COURTESY OF NEW YORK JETS MEDIA RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
Opening Statement…
Alright guys just going through the injuries: (Denzel) Mims – hamstring, (James) Burgess – low back, (Brian) Poole – dehydration, (Cameron) Clark – shoulder. Vyncint Smith had surgery today with that core injury, so we’re looking at five to eight weeks he’ll be out. (Bronson) Kaufusi with a hamstring, (Pierre) Desir with a hamstring, Ross Travis with a groin, Jabari (Zuniga) with a quad and then (Braxton) Berrios wasn’t out there today because of personal reasons. We kind of changed up our schedule going two practices and then today using our walkthrough time putting our guys in situational where we can get recovery, do some lift and running, just keep building up as far as getting our guys in the kind of shape we need them in to continue in training camp and stay away from these injuries. With our guys being gone so long, obviously we’ve had a couple guys go out with soft tissue injuries and we’ve just got to make sure that we minimize those as much as possible.
Rich Cimini, ESPN: Adam, when you’re going through camp and your numbers are low at a position like wide receiver, how tough is it? What did you have today, like seven or eight wide receivers?
The last few days we’ve had seven.
Rich Cimini, ESPN: How much does that factor into the type of practices you want to run?
It factors in quite a bit. Dropping from 90 to 80 (players in training camp) is, like we talked about the other day, multiple injuries at the same position affects the entire team, because it affects practice. But when we had multiple injuries at not only wide receiver but tight ends, now you’re running out of personnel to use. We’re probably lucky that we had to have the shortened-type practice when we went to pads to where we only had 90 minutes or whatever it was. That played in our favor in that aspect to where we were able to script it right and get all our guys the work they need, use the time allotted and we got out of practice without anybody going down. So, the good thing is I do think we’ve got guys returning here hopefully in the next few days, especially next week. Hopefully we get a bunch of guys back, which really that’s going to be the key because after today we’ll have two days of padded practices and then we’ll have a day off. So, these next few days, hopefully we get a couple guys back and then get more after that little day off.
Connor Hughes, The Athletic: I think you said it there Adam, tomorrow you’ll be back in pads, or do you plan on going with a walkthrough again?
We’ll be back. We’ll be practicing the next two days.
Brian Costello, New York Post: When do you expect to get (Chris) Hogan on the field? And during this period of time where it’s being tested and stuff, are you able to work with him in meetings still, is he just not allowed to practice or how does that work?
I think he did his physical today so when he gets his contract signed, then we’ll have him. I hope it’s soon. Hopefully we get him out there soon. It’s hard to say because I don’t know if any hiccups occur or anything like that when we go through the physical aspect.
Al Iannazzone, Newsday: Are there any updates on Mims or Burgess?
Like I said, it’s been week-to-week with all these guys and it’s all about how they’ve been improving. Nobody has given me the green light saying, “Hey, you’ll see him tomorrow or the next day.” So, I know they’re going through the process that they need to get back on the field. It’s one of those injuries, it’s hard to rush when it’s a guy that his whole job is to run. We’ve just got to make sure that we get them healthy enough, we get them in the offense, get them practicing against the defense and see how far we can get them before the season starts.
Brian Costello, New York Post: We’re talking to Foley Fatukasi in a little while. How much of a surprise was he for you last year? He wasn’t somebody who played a lot as a rookie and then had a big role for you guys last year.
I don’t know if anything was a surprise, because when you come into a situation where you’re meeting guys and you’re just learning about guys, everything is a clean slate. So, when a guy basically just does his job, executes the scheme that he’s being asked to execute and then goes out on Sundays and plays well, that’s all I need. Since we’ve been here, he’s been consistently the guy that just keeps getting better. So, I guess it wasn’t really a surprise, he just showed us who he was and he’s just continued to become even a better player week in and week out and even the way that he’s operated so far in training camp, the way he came in in shape, ready to go, stronger, quicker. You can see that the strides he’s making is phenomenal. Obviously, he’s got a great mentor in Steve McLendon. He’s one of the guys that I feel like he recognizes, “Hey that guy’s been in the league a long time, I’m going to do what he does,” and that’s what he does. To me that’s a smart player realizing that guy knows how to do it, I’m going to learn what he does.
Charles McDonald, New York Daily News: How do you guys plan on creating a more consistent edge rush this year without adding any big-name defensive lineman in free agency or the draft?
It’s a team defense. You look at a lot of teams that we play, you look at New England, everybody always said, ‘Who are their edge rushers?’ Well they play 11 guys together, they find ways to pop guys free, they have guys that go speed to power, they collapse the pocket, they cause chaos in that area, that way. I’ve been with guys that can bend the edge and cause all kinds of chaos that way too. So, I like what our guys do, I like our defensive system. I think our guys play unselfish football; they do what’s best for the team. We never have to worry about our guys running around the quarterback and creating a throwing lane and throwing the ball down the field because we’re trying to get a sack. Our guys are more worried about making sure we win that down, and it’s not always what everybody wants to see and it’s not on the highlight films, but our guys do a great job of doing their job and when they get their opportunities, they get their one-on-one matchups, they go make plays.
Rich Cimini, ESPN: Two-part question on Quinnen Williams. What kind of shape did he come into camp into? How much higher are your expectations for him this year?
I feel like he is in great shape. Seeing him out there, he hasn’t said much, you can tell he is just focused on working, getting better, making sure he is doing his part with the group. I don’t look at it like that as far as expectations. I want him to improve, I want him to be disruptive, I want him to do what the defensive staff asks him to do, which he does. And when he gets his one-on-one matchups that’s the key, are we going to win our one-on-one matchups and hopefully this year when he gets those opportunities, he’s winning the majority of them so he can go hit the quarterback, go sack the quarterback, get a tackle for loss. It’s one of those things where we’ll see what happens when we actually hit the games. I know there’s times in practice, I mean the first play that we had in the first practice we had, he won pretty quick and was in the backfield, those are the types of things we want to see.
