New York Jets: Todd Bowles discusses 2-0 start

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Head coach Todd Bowles has brought an incredible culture to the New York Jets that stresses discipline, execution and an emphasis on playing all-around complete football. The Jets are 2-0 and are on a short week as they prepare for the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

Thanks to the Media Relations Department of the Jets, they sent us a complete transcript on what Bowles had to say about the latest injuries, the wonderful start of his team and what he plans to do at quarterback once Geno Smith is healthy enough to play again. Enjoy!

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On Eric Decker’s injury…

He has a sprained knee and is day-to-day.

On Decker’s availability for Sunday…

I don’t know, I’ll have to see how he’s doing later in the week. If he’s not moving well obviously he’s not going to play. Time will tell. We have a little bit of time, so I’m hopeful, but it’s not out of the realm that he won’t play either.

On if he noticed anything on film that he hadn’t noticed during the game…

I mean they played hard, you have to give Indianapolis credit. They made some plays too, but the guys played hard for the most part. Obviously, there are things that you’ve got to correct on both sides of the ball as well as special teams. We’re just going to keep progressing, getting better every week, but we saw a lot of good stuff, but we saw some bad stuff too.

On if Devin Smith’s chances of playing on Sunday increase if Decker does not play…

Well that would depend on the game planning, we’re still working through that today. As we’re working toward (finalizing the game plan), we’ll have a better idea.

On why D. Smith was inactive last night…

He was full speed, but we don’t want to throw Devin in as soon as he got back to practice. He has to get used to his pads, he has to get in shape, he has to learn some plays. There’s a process to go through rather than just throwing a guy out there.

On if D. Smith will play against the Eagles…

I’m hopeful he will be. He still has some things that he has to do so, we’ll see how the week progresses.

On if Jeremy Kerley isn’t getting as many reps because he did something off the field…

He hasn’t done anything. There are guys that are playing better and he got hurt and guys had opportunities so those are the guys that are playing. Like all the other guys at every other position, they have to be ready when their number is called.

On if Zac Stacy was activated due to concern on Chris Ivory’s groin…

Yeah, we just weren’t sure. If he got nicked up and we were down to one back, it would have been tough. With (Lorenzo) Mauldin going down, it gave us a chance to get Ivory up and have some insurance there.

On how Ivory came out of the game…

He’s sore. He’s real sore, but treatment wise, we’ll see how the week goes, but he’s sore.

On Ryan Fitzpatrick

I thought he did a good job managing the ball game. Obviously, he threw a pick in the red zone, down there, and that’s something we don’t want, but he did a good job. He had command of the offense, understood what they were trying to do to him and we stuck to the run and didn’t air out all over the place which kept their offense off the field as well. I thought he did a good job.

Sep 21, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (14) throws a pass against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports

On if Fitzpatrick will remain the starting quarterback after Geno Smith is healthy…

Ryan is our starting quarterback right now. We’re doing well, we have good chemistry going and everything else and Geno understands that and as we go, Ryan is our quarterback. We’ll go forward from there.

If G. Smith were ready to play this week, would Fitzpatrick still the starting quarterback…

Yes, Ryan’s the starter.

On how possible it is to generate turnovers without an aggressive defense…

Sometimes it is, sometimes they fall in your lap, sometimes even with an aggressive defense, you don’t get them. I’ve been on defenses where we’ve tried every game and they come in bunches where you don’t get them and then I’ve been on teams where they come in bunches and the last two weeks they’ve come in bunches for us so we’ve been fortunate and hopefully we can keep that up.

On if it is going to be a delicate situation dividing reps when G. Smith is healthy…

We’ll get Geno ready, but Ryan is going to stay sharp and Ryan is going to be taking the first-team reps.

On how many looks he showed the Colts out of the blitz packages…

Maybe four or five if I recall. I’m not sure. Maybe about four or five, but they weren’t hard looks I don’t think.

On the dynamic between Coach Bowles and Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey when the offense took possession and called four consecutive plays after the Jets lead was trimmed to 10-7…

I mean, there was no dynamic. They were sputtering and Chan just did it on his own. He’s a great play caller. We have full trust in Chan and there are parts of the game where we discuss things, but that wasn’t one of them. He did that on his own.

On if he is surprised the Jets are 2-0…

No, I’m not surprised. I don’t want to be 0-2. I’m not surprised. We’ve been working hard and we’ve been grinding and as the team comes together, like I said, it’s a process to get to where we want to be. We’re not there yet, but we’re making great strides and nobody is going to be good coming right off the top. We’re just going to keep building and keep going. That’s what we’re doing.

On if Muhammad Wilkerson’s play has impressed him the first two games…

Mo’s been great the first two games. He got in there, him, Leonard (Williams) and (Leger) Douzable put a lot of pressure on them yesterday and it allowed those guys to make some plays on the back end.

On if Williams’ play and containment of his excitement was better this game…

Yes, I thought he was very good. We had a long talk and he and Pepper (Johnson) had a long talk and he understands he has to keep his emotions under wraps before the game in order for him to not get fatigued.

Aug 29, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets defensive lineman Leonard Williams (62) during the pregame warmup for his game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

On there will be any additional conditioning for the team to face Philadelphia’s offense…

No, it’s a short week for us. We’ve been doing a lot of conditioning, we run a lot of plays in practice as well and we faced them in preseason and we’ve faced them the past few years. We know they get a high amount of plays in and our guys just have to be ready to play.

On if he has to temper the players’ enthusiasm and remind them it is a long season…

No, you don’t temper enthusiasm. They know how long of a season it is and this (win) just tells us we can be 2-14 right now. They understand that too, but I’m not going to temper them from being excited.

On if there was something in the matchup with Douzable that warranted him playing two-thirds of the defensive snaps…

Again, with Mauldin down, Leger can go inside and outside for us, so he got double the reps and it turned into a passing game. We needed a little more athleticism to go with our two inside guys, so he kind of got some of Mauldin’s reps and some of his own. It turned out he got a lot of reps.

On players that received game balls…

Nobody yet. We got in and had to get right to Philadelphia and we’re going to decide that later on tonight.

On if the amount of takeaways are due to an emphasis on them in game preparation…

Some of them are an emphasis, some of them are luck, some of them fall in your lap, some of them you cause. You don’t explain how you get them, you just get them. But we try to emphasis it but I’m not going to sit here and say everything we got we earned. They give you some when they make mistakes too.

On if there were any other injuries…

Off the top of my head, no. A lot of people are sore, but no real injuries. Owusu hurt his leg, I don’t know the severity of that one yet. I’m still waiting for that one to come back.

On if Ivory was sore after the game…

He was sore. He took a lot of hits. The way he runs, he’s going to be sore after every game. So I don’t know if it was soreness or if he’s still feeling a little bit of pain. I’ll have to see as the week goes forward.

Sep 21, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; New York Jets running back Chris Ivory (33) runs with the ball against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. New York Jets defeat the Indianapolis Colts 20-7. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

On what G. Smith needs to do to be ready to play in a game if needed…

He has to get reps in practice. He has to read defenses all over again. It’s like the start of training camp. When you haven’t read the defenses, and set the fronts and called out pass protections, that takes a minute. Once he gets back into that flow, I think it’ll start coming back to him pretty good.

On if Smith will get any of the  first team reps in practice once he returns…

Ryan will get all the first team reps.

On if Smith will be ready to play in a game if needed by Week 6…

Yes, he would be.

Next: Coffee with the New York Jets: Eric Decker injury update

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