New York Jets: Todd Bowles discusses final roster

The New York Jets are preparing to start the regular season with a bang and ensure they have quite the turnaround season in 2015. It won’t be easy but the pieces are in place to have a bounce back year with hopes of making a return to the NFL Playoffs thanks to execution and efficiency. The Jets had a fantastic off-season in both free agency and the 2015 NFL Draft as now the focus turns into preparing weekly for opponents with a target set on the incoming Cleveland Browns to start things off.

Head coach Todd Bowles was dealt with a few obstacles since his arrival but has handled them all well in stride. It takes time for a new head coach to embed his imprint on a team but so far, Bowles has shown a unique style to his coaching which is all about hard work, avoiding distractions and leaving it all on the football field.

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Thanks to the Media Relations Department of the Jets, they sent us a complete transcript from yesterday when Bowles addressed the media concerning hot topics with Geno Smith, the latest injuries and the current state of the team. Enjoy!

On if Geno Smith will be back sooner than he originally thought…

I don’t think so. He still has the jaw, he’s throwing non-contact, but he’s just throwing the ball. He can throw in shorts and a t-shirt. We still don’t have a better estimated time for him. Right now, it is as it is.

On if he will be out about four games…

Yes.

On if there is a noticeable difference in the feeling around the facility now that the real games are starting…

The focus is a little better. It’s game week. We got everything out of the way preseason, getting healthier, guys are focused and looking forward to game one.

On why Matt Flynn and Josh Johnson were signed during training camp…

They were brought in late, and at the time, Ryan (Fitzpatrick) wasn’t totally healthy either and we needed a backup and wanted a contingency plan just in case something happened.

On if it is a calculated risk having Bryce Petty as a backup and the comfort level if he did have to play…

Yes, I mean, Bryce has gotten better each week. To say that the other guys that came in so late would know more than him at that point in time, we would be lying. Bryce knows a little more than them. They have more experience than him, but not having a full grasp of the offense, you’d be getting pretty much the same thing so we just kept Bryce because we have a lot invested in him so we’re going to give him some reps.

On how confident he is that Petty will remain the number two backup until Smith gets back…

Well he has to be. We only have two, so he’s going to remain number two until Geno gets back. Then he will slide to number three barring any injuries.

On if they will add another quarterback before Smith is healthy…

Not at this time. We’ll go week-to-week and see how it goes.

Dec 21, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith (7) drops back to pass against the New England Patriots in the first quarter during the game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

On what Petty did over the final two weeks of training camp to make the coaching staff comfortable naming him the backup…

Well, he didn’t play in the (New York) Giants game so it wasn’t his performance there. The other two guys we brought in so late and we had to take a look at them. Just judging by what we had to teach them, and what they had to learn, while going forward, Bryce had already known more because he’s been here longer, so that factored into a decision.

On Fitzpatrick not being healthy when Flynn and Johnson came in…

Just being nicked up, just normal injuries and you didn’t want anything to happen to him so you have to have a contingency plan so you bring in some other guys.

On if a scenario of signing another quarterback after Week One since the salary is less still exists…

Yes it is.

On Leonard Williams…

He practiced today. He moved around pretty good. We’ll get a better idea on Wednesday when they are flying around, but he had a full practice today.

On how Smith has handled the situation…

I don’t think there is anything to handle. You try to heal and you try to get better. You have to work on the play book as best you can and you try and hurry up and get well so you can get back to practice. From that standpoint, he’s been fine.

On possibility of adding another tight end…

We’ll look and see what’s out there. We’re not going to add one just to add one. If there is someone we are interested in, we’ll take a look at him.

On if Devin Smith might play Week 1…

No I don’t think so. He’s out there running around, but he’s just getting back into it, so we’re going to see what he looks like day-by-day.

On how many games Devin Smith will be out…

I don’t know until he actually gets hit, or takes a hit, or blocks somebody. I’ll get a better idea, but I don’t think it will be too long. I just don’t think it will be this week.

On if Jeremy Kerley, Lorenzo Mauldin and Erin Henderson will play Week 1…

Yes.

On if there is a difference in his mindset entering his first game as a head coach…

No, I mean, it’s football. You just focus on football, focus on getting the game plan in and making sure the guys are understanding what they have to do heading towards Sunday and you let them play.

On if Calvin Pace will be ready for Week 1…

Yes.

Sep 7, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets linebacker Calvin Pace (97) tries to get past Oakland Raiders tackle Khalif Barnes (69) at MetLife Stadium. The Jets defeated the Raiders 19-14. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

On how difficult of a decision it was to use their one short-term IR designation on Dee Milliner…

It was difficult. You want the guy to practice and he’s going to get better, but it wasn’t too much between the IR and when he would actually be able to play so it was about a week or two in between there so from that standpoint, we’ll just put him on the IR so we can have an extra spot.