Brian Costello, New York Post: Adam I realize this might be tough after only a handful of practices, for receivers, the younger guys not (Breshad) Perriman, not (Jamison) Crowder, have any of those guys stood out to you so far of what they’ve done in camp?
Jeff Smith, he was a guy that was actually on our roster, being on the practice squad all year and then we activated him and then he got hurt against Baltimore, so he only got to play really part of one game. I feel like he’s really kind of come into his own at that position. He’s a former quarterback that played receiver when he came on as an undrafted guy and then when I watch him now you can see he’s got a good feel for what’s going on, you know he’s wired to separate. And, being a former quarterback, he understands probably a lot of things that other guys don’t. And the rest of the guys are really, they’re battling it out, trying to figure out who’s going fit into that role of, can you play special teams? Can you contribute out wide receiver? I think the door is wide open for a lot of guys it’s just, it’s going to be about who’s going to consistently be the same guy day in and day out, executing the concepts being asked and making plays in practice.
Charles McDonald, New York Daily News: From the perspective of an offensive coach, what do you place more value on, like pressures or sacks?
I look at it as pass disruption, that’s what I’m looking at. So, I look at sacks, hurry and hits. So, whenever we play a team where they might not necessarily have a lot of sack numbers, I get concerned when I say, ‘Wow the quarterback is getting hit a lot and it’s happening fast.’ When you play the defensive tackles that are really disruptive and penetrating, like a being in Miami (with Ndamukong) Suh, might not always get there but the quarterbacks could feel him coming, because he would blow through the line of scrimmage two guys would come back and the quarterback would get rid of the ball he wouldn’t get a sack. I mean, those guys felt them, they were getting the ball out quick, you can see the game plan was designed to make sure he wasn’t going to wreck the game, so that’s where that’s where it’s problematic. And when you got guys that are disrupting the passer, making them throw it earlier than they want, that’s what makes it hard.
Al Iannazzone, Newsday: Adam, have you decided what you guys are going to do maybe simulate a real game since there is no preseason? Will you scrimmage against each other? I know you do your team drills.
We are going to do some stuff. Really the day I had in mind originally for our first type of, I don’t really know if it’s a scrimmage, but what we are trying to simulate is game style environment and situations, and things like that. I am pushing that back just because we had all these injuries, wanted to just stop for a second and figure out how do we get these guys back healthy? How do we make sure they are in the right kind of shape and headed in the right direction? So, we will push that back a little bit. We will have something to where we can go to the stadium and kind of test out that whole atmosphere out. There is more than just on the field, the locker room, how are we using the press box, all that stuff, we have to go through all those procedures because it’s different than what it’s been in the past. We will get to a point where we are going to do that stuff and hopefully it is sooner than later. We have a date in pencil but who knows if that changes.
Andy Vasquez, The Record: Adam, since this is a such a different season or different training camp, how do you go about creating those pressure situations, you mentioned the scrimmage, but do you have to get creative in terms of being able to get a handle on what these guys can do under pressure?
I just watched them the way our guys practice. It’s almost, we’re always going to try to create it, I don’t think you really have to try too hard when you have Gregg (Williams) designing the defense on the other side that’s creating enough pressure for our guys offensively I know that, and then I think just with the guys that we have, we got a lot of veteran players that are coming from different teams that have been with winning programs, like these guys practice the right way. I mean when I watch some guys more out there it’s good competition, it’s physical, you can tell these guys are really going at it and working the right way. To me, the biggest thing is we got to create the situations for them to when we hit gameday, we’re not having to to think how should we have handled this, we don’t want to be answering those questions after the game, we want to make sure that we hit all the stuff before we get to that first game.
Dennis Waszak Jr. Associated Press: Adam, with Vyncint Smith you talked about the wide receiver group, but he was also a guy on special teams returning kicks, the fact that he’s out five to eight weeks, that’s two areas of the team that you have to factor in.
It’s not ideal. I mean it’s not something that you really hoping to happen or you want to happen. It was one of those situations I can’t really pinpoint where he actually got hurt in practice, it was just kind of, you saw him slowing down and then he didn’t feel right and the next thing you know, he’s having surgery. This is where we got to be next-man-up philosophy, we have to find something that’s going to fill that role until he gets back. That’s why we’re working with as many guys as we can, that’s why, you know, when you guys see Marcus Maye back there catching punts. Yeah, I mean, guys are going back there and being like, “Hey, I can help contribute in this area. I can do this, I can do this, I’ve done this before.” So, I mean, that’s the thing that I love about this locker room, is you got guys basically saying, “Hey, I can do this, I’ve done this before, give me a shot at doing this.” And, you know, I love it, I love the fact that guys are trying to step up and fill in the roles when something like this happens.
Rich Cimini, ESPN: Yesterday we saw Bryce Hall on the sideline, I wasn’t sure, I’m not sure if he was out there today or not, but does that mean he’s close to coming off the COVID list?
Yeah, we’ll see. You know obviously he came in with an injury as well. You know, coming off last year. So, we have (being placed on the) Reserve/COVID list on top of the injury, so we have to kind of see where that takes us, see how long we got here. I don’t have an exact date to tell you.
Rich Cimini, ESPN: But he might have been on the PUP list, had he not been on the COVID list?
It’s hard for me to say because the COVID list superseded everything.
