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December 16, 2007

Transcript: Jets coach Eric Mangini's postgame press conference

I just talked to the guys and talked about the opportunities that we had today and the opportunities that they created. We just weren’t able to capitalize on them. We were in the red zone four times and then couldn’t get the points that we needed to get. I thought, defensively, there was a lot of really good things today and not just in terms of the passing game, but the running game and the things that we are trying to do. I thought they did a nice job. This is a good football team that is obviously hard to beat and we had some opportunities to put ourselves in a very good position. We just couldn’t finish those.

Can you talk about your third down efficiency in the first half?
Yeah, it wasn’t very good. We weren’t able to do very much on third down until the fourth quarter, so the drives didn’t last very long and the defense was on the field quite a bit. It is hard to be effective without being good on third down.

Kellen Clemens was listed as probable with a rib injury. Was he close to coming back?
As we looked at it and we talked to the doctors, I thought it was best to continue on with Chad [Pennington]. And I think Chad did a nice job. It is another example of a guy who doesn’t get very many reps. When he was called on, he went in and I thought he did a very good job.

What was your thinking in using Brad [Smith] at quarterback? It was obvious that he wasn’t going to be a threat to throw.
We like that package and thought it was another way to get the ball to the perimeter and a chance to get the ball to one of three guys. So, either Brad, Leon [Washington] or Thomas [Jones]. You had an opportunity based on what they did with the front and thought that would be another way to attack the edge as well as have an inside presence with either Thomas or Leon.

Was that package in place regardless of Clemens getting hurt?
That is something that was not in reaction to Kellen’s injury. It was something that we had as part of the game plan.

What are your emotions like after the buildup to this game?
To me, it is a disappointment because of the opportunities that we did have today and because of how hard the players prepared and worked and, for the most part, executed. It is like the different games that we’ve talked about. When you get in those positions to score points or capitalize on a turnover or the need to protect the football-all of those things came into play today. We had some really good chances that we just weren’t able to finish up on.

I meant your emotions as it related to the spying thing, etc?
My emotions are related to the fact that the players prepared hard and fought a hard game and put themselves in the position to do some very good things. It is a very good football team that we were playing at home. We had an opportunity and weren’t able to quite finish. But, I am proud of the way the guys put themselves in that position and put us in that position.

What did Bill Belichick say to you at the end of the game?
I can’t remember. Good game or good luck or something like that.

What did you say to him?
Good game or good luck.

It looked like your defense was trying to give a lot of different looks by moving a lot of guys around.
Yes. We were trying to give as little information as possible. Tom [Brady] does an excellent job when he knows what you’re in and what he can expect, of beating the coverage or getting the offense into the right play. So, part of that is the ability to not give him too much information and to make it as difficult as possible for him to make those reads.

Clemens was reported to have a rib injury. Is that accurate?
Yes. I’ll know a lot more about it as we go.

Was he medically able to return?
It was a coach’s decision.

What did you see on the play when you got your punt blocked?
Initially it looks like it was a combination of a good move by their outside rusher, not very good leverage by us in terms of where we needed to be with the block point and our position, and also not being able to get the ball off quickly enough from the punter’s perspective.

Did you feel that was the turning point?
There was plenty of back and forth after that point and we had some good opportunities to score. We had the blocked punt; they had the blocked punt. So, we had some good chances after that.

Was Chad Pennington having difficulty hearing during the game?
He had some difficulties getting the signals from Brian [Daboll]. The coach-to-quarterback signals. But, we got it fixed and it was okay after that.

How long did he have to deal with the glitch?
I think it was a series or part of a series.

Are there any suspicions on your part about that?
No. That happens a lot where the helmets go in and out, different places.

Is there a possibility that Pennington could start next week?
I’ll have to look at everything and evaluate it. We have the injury. We don’t really have as much information now as we will later on and I’ll look at all of that stuff.

What about Laveranues Coles? It looked like he tried to go but couldn’t.
Yeah, he is tough. He did try and he’s been working to be able to play. He just wasn’t able to go as much as he would have liked.

Was that also a product of the conditions?
Sometimes that can happen when you get extreme weather or that element. But, I’m not sure if that’s exactly what it was or not, but that can happen.

Did you hear anything derogatory from the fans?
I think that there is a boatload of those comments, but that is what you get at every stadium.

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:34 PM | Permalink