On the plan for Stevan Ridley…

He’s going to rehab and when he gets better, he will be 100%. I think right now, he was getting better. To say that we can just take him off and put him on there and he would have been 100%, I would have been lying. We got three other backs that are playing well right now, so that gives him a chance to heal. When he heals and he gets better and he comes off, at least we know he’ll be closer to 100% than he would be right now.

On what went into the decision to release Jason Babin…

It was a tough competition. Everybody we cut, it was hard. It was hard, we didn’t cut anybody without any remorse. Trevor (Reilly) had a good camp, Mauldin had a good camp, and you have (Quinton) Coples and you have Pace so it was tough. Reilly played special teams, Babin didn’t. Reilly was younger. We didn’t lose much one way or the other, so we went with the younger guy.

On Ronald Martin compared to Rontez Miles…

He’s more (of a) free (safety). Rontez had a great camp and I told him that myself. I thought he was the most improved guy, but that doesn’t mean he was ready. There are still some things he has to learn, but I think he was getting there. Just to have him on the team, I thought he needed a little bit more time and I’d love to work with the guy and we watched Martin on tape and he did some good things in Seattle. He had awareness that he showed on film, he showed tackling, he showed smarts, he showed intelligence and we need another guy at free so he was the guy.

On if Miles clears waivers will he be on the practice squad…

I would hope so.

On why they waived Chris Owusu to bring him back when they ended up cutting Miles…

Again, it was a tough spot at the time. With the roster spots we were doing, depending who we put on short-term IR, who we didn’t put on short-term IR and the receivers we had, it was a tough decision to make. We wanted him. We knew we couldn’t keep them all at the time. We were lucky to get him back. He’s a good football player.

On if he was able to sit in the meetings in Arizona when the team made roster decisions…

Yes I did. I got to sit in on all of them. You have to think of a whole bunch of different things and scenarios. Obviously, there are young guys, there is youth involved, there is performance involved, there is money involved, there are a whole bunch of things involved in going through those processes and you try to make the best choice eventually. You don’t want to cut any football players, not to say those guys couldn’t play, but they had stiff competition and those guys played better.

On if he had any spirited debates with Mike Maccagnan…

It wasn’t spirited, I mean we talked about everybody in depth, but it didn’t get to the yelling point or anything like that. We kind of see things a lot the same way and we go over the film daily, so it wasn’t that hard.

Jan 21, 2015; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets new general manager Mike Maccagnan (left), owner Woody Johnson (center), and new head coach Todd Bowles (right) pose for a photo during a press conference at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/NJ Advance Media for NJ.com via USA TODAY Sports

On roles for Reilly and Mauldin…

Everybody has dual, maybe three roles. We don’t have certain guys that can just backup as a pass rusher or those type of things. We have a lot of packages and game-by-game, week-by-week, you’ll probably see different things as we go. They’re linebackers first, and if you see something you can take advantage of, that you can use, then you do it.

On if Owusu is the kick returner…

Right now, it’s still early. We still have couple of guys that are back there. If he’s active, he could be.

On who else could be the kick returner…

We have (Bilal) Powell, we have (Zac) Stacy, we have a few guys that can do it. Between those three, it will be a couple of them.

On how hard it will be for Ridley to go from the PUP to live action …

He’s not going to go right into action. He’s going to practice. It’s going to take a while to get the kinks out. It’s like training camp for him not to be in pads for a while then to get in pads, he’s going to have to get used to his pads and everything else. As far as playing, he’s not going to come in the first week and go in and get about 15-20 carries. He’s going to practice, he’s going to get used to his pads, he’s got to get over his soreness and everything else and then, we’ll see where he’s at as far as being ready to play football.

On how he Smith has handled the last month while being in an awkward spot…

I don’t think it’s an awkward spot. It’s football, at the end of the day things happen, and as a team you receive body blows and you move on. Whether he got hurt, whether somebody hit him or whether he tripped over something or he fell on the street when he broke his jaw, he broke his jaw. You deal with it at the time and move on. People got to get ready to play, you have to get healthy. He’s been fine.

On when he said Stacy and Powell returned if he meant Bilal…

Yes.

On if he has any idea when the investigation on the incident with Smith will come out…

I have no idea. Really, I don’t.

On if he has any update on Sheldon Richardson’s suspension…

Nothing. We haven’t heard anything yet.

On if he hopes to have to have Richardson’s status resolved before the season starts…

That’s not up to me. I’ll wait and hear when I hear.

August 11, 2015; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets defensive end Sheldon Richardson (91) during practice at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: John Munson/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

On if he celebrated Saturday night when Temple beat Penn State…

No, I’m celebrating all week actually (laughter). I’m still celebrating and Penn State people better stay out of my way. You saw the game Saturday, it wasn’t an upset (laughter).

Next: Coffee with the New York Jets: Can Geno Smith be trusted?

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