Rex Ryan’s Thursday News Conference

Here is the transcript of Rex Ryan’s news conference today from New Jersey, courtesy of the team:

First off, to start with, I’d like to say happy new year to all of the Jewish fans out there. Now I’ll read my report. Logan Payne‘s out still with that wrist. I think when he still has a cast on, we can assume he’s out from here on going forward. Nick Mangold did not practice, with his ankle. He seems to be getting better each day, but I did not practice. Guys limited today: Muhammad Wilkerson with the shoulder, and Plax[ico Burress] had a tightness in the hamstring, so we limited him today and he’s new on your list. Full participants: Cro [Antonio Cromartie] with his ribs, he practiced full today. DeVito, shoulder, David Harris, toe, Santonio Holmes, shoulder.

As far as Cro’s concerned, I thought today he had a really good day out there. He had like three interceptions today, so it was good to see. He’s got some little thing on, but he’s moving around well. We’re excited to get him out there. We’ll say last week, obviously, he had a tough week, like we all did. It wasn’t maybe his best. But the one thing I liked about it is he never flinched. He stayed aggressive.

Granted, we’ve got to clean up some things technique-wise, but we’ll do that. But the mentality of a great corner is you step right back up there. And they all get beat. Let’s face it, Revis gets beat maybe once a year, so those things happen. Even when [Cromartie] gave up the touchdown when he had dual possession, he’s making the play. So I’m excited to get him, really excited about that. With that, I’ll open it up for questions.

On why Cromartie gets called for as many penalties as he does and what his good traits are…

The first thing that jumps off and makes him special is his athleticism. It’s rare to find a guy that’s that good of an athlete. His size is obviously his strength. But I think it’s funny because you touched on it, that maybe that is part of his thing. When he puts his hand out, like there’s always contact, incidental contact down the field. I think for a bigger corner, a taller corner, his hands are a little higher.

I think sometimes that gets called more frequently. Below the waist is usually fine. There is nothing that’s ever called below the waist. That is something that we have to be aware of. We have to lower his hands a little bit. That’s the way the NFL’s always been played. If you’re up here high, and he’s so tall, he has a tendency to maybe get his hands a little high. So that may be work against him a little bit.

But remember, this guy is one of the true explosive athletes that are playing in this league. I mean, he is a rare guy just like [Darren] McFadden had rare speed. Unfortunately we saw that last week. Cro’s like that. Look at the way he’s returned kicks. That Indy game sets up for the gamewinning score. Just he’s got unusual athleticism.

On if he’ll hold Cromartie off of special teams and kickoff returns…

Yeah, you want me to tell a lie so Baltimore will get ready for him? No, he’s not going to return kicks today or this week. There is no chance … unless we really need him. Always got to preface that, right?

On if his kickoff-return role exposes him to extra hits on the field…

Maybe that’s something to look at for sure, now that he had bruised rib and lung. They’re probably not real prudent to have him run down there and know he’s going to get hit.

On if Cromartie’s injury happened on a kickoff return…

No. It happened when he came in and blew up a receiver, but he blew himself up, too.

On if that play was on third down…

Yes.

On his feeling about C Nick Mangold’s availability for Sunday’s game…

I’m encouraged that he’s getting better. Each day he’s getting better. He hasn’t practiced, but he definitely feels like he’s getting better. So the thing that’s encouraging about that is he’s doing some things, like stepping-over deals, doing some change-of-direction things and some movement things where it’s not getting worse. It’s actually feeling better the next day. So I’m encouraged by that.

On if Mangold has to practice Friday to play Sunday night…

Guys, I’m not one of those he-has-to-practice guys, like we said. We’re talking about Nick Mangold here, so, no. He doesn’t have to practice.

On if he’ll wait till Sunday to make a decision on Mangold’s availability…

I think so. We’ll see. Now if he has a setback, I’ll let you know that.

On how much Ravens NT Haloti Ngata’s presence would factor into a Mangold decision…

Absolutely. I mean, if Nick can’t defend himself or isn’t healthy enough to help us, then we’re definitely not going to do that. But Haloti presents a lot of problems for healthy guys, 100 percent guys. I’m thinking if Nick can get there, if we feel like Nick’s there, then there’s no better guy to have go against Haloti. I mean, they’re the two best at their positions.

On what makes Ngata so tough to play against…

Well, it starts with unusual size. He’s a rare athlete. I mean, a big, big man, but he can bend. He can bend his ankles, knees and hips, plays on power angles. An explosive, explosive guy. He’s tough. He’s a great teammate. It’s too bad that he signed a long-term deal with Baltimore [joking]. No, he really is an amazing talent. And he can hit a speedbag like a professional lightweight. He’s a rare guy. It’s hard to find those guys.

On his run defense giving up 234 rushing yards to Oakland not happening very often…

No, it sure doesn’t. But yeah, if it’s run right at you especially. On the perimeter, it’s still hard to take, but it’s not like it was 8 yards, 8 yards, 10 yards. Those are the ones that will really get you. I can live with this one, but it doesn’t feel good.

On the response of his players after the game especially with the Ravens and RB Ray Rice ahead…

And they’re huge up front. This is a big group. Baltimore’s going to get our best and we’re going to get their best.

