New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan and several Jets players discussed the upcoming game against the Patriots. Here are the highlights of what they had to say.
On this being a big game this early in the season...
There’s a lot to play for. First you’re playing your biggest rival in your division. You’re already down a game to them that you played head-to-head. Certainly in the standings we’re way down. Obviously, it’s big that way for sure. Any time you play any division rival I think it’s a game and a half. I’ve always said that. With that being said, it’s Game 7, so that’s a little unusual. If it was Game 15 or 16 and it meant more, then obviously I’d say so. Clearly, with all that being said, you still want to win it in the worst way and certainly that’s our feeling.
- Rex Ryan, Head Coach
On if the team has enough talent to beat New England...
I’m not making any guarantees. I believe we do have enough talent to beat any team. If we come out and play our A game and we go out there and we play sharp and we stick to what we’ve been coached to do, I think we can beat anyone.
- Geno Smith , Quarterback
I thought about doing all that stuff, but I think the league would fine you [joking, laughter]. I’ve been fined enough by the league so I’m going to pass on that. The only way it’s worse than against your brother would be against yourself, obviously. It’s like, "Oh, dude." That’s him. That really is him. But it’s about them as well. It’s about their whole team. It’s about preparation. It’s about the guy leading them. They practice everything and so it becomes a habit. He believes he’s going to win in that situation.
- Rex Ryan, Head Coach
On how facing Tom Brady influences the opposing team’s offensive game plan...
I can’t speak for that. Marty [Mornhinweg] and all of the coaches, they come up with the game plan and they assess that and they determine the plays that we have in and the ones that we don’t. But going up against a team like this, a quarterback like Tom, you’ve got to play mistake-free ball. You still have to be aggressive, you still want to move the chains and have explosive plays, but you’ve got to play mistake free because you give that team too many opportunities and they can capitalize on it.
- Geno Smith, Quarterback
How has your approach towards Tom Brady evolved over the years? Has your thinking changed in terms of the best way to get to Brady?
Well apparently I do a terrible job of it because we've lost five in a row, so I don’t know. Maybe we’ll just have somebody else look at it.
- Rex Ryan, Head Coach
On if he respects the Patriots more because of his history against them...
Sure you want to have the consistency of being a perennial winner. You want to win your division year after year after year as that team has. There’s no question. To say that you’re going to model your franchise after them or whatever? Shoot, I’ll take their quarterback. We’ll see how many wins I’d have or whatever, or anybody else. But no, we’re going to be us. We’re going to keep going. We think we have a good plan in place, but at the same time, you’ve got to respect the fact that this team has won it every year, certainly. So [Bill] Belichick and all those guys, absolutely we respect them but we fear none of them. I can promise you that.
- Rex Ryan, Head Coach
On how difficult it is to confuse Tom Brady...
You can’t use the same disguises and you can’t keep bringing pressure because at the end of the day those guys have played too over there and they have coaches, so they’re going to make adjustments when you want to blitz if you don’t do a good job of disguising.
- Muhammad Wilkerson, DL
Having lost five straight games to the Patriots, do you feel like you’ve been kissing Bill Belichick’s rings a little lately?
No, I haven’t. Maybe you have, but I haven’t, and I never will. I came here to beat him and to win, and to win our own championship rings and all that type of stuff. Again, hey, the facts are we’ve lost five in a row to them and things like that. We’ll see if it’s six in a row.
- Rex Ryan, Head Coach
