COURTESY OF NEW YORK JETS COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
Opening Statement…
Regarding the injuries: out today, (Denzel) Mims, hamstring, (Cameron) Clark, shoulder, (Conor) McDermott, good news yesterday after you know kind of an ugly play there, he’ll be week to week with the knee. But we should get him back at some point, so that was good news for us yesterday. (Pierre) Desir with the hamstring, (Bronson) Kaufusi with the hamstring, (Brian) Poole with the dehydration, (James) Burgess, low back, Jabari (Zuniga) with the quad, and then two guys that went out of practice today, (Matthias) Farley with a hamstring and then (Jordan) Willis with a knee. For the most part today was some good situational work. We got a lot accomplished here in the last couple of days. We’re kind of at that point where, majority of things, install wise, are in. Now it’s about just keep improving, in what we’re doing, adding things here and there, talking through situations, working through situations and really trying to make sure that we get the bread and butter of what we’re doing on both offense, defense and special teams, really honed in before that first week of the season. So, with that, whatever you guys have.
Connor Hughes, Adam, I know you’ve kind of just said like it’s a wait and see approach, but do you anticipate specifically Mims and Desir practicing when you guys come back from tomorrow’s day off?
Yeah, that’s hard for me to say. We’ll see kind of where they’re at, they’re not on the same timetable, not really sure what that exact date they would come back, but, you know, you guys will see them start working in and working on the side. I always look at it is if you start seeing him working on the side while we’re out at practice, that’s positive, and then we’ll get going in an individual and then progress into the team stuff.
Bob Glauber, Newsday: What does Chris Hogan bring to the team and how familiar are you with him having been in the division against him?
Yeah, I’m pretty sure there’s a few games where I can go back and say he did some good things against some of the teams that I was on. I mean he’s been in quite a few games that I’ve been on the other sideline. You know, you got a guy that’s, he’s been around for a minute, he’s played on some really good teams, he’s played in some big games. He’s a guy that, from the time he’s come into the league, he hasn’t changed his big chip on his shoulder, always trying to prove people wrong. He’s a quick study. I mean for him to be able to jump in there on some of the plays today and know where to line up and know what to do and be able to execute, make a couple catches and very competitive (inaudible). I like being around him.
Rich Cimini, ESPN: Adam, with Brian Poole. I mean, I think it’s almost a week, or several days with the dehydration. Is it beyond dehydration, has he been hospitalized at all?
He’s getting better, we have him at the (hotel), he’s coming over here. I think we’re taking this slow because it was, a situation where, a lot of us got pretty nervous, just the way that things kind of happened after practice. I think it just kind of caught everybody a little off guard. But, our guys handled it well, he’s getting better, it’s just, we’re taking it slow. We have to find a way to make sure that he’s in a good place and we can get him out on the field, progress things the right way to where he can finish practice, and then get him in the kind of shape he was when we he hit the season last year.
Connor Hughes, The Athletic: This might sound silly Adam, but did (Poole) just not drink water or have any kind of liquids throughout that practice?
He’s had in the past and we found this out last year, those first couple weeks where he exerts a lot, he tries to do the right things and put the right things in his body. It’s hard for me to explain, I’m not a doctor, so I am kind of going off what I see and what I’m told.
Connor Hughes, The Athletic: The one player, just a quick follow up on a separate topic, but the one player that seems to be flashing, time and time again basically every single practice is Marcus Maye. Obviously before he was basically just kind of deep and you didn’t really notice he was there, but now, I think he had a sack today on Sam (Darnold), he’s been breaking up plays man-to-man coverage. Can you just talk about what you’ve seen from him in his expanded role this year and then also, as a kind of an offensive minded guy, how challenging he makes your life when someone like that is on the field?
It’s challenging in the aspect of you’re not really sure what he’s going to do, when he’s lining up. You don’t know if he’s coming, you don’t know if he’s going to the middle field, you don’t know if he’s going to the half field, you don’t know if he is going to play underneath coverage. Marcus has very good awareness, especially in zones. He’s really good at man-to-man, has a really good ability to break up balls in man-to-man coverage which, you notice out here, he gets a lot of hands on the ball. He’s got a pretty tough match up every day when him and Chris Herndon go at it, it’s fun to watch. When you’re either a coach or spectator, I mean that’s a good match up, those two guys, two good players going at it. And Marcus brings a lot of versatility and he’s extremely smart, he’s able to help get guys lined up and make things look like one thing and get to something else. You know he’s one of those guys that there’s nothing that you can say that he doesn’t do well.
