year but we did not finish out the way we should have. So we get a chance to do it this year.
On if the team is more prepared for this season than previous years:
I think we are a better football team than we have been in any of the three years we have been here.
On if he has spoken with Mr. Wilson: No. We talked before he went into the hospital and then I have not talked to him since he got home yesterday. We have not talked yet. I am sure we will talk sometime soon though.
