New York Jets: Todd Bowles talks about mental errors

Even though the New York Jets have won their past two preseason games, they have yet to play the kind of football that head coach Todd Bowles can be proud of. A win is a win but once the regular season arrives, mental errors will ultimately be what separates pretenders from contenders. If the Jets are serious about becoming a top team in the AFC East, they must play error-free football on a consistent basis.

Bowles recently spoke to the media yesterday after team practice in which he spoke about injuries, mental errors and much more. We here at The Jet Press would like to thank the Media Relations Department for sending us his complete transcript. Enjoy!

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On who did not participate in practice today…

I held Brandon (Marshall) out, (Eric) Decker didn’t practice, Willie (Colon) didn’t practice, (Calvin) Pace didn’t practice, (James) Carpenter didn’t practice. Obviously, Leonard (Williams) didn’t practice, (Lorenzo) Mauldin, the same guys that hadn’t practiced last week didn’t practice. (Durrell) Eskridge did practice, everybody else practiced today.

On if those were rest days for the veterans…

Just sore days, they could play if they had to play. But, we have an extra week, so I’m just keeping most of them out. Decker had a personal issue that I allowed him to go deal with, so he wasn’t here.

On if Carpenter has an injury…

Just a sore back, he’s fine. No sense in having him practice, so we gave him a rest day.

On if he plans on using the starters at all on Thursday…

I’m leaning towards some, just because we’re down quite a few people. We’re going to see who’s the healthiest and try to at least have them available if something happens to some of the guys out on the field.

On how relieved he was regarding Williams’ injury and if he believes he will be able to play in Week One…

I was relieved to have it and I’m hopeful for Week One. He says he’s starting to feel better by the day. When I see him running, I’ll feel a lot better, but right now he’s walking pretty good and he’s in good spirits, so I’m hopeful.

On if he believes Fitzpatrick will play at all on Thursday…

No, he’s not going to play.

On if Bryce Petty will start…

I’m working on that now. I want to see the other two guys (Matt Flynn and Josh Johnson) play too. As much as he needs playing time, I need to see those other two guys play too.

On if Flynn is closer to where they need him to be in order to have him play…

Yes, he’s a lot closer than what he was last week.

On if he believes Flynn should be able to play…

I’m hopeful that he is. If he stays healthy this week and has a good week of practice the next two days, yes, he’ll play.

On if Flynn was able to do more today than he had previously…

Yes, today was the most he’s done.

Aug 21, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Matt Flynn (5) during warm up before game against the Atlanta Falcons at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

On if he has any better idea on Mauldin and Jace Amaro as well as other injured players for Week One…

Not yet. I mean, they’re jogging, they’re not running yet, according to the pain tolerance I guess. We’ll see as we go forward next week.

On Jeremy Kerley…

I just talked to him after practice. He’s feeling better but he hasn’t done anything, so I don’t know what that means. He’s feeling better, he doesn’t have a headache anymore, but he still has to pass some tests.

On if there was anything new he saw on film regarding the Giants game that he missed in person…

No, it was pretty much as I saw it. We did a lot of good things, especially early on. We got a few penalties towards the latter part of the second quarter and then going into the third quarter, but for the most part, the guys played hard.

On if Petty has done enough to put himself in the backup role as the second-string quarterback…

I didn’t say he was the backup, I just said I needed to see the other two. I’ve seen Bryce for two games, three games as a matter of fact. I want to see the other two play. The debate right now is whether to play Bryce more without seeing the other two and giving them a fair shake, but I really want to see the other two, so I haven’t decided that yet.

On how encouraged he is about how the offense has ran the ball…

I mean, it was forward progress. From the first day of camp to where we’ve come to now, you want to progress every week and they showed progression. Those guys took the bull by the horns and they led us out there and they made some good plays. They made a bunch of good blocks and they played as a team. That’s what you want to see.

On signing Josh Johnson…

Well, we didn’t think Matt was going to be available. We were trying to have a plan B, so it was better to sign him sooner than later once he had responded to a little treatment that he did not respond to. We thought it was best to just go ahead and sign Josh (so that) in case Matt wasn’t available, we’d have another veteran in here.

On if they will consider another quarterback if anyone is released Saturday…

That’s something that we have to talk about upstairs with management, but we’ll always talk about other guys when they get released.

On if the Jets have interest in Robert Griffin III…

He’s on the Redskins and we have our guys right now. That’s not my concern.

On how pleased he has been with the offense protecting the ball and the defense creating turnovers thus far in the preseason…

That’s what you want to do. We’re practicing it a lot, we’re getting better at it and hopefully it’s forward progress and we keep those things up while cutting down on the other mistakes. If we can do that, I think we’ll have some success.

On if Geno Smith practiced much today…

He threw the ball some. He took some center snaps but nothing full speed or anything particular that he hasn’t been doing.

May 27, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith (7) gets ready to take the snap from New York Jets center Nick Mangold (74) during organized team activities at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

On if he’s seen any progress from Devin Smith…

He’s jogging around. He’s not full speed. I haven’t seen any progress.

