New York Jets: Todd Bowles breaks down Week 3

Head coach Todd Bowles has been preparing his New York Jets on a short week to be ready for a Philadelphia Eagles team with much to prove. He knows what is at stake and if the Jets want to continue making headlines for all the right reasons, starting off the season 3-0 is definitely the best way to do it.

We here at The Jet Press would like to thank the Media Relations Department of the Jets for sending us a complete transcript on what Bowles thinks about the upcoming Eagles, team injuries and much more around the current state of the team. Enjoy!

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On Eric Decker’s injury…

He didn’t practice today. I would say he sat out. We’ll see how he feels going forward this week.

On if there’s any chance he doesn’t play on Sunday…

It’s possible if he doesn’t get anything done.

On Chris Owusu’s injury…

He’s going to be out. He’s going to get a knee scope that will keep him out a week or two. He definitely won’t be ready this Sunday.

On how Owusu got hurt…

I don’t know. He said somebody banged it and kind of landed wrong and twisted it.

On if Owusu’s injury occurred late in the game…

I’m assuming so. He’s a tough guy. He fought through it. I didn’t see it during the film. He could have gotten hurt on any number of plays, he just sucked it up and played.

On it being just a week or two away from practice with a knee scope…

That’s what they told me.

On if Owusu had the scope yet…

No, not yet.

On what this means for the wide receivers with Owusu and possibly Decker out for the game…

If Chris is out and Eric is iffy, we have other guys that have to step up. We may have to play Devin (Smith), we may have to play (Jeremy) Kerley. We’ll see if we have to bring somebody in or if we have to get someone off of the practice squad.

On how D. Smith looked today in practice and if he has an idea on when he will be available…

He was full speed. He got a lot of reps with the other two guys down. That could come along later once we see how everybody fits into the plan.

On what Geno Smith was able to do…

Geno was full practice today. He got cleared and he was full practice today.

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 if today was his first full practice…

First full practice, yes.

On if he expects G. Smith to be active Sunday…

It’s possible. It’s between him and Bryce (Petty). We’ll see how much he learns this week. One of them will be the number two quarterback. He could be.

On if G. Smith or Petty received most of the second team reps today…

When you have cards during the week, you don’t have much second team reps. But, he got a few reps in there.

On if G. Smith is ahead of schedule…

I think it is. I think he healed right. They cleared him, so I guess he’s a little bit ahead of schedule.

On who the scout team quarterback was today at practice…

Geno and Bryce took reps there.

On if he could go into a game with only four receivers active…

I’ve been on teams where we’ve went in with four. Depending on the type of situation or what type of game plan we have knowing what we’re going to use, but if we have a lot of wide receivers in the game plan, obviously we’ll need a little more than that. If we don’t, we can get by with four.

On what Lorenzo Mauldin was able to do at practice…

He did not practice.

On if Trevor Reilly was at practice…

Trevor was out there but he didn’t practice.

On why he did not practice…

He’s got a bad finger that’s got an infection.

Sep 13, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets linebacker Trevor Reilly (57) during the first half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

On what he knew of David Harris before he arrived here as the head coach…

He was one of the guys that was as advertised. I heard a lot of great things about him coming in from a character standpoint, from a playing standpoint and from a human being standpoint and it’s never been any different since I’ve met him. Very steady, very tough, very smart, very hard-nosed and takes care of himself. He’s a leader by example and by vocal terms. He’s been outstanding for us. I think the two guys in the middle don’t get talked about a lot. I know it’s the d-line and the secondary, but those two guys, without them we can’t function.

On how big of a difference it would be for the Eagles if they lost DeMarco Murray…

I don’t think it’d make much. From the stats and what he did last year, it would be a lot but Ryan Mathews and (Darren) Sproles are two great backs.

On Sproles presenting unique challenges…

He presents a problem. He’s quick, he’s fast and he’s tough. He can run over you, he can block, he can return kicks, he can return punts and he’s a wide receiver. You have to try to know where he is when he’s in the game.

On how he assesses the Eagles from what he saw last week…

You don’t. You approach the team that you know you’re going to play, a high-powered offense and a tough minded defense. We’re preparing for their best and we know we’re going to get their best.

On what challenges their tempo presents…

If they keep you on the field, it presents a great challenge. Fatigue will wear you down if you’re not careful. We have to be in shape. Once you wear down physically, you start wearing down mentally for certain people and certain teams. You just have to get off the field.

On if their tempo can create communication problems…

No, I don’t think so.

