COURTESY OF NEW YORK JETS COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
Opening Statement…
Good couple of days of practice, since I last like guys. Guys are working hard getting better every day. It’s just been good to get to work and continue to play football during this crazy time.
Rich Cimini, ESPN: Sam, we’ve seen you make a few plays with Chris Hogan and I’m wondering, can you describe how that relationship is evolving and if you guys had to spend extra time off the field to try to catch up?
Off the field we’re spending as much time as we can together, just talking about routes and talking about timing and all that, so it’s been good so far and hopefully we can just continue to build on the chemistry we have.
Rich Cimini, ESPN: What kind of receiver is (Hogan)?
He’s good. He’s clean in and out of his routes, he’s understanding the offense well, so it’s been good so far, we just have to, like I said, continue to build off of it.
Dennis Waszak Jr., Associated Press: Sam, how tough has this been as an offense as a whole with the wide receivers, get guys coming in, guys getting hurt, guys mixing in. How tough has it been for you guys to kind of get some kind of flow with the receiving unit?
It hasn’t been challenging so far. I mean obviously we want guys to stay healthy, but I mean that’s a credit to the guys who have been coming in and understanding, learning the offense. Like Chris (Hogan) is one of those guys. I don’t know, it’s been it’s been good, those guys have been coming in, learning the offense, understanding everything and doing their best to try and make an impact in practice and it’s been going well. Obviously, we want guys to stay healthy but it’s just a next-man-up mentality that we always talked about and we’re going to continue to.
Brian Costello, New York Post: Sam you’ve practiced against Marcus Maye quite a bit in the last few years. Do you see a difference in him this year? Obviously, he’s playing a little different position than he has, but do you see a difference in him in practice?
Yeah, I mean every year Marcus continues to get better. He understands the game more, he gets quicker, faster, because I feel like the more you understand the game, the more you understand the defense and your responsibilities, the faster you can play. So that all just kind of goes hand in hand. I feel like he’s been rolling so far and I know he’s going to have a really good year this year.
Al Iannazzone, Newsday: Sam, what do you think of some of the new receivers that you’re working with for the first time, that have been forced to be out there making plays for you now?
Yeah, they’ve been doing a great job, like I said. They’ve done a great job of learning and understanding the offense and we’re just going to continue to continue to teach them, our coaches are going to do a great job of installing the plays with them and hopefully we can just continue to talk about the timing of certain routes and continue to get better that way.
Dennis Waszak Jr., Associated Press: Sam, he left practice toward the end after making a catch but (Lawrence) Cager has really come on the past few days. What have you seen from him?
Yeah, Cage is a big target. He can go up and get the ball, so whenever you got a big dude like that and go up and get it, it’s good to see.
Andy Vasquez, The Record: Sam, in working with Frank Gore, what have you seen from him? Are there things, I know you guys don’t play the same positions, but are the things you can learn from him and just how does he look at this age so far?
Yeah, Frank is awesome. He’s always, after a big run or even after he gets tackled getting two yards, he’s always got energy man. He’s always got energy, he’s always coming back to the huddle telling everyone great job, keep going, keep going. He’s a really a good piece for our offense and for the whole team. It’s good for our whole team to see a guy who, future Hall of Famer, to be able to come out here and practice every single day with the same energy. It’s great for our team to see and he’s been a great leader for us so far.
Ryan Dunleavy, New York Post: Sam, the NFL announced yesterday there were 23,000 player tests for COVID and zero positives last week across the league. Are you impressed with the way guys are taking this seriously, and was there ever a point before we got to training camp where you wondered if it was going to be this smooth?
I feel throughout this whole time it’s been uncertain right, no one really knows much about the virus and how it can spread and all those things, so I wasn’t sure about how serious it would be or the long-term effects of anything and so being able to hear that news and see how serious the guys are taking it. I mean that part doesn’t really surprise me because we all wanted to come back and play football. So, that part’s awesome. I think it’s just around the league it’s about the guy sustaining it throughout the entire season. So, I think that’s going to be the challenge and I think we’re up for it. I think we can stay disciplined in terms doing things outside of the building, outside of where we live to be able to continue to have negative tests.
Rich Cimini, ESPN: Le’Veon (Bell) told us yesterday he gave you some advice. Did you hear that one?
Yeah, I ended getting a follow up to that response, so I did see that. It’s great advice man, he’s always got them for me, words of wisdom. Yeah, it’s good to hear that from a vet.
Charles McDonald, New York Daily News: Sam, just watching at practice, like a lot of guys are talking about how Gregg Williams makes life challenging for the offense and how that’s a good thing, but one thing you really notice specifically is how he uses his safeties and they’re coming from different angles and all that stuff. I was wondering, how does different safety alignments make life difficult for an offense, specifically the way that they’ve used Marcus Maye so far?
Yeah, makes it challenging. Certain types of pressures are based on safety location and when you got two safeties like BMac (Bradley McDougald) and Marcus doing a great job hiding kind of their looks and disguising their coverages like that, it definitely makes life a lot harder for quarterback.
Dennis Waszak Jr., Associated Press: Sam, there seem to be a few holes up front today and had a few nice blocks. Have you kind of seen that offensive line in front of you the past few days in particular just kind of really start to come together and gel?
Yeah, like I said at the beginning guys, we’re making strides every single day. It’s really good to see. So, we just got to continue to improve every single day, if we can do that, we’ll be a good football team.
Al Iannazzone, Newsday: Sam are you spending any time with Denzel (Mims)? Obviously, I know he can’t do anything right now, but are you spending any time with him to make sure he knows everything, or what to expect from him?
Yeah, I know the coaches are doing a great job too. You know every now and then I’ll see him in the training room or stuff like that. I’m just making sure that he’s staying on top of it but he’s really self-motivated. Most of the time when I see him, I’m just joking around with him and have a good time. But yeah, I think, Denzel is really on top of it. He’s just going to continue to learn the offense the way he has been. I know Hines (Ward) and Shawn J (Jefferson) are doing a great job of continuing to teach him. And he’s like a sponge right now, he’s just soaking it all up and learning as much as he can.
Brian Costello, New York Post: Sam, we were taking to Connor McGovern a few weeks ago now and he said something about some of the guys who have been here last year and he mentioned you by name kind of felt like there’s a different vibe this year. Would you agree with that and can you kind of expand upon that?
Yeah, I don’t know. I think there is a different vibe. I think it’s just continuing because there are going to be ups and downs throughout the season, there always are. And I think for us it’s continuing to stay positive, even if we lose a game or even in a quarter. If a quarter doesn’t go where we want, if I throw a pick or someone fumbles, it’s like, we just have to sustain that positive energy. We got a lot of guys in the building that are able to pick each other up and that’s a really good thing. And again, we just got to use that during the season and even during the course of games.