On if having a physical team in the Ravens ahead similar to the Raiders is a good thing for the Jets…

If you win, maybe. We’re going to go out. It’s not like we’re not professionals and we haven’t stopped people in the past. We have.

On holding Rice down in last year’s season opener…

Yeah, he averaged 1.4 a carry. We’ll sign up for that right now. Now our calls had to be a certain way to get him to be at 1.4 as well. We’re just trying to find ways to win, that’s it.

On if his run defense’s 31st ranking this week bothers him…

Yeah, heck, yeah, it does. Most other coordinators in the league have been there. I have not. That definitely bothers me.

On what he and his coaches can adjust or take a different approach to with the run defense…

Well, I think having the one padded practice, we had the 9-on-7 before. In the past you’ve had other kinds of practices. When I was coaching D line, we used to go call it “Nosebleed Thursday” because we’d go against each other as hard as you could possibly go. That was the most physical practice, individual thing that people have seen. They were like, “What are you guys doing?” Well, we go full-speed on each other and when we get in the game, it’s no big deal.

With us, we’ve had a couple of guys with [Mike] DeVito and Mo [Wilkerson] who haven’t been 100 percent going in those practices. So I guess I’m not describing it very well, but I guess that’s been different and a little change for us.

On figuring out a way to coach against the Ravens defense, a unit he used to coach…

Right. Well, I’m proud of them. Just like the fact that there are five guys, there are five impact players on defense who were guys that I was fortunate enough to coach. It’s great to watch them. Now it’s like “Golly, these guys are beasts. They’re better than when I had ’em.” So was [Terrell] Suggs and he was a dominant player. You have two first-ballot Hall of Famers there, maybe some more. Jarret Johnson’s about as mean as it gets. Even though he punched me in the stomach the last time, I’m going to whip him this time. You can print that one. I’m going after Jarret Johnson.

But, yeah, it’s a pride thing. I’m proud that I coached that group, just like I’m proud I coach these guys right now. That’s something you always have with them. Make no mistake, I’m 100 percent Jet now. They’re 100 percent Raven. That’s just the way it is. I love those guys, but not on Sunday.

On if declaring Shonn Greene his starting tailback has handcuffed him in playing LaDainian Tomlinson…

I believe Shonn will be the hot hand. It hasn’t worked out that way right now, but I believe it will. I believe Shonn is a guy that can carry the load. That’s why I made that statement. I’ll stand by it. The numbers might not be where we want them at, but the season’s far from over.

On how different and how similar the Jets and Ravens are…

I think we are very similar in the fact that both teams are two aggressive, physical football teams. We’re both probably throwing the ball more than we did. I think they’re fifth in the league in rushing. I would say both teams are very similar, and the fact that they’re consistent winners. Now we’re building our third year going into it. They’ve got it going over there pretty good. Obviously when you think about the playoff teams, you’ll look at Baltimore as definitely being in the playoffs. And I think the same holds true for us.

On his challenge to his defense about Ray Rice this week…

The thing about Ray is he’s a multi-talent. He’s not just a great back when he’s running with it, but he’s a great receiver as well. There are times you can say if there’s one thing he doesn’t do well, and that’s probably pass-protect, but all he does is turn around. If he gets beaten, he turns around and takes the ball, so that presents its own problems as well. But he’s a great talent — “Double R.” He’s an inside runner, an outside runner, and he can catch the heck out of the football. He’s a great back, a Pro Bowl back.

On if this year’s new practice rules affect working through run defense corrections…

Well, no, there’s no excuse. But I think that’s the first thing we’d do is always we’d work those you’d have triangle reads we’d call them. Put the guy in the shade and put three blockers there, and we’d work the heck out of techniques, every single guy. We’d go full speed on each other.

But right now you can’t do it. You’ve only got the one padded practice. But you’re not going to do it in shells. So that’s probably the only big difference from preparation-wise.  Sometimes we’ve got the chutes and all that to make sure you get the pads down, because the first time when you go away from the pads, a lot of times, or from being in full pads, a lot of times your pads will raise up. So that’s why we got that as well. So there are different you ways of doing things, but we’ve just got to kind of get in the groove and get a little better.

On if Burress pulled his hamstring today in practice…

It was more tightness, so we shut him down a little bit.

On if he has any concerns about Burress’ availability…

No.

On Burress’ knockdown blocks during the Raiders game…

The Cowboy game, too. He took that guy out.

On if he knew about Burress’ blocking ability before the Jets signed him this summer…

Yeah, I knew he had it in him. We were in Baltimore, one of my favorite players of all time is a guy named Samari Rolle. Great teammate, great player, great person. The Giants were running in one of those 200-yard games. The guy gets outside, and then boom, here comes Samari, and he’s laying by me, and I look up and see this Giant guy. I’m like, “Hey, you don’t need to do that to Samari. He’s like, “I’m just playing” or something like that. That was Plaxico, so I knew he had it in him. Right now he’s like, “OK, here we come.”

The thing is I can’t tell you how much his teammates are impressed by it. Everybody wants to see the touchdowns and all that, but it’s the other things he’s doing as well. You talk about playing like a Jet, and he’s totally bought in.