Sep 14, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford (7) sets to throw the ball against the Atlanta Falcons in the second quarter at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

On if fatigue is a concern after a short week…

No, I don’t think so. It’s more like two minute. When you go two minute, people go so much no huddle nowadays that it’s pretty much commonplace.

On if he does anything during practice to simulate their tempo…

No, I don’t think you ever simulate their tempo. That’s full game time action. We just do what we do and practice how we practice and go ready to play.

On if he has any input on the music playlist at practice…

I do, but I have not exercised it yet.

On Aretha Franklin being played during practice…

They played Aretha and Gladys (Knight) today, but I guess they were trying to be funny and get to me that way. It was nice.

On what you thought of Knight…

I always think of Gladys.

On it being played when he walked out to practice…

I smiled. I was getting ready to get into my pips routine if my knee wasn’t hurting. I’m going to hold back on that one and save it for a later date.

On what appealed to them about Buster Skrine in free agency and what he’s shown since being here…

He’s shown us everything we saw on film. He plays hard. I mean, he really plays hard. He practices hard, he’s in great shape, and he’s in great condition. He fights on every play. He just fights every single play. He’s a guy you love watching play and love to have on your team.

On Muhammad Wilkerson’s performance on Monday night…

He made some plays. He played well. There’s a bunch of guys over there that played well, Muhammad was one of them. It was hard to pick guys over there for player of the game because a lot of them played well.

On who received game balls on defense…

It was Demario (Davis) and it was (Darrelle) Revis.

Sep 21, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis (24) is congratulated by his teammates after making an interception 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 if he was a Yankees fan and what he remembers about Yogi Berra…

I’m a big Yankees fan. I didn’t see him play but I’ve seen a lot of highlights and old games on classic networks. From everything I hear about him, he was an outstanding player and outstanding human being.

On how his season with the Eagles shaped him as a head coach…

It was probably one of the biggest learning experiences I went through from a leadership standpoint. Watching Coach Reid stand up there and address the team every day with the tragedy that happened to him and the way the team was going, and not bat an eye, just made everything status quo and go on as usual showed true leadership. It was all about the team. He never made it about himself. From Coach Reid in that standpoint, I learned a great deal. The way their organization handles everything with Mr. Lurie and Howie Roseman, that taught me a great deal about respect, about leadership and about humility.

On the challenges that appeared as the season went on…

There were a bunch of challenges. It steam rolled and it’s hard to become a coordinator in the middle of the year because you don’t have anything to put in, but as a coach you play the hand that was dealt to you and you always think you can succeed and try to get better and better. It didn’t go that way that year, but it taught me a lot.

On how difficult that situation was…

Like I said, it’s tough, but you’re a coach, that’s your job. You don’t deal with how hard or how easy it is. You just do your job and you coach the best you can and it didn’t work out that time.

On if he learned how to be decisive then or if he always had been…

I was decisive, but it’s hard to be decisive and doing your own thing when you take it over during the middle of the year. The game plans and the defenses are already installed. You can only try to tweak a few things here and there, you can’t really get it in practice. It’s Wednesday already, you play Sunday. There’s not so much you can do, but it was a good experience for me. I wouldn’t change it for anything.

On if he views G. Smith’s time to mentally catch up as a significant hurdle…

No, you see a few things. Obviously you can put a package together for him. He’s still been in meetings and understands and knows. He just has to get the physical reps and has to get used to being out there again. But, his mental side has been sharp. He was sharp when he was out there today.

September 13, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets starting quarterback Geno Smith (7) watches his team in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Browns at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Mills/NJ Advance Media for NJ.com via USA TODAY Sports

On if the Eagles look much different this year than they did last year…

Obviously, Murray’s a different style running back than (Lesean) McCoy. They have a few different things they’ve run this year that they didn’t run last year. But for the most part, their offense, they run what they run.

On what would lead him to activate or not activate G. Smith…

We’ll see what quarterback is playing better. If Bryce is playing better at that time and Geno doesn’t have a grasp of everything we’re trying to put in, it’ll be Bryce. If Geno has a grasp of everything and he looks good and we feel good about it, we’ll go with Geno.

On if he feels like it’s a competition for the number two spot or if it’s only that way because G. Smith has missed time…

I think it’s missed time. Obviously, if he was here, it wouldn’t be an issue.

On if there’s any way you have three quarterbacks active if G. Smith is healthy…

It all depends on the other guys, who’s playing and who’s not playing, if I have an extra space or not.

Next: New York Jets: Brandon Marshall breaks down Week 3

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