On if Stevan Ridley could start the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list…

It’s possible. It takes as long as it’d take to heal. You want to be better safe than sorry. There’s no need to rush him back. When he gets better in the process, then we’ll make that decision as we go. We have some quality running backs right now and they’re all playing good, so Ridley can take his time and get healthy. Whether we take him off PUP or whether he starts on PUP, he’s still going to need some time in pads. He’s just not going to come in and you say “Bam, put him out there.” He’s still going to need some time.

On if Milliner could start the year on short-term IR…

It’s possible, if his hand’s not healthy.

On how he plans on replacing Saalim Hakim and T.J Graham on special teams…

I have a couple guys that we’re still trying out but we have a couple DB’s that we can play as gunners as well as some wide outs that we can place as gunners, so we’ll be okay.

On who he is considering as a gunner on special teams…

All four of them. (Darrin) Walls can be one, Buster (Skrine) can be one, Marcus (Williams) can be one, Dex (McDougle) can be one. We have a bunch of guys that can play gunner.

On if anyone has separated themselves as the potential returner…

No, I mean Walter’s (Powell) made two great plays. He had a good return a couple of weeks ago and he had a good punt return the other night. Everybody else has been hurt for the most part. We’re still waiting for somebody to step up and challenge for that spot.

On Demario Davis’ overall play this last month…

I think his play has been good. I thought his placement and where he lined up at to cover the two guys that he tried to cover and getting the penalties, he put himself in a bad position from the start. He didn’t have a chance, so he has to be smarter than that. Overall, I’m pleased with his play. I’d like him to wrap up when he tackles instead of just taking the shot and trying to get the kill-shot.

On how Erin Henderson is progressing…

He’s coming along. I think he started jogging and running today. I don’t know how fast, but he started running today.

On if he views Quincy Enunwa as a smaller tight end…

He’s kind of a tweener. It gives the opposition a problem as to what they’re going to play in the game, whether it’s base or whether it’s sub. If it’s sub, he can go ahead and block some of the smaller guys. If it’s base, hopefully he can outrun some of the bigger guys. He’s a kind of interesting guy that can do both, so we’re trying to maximize all of the use we can get out of his talents.

On what Marcus Gilchrist has brought to the defense…

He’s brought a bunch of intelligence and savviness. He’s the quarterback over there next to David (Harris). He gets everybody lined up, he gets the disguises together, he understands what’s happening and gives everybody a feel for the game. He’s brought a ton of intelligence with him.

Aug 29, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants tight end Adrien Robinson (81) runs with the ball while being defended by New York Jets defensive back Marcus Gilchrist (21) during the first half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

On if Gilchrist reminds him of Tyrann Mathieu…

They’re similar in the fact that they’ve both played nickel and played some corner in their time, but they’re different style players. Both intelligent, but different type of players. But, both played nickel, both can cover, both can hit, so you see similarities that way,

On what he noticed from Trevor Reilly during Saturday’s game…

I thought he was sound. He did some good things. He did the right things. He was where he was supposed to be, he played with leverage. He was in the backfield some. There’s a couple more things he has to learn footwork wise but I thought he did a decent job.

On how many roster spots are solidified…

It has to be in the forties. I couldn’t tell you if it was upper or lower, but it has to be in the forties.

On if there are a handful of roster spots available going into Thursday’s game…

Yes.

On if there was anything in the film from the Giants game he didn’t like from the starters…

We missed blocks. We missed tackles. We got penalties. We weren’t perfect by any means. We weren’t even close to perfect. We have a lot of stuff to build on. We blew some assignments, the mental errors we have to cut down, a bunch of small technical things and some communication. We’re just working to get better. I don’t think we’re ever going to be perfect, but for the most part, if you play hard and you play fast and they play together, you give yourself a chance. So we gave ourselves a chance, but we have a lot of stuff to work on.

On the progression of cutting down on mental errors and playing hard and fast…

It’s progressed a great deal but it can get even higher, I mean we can go to another level. We’re not where we want to be yet, but we’re not where we were so we’re making good progress.

On what coaches can see from players in a short window during camp…

We have a little bit of time to make a lot of roster moves, so if you don’t show or even have a glimpse or show us anything, then when it comes time to let somebody go, some people show a little more or you just don’t have the time. You need the bodies for camp so hopefully they show you something in the time (once you) sign them. If they don’t, you have to make a decision when the time is right. So we made a decision.

On what else Bryan Johnson could have done in the game other than his special teams tackle…

You have to play and you have to show time. Sometimes some people make plays, some people don’t, some people get opportunities, some people don’t, but you have to with what you have to go with. I kind of knew with the guys I had that I didn’t think he was where he needed to be and we didn’t give him a chance to be where he needed to be, to give him a chance to do that. But we had to cut people down, so it was more-or-less cutting a new guy. We had a bunch of linebackers hurt, we wanted to see the ones we had so we had to let him go.

On keeping players based for the final spots based on position needs or their individual talent…

You first go into it with a certain number in mind but, if there are players at different positions that are better football players than the ones that are slotted for those numbers, you take that into consideration too because you want to keep a good football player, not just have a guy on the roster to just fill up a spot.

On how Muhammad Wilkerson felt coming off rest…

He felt good, I mean he was healthy. He had no setbacks.

Next: New York Jets: Ryan Fitzpatrick discusses no turnovers

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