Rich Cimini, ESPN: Adam, what’s your Le’Veon (Bell) plan. Last year I remember we asked you every day, ‘Is he playing in a preseason game?’ This year you don’t have that issue obviously, so what’s your plan? It looked like he wasn’t getting that many reps, it looked like (Frank) Gore was getting more, so how do you plan to get him ready for Week One?
I mean we have a set amount of plays, we are kind of trying to balance up both those guy’s reps. Obviously, Frank is older than him, but at the same time, we’re making sure, Lev (Le’Veon) is getting what he needs to get. Some days are going to be more than others, but for us to go this many days and just run him to death, I mean it’s just not even, that’s not what we want to do. We want him to feel comfortable with what he needs to do with offense, get him plays that whether they’re new or get him some touches that kind of get him in the flow of practice, but we’re not going to over exert either one of those guys. We’re trying to just make sure that we’re balancing this out in the long run.
Brian Costello, Adam, what did you see from Bless Austin last year in the second half of the season when he played a lot for you guys?
Confidence, you know like real confidence. If something bad happens he moves on to the next play. To me it’s the hardest thing to learn as a young corner, is, you’re going to get beat, it’s about how you bounce back and what do you do the next play. I do think is knowledge of the playbook is getting better day to day. Obviously, you guys were at practice, you see the variety of things that we’re doing, a lot of different situations and those corners have a lot of different things that they have to learn how to do. Obviously Gregg (Williams) pairs it down as we get closer to the season but right now it’s, they’re trying to see who can do what and it’s for a guy that went a couple years without playing and then last year and start playing for us and actually started games for us. He didn’t even know what he didn’t know. And now it’s, as he’s kind of gone through last season that he was able to go back, evaluate all that himself. He’s trying to learn every day. I think that’s something I really do appreciate about this kid is, he studies other corners, he’ll ask questions, “Hey, why are you guys doing this?” He’s trying to do everything he can to get better.
Connor Hughes, The Athletic: What did you learn about (Austin), Adam because there was a point, late last season where, where I think Gregg (Williams) benched him, and obviously for some players that can that can be a mental shock and derail them a bit. So the fact he’s come back and play the way that he has this camp, what did you kind of learn about his bounce back in his resiliency?
It’s that ability to move on to what has happened in the past. You can’t look in the rear-view mirror being like, “Oh I screwed this up or oh, I got beat here.” You have to stay there, you have to stay looking forward and go to the next play and figure out a way to win that play. And I’m sure he has those moments where you get stuck on one play in practice, but I think he does do a better job of moving on to the next one, trying to figure out a way to get a hand on the ball here and there. Like I said, it’s the beginning part of camp for some of these corners, it’s going to be a little difficult because they get a good chunk thrown at them. And, once it gets paired down, once we kind of figure out who can do what and what’s the best thing for us, then those guys can really get in a good groove.
Kim Jones, NFL Network: Hey Adam, when Le’Veon talked to us and I honestly have no idea when that was, a week ago or whatever, and he said, he thought he was in good shape last year but now realizes he wasn’t even close and vowed to be so much better this year. If you didn’t know he said those words, when you watch him on the practice field, is that still apparent to you? And if so, like what do you see that tells you this is a little bit of a different, and Le’Veon would say better, Le’Veon Bell?
I think the beginning in camp last year, I don’t know if I’d been able to, to make that comparison. Before we really started getting going and then when I see him move around some of the cuts that he’s making some of the, where he kind of has to work his speed in the hole and he bursts through, you can notice a difference in that aspect. He’s being a little hard on himself, but the fact that he’s 210 pounds, the guy can run all day right now, he is in phenomenal shape. Whatever he did this offseason, he was really dialed in to what he was doing. He’s been ready to go since we started and he’s in probably the best shape of anyone on our team.
Charles McDonald, New York Daily News: Adam, we have a day like today, or just any day where the offense dominates, the defense dominates, it’s clearly one sided at practice, how do you view that as a head coach, does it get you down or up, what’s your assessment?
Yeah, it’s tough. It’s tough when you’re the play caller, the competitive side of you, you want to win every day. But for our team that would never be good because that means we’re struggling on one side of the ball. And, when I see it one day, one side of the ball wins and the next day, the other side of the ball really steps it up and they have a really good practice and then sometimes you kind of have one of those practices like a tale of two halves. And I feel like what we have going on so far out there, it’s been good because it’s been a back-and-forth-type of deal, some days it’s been the offense, some days it’s been the defense.
John Boell, Newsday: Can you talk about former Stony Brook product Connor Davis? I know you talked yesterday about the tight ends, but what you have you seen from Davis so far in camp?
I’ve been impressed. For the short period of time and thing moving quick and so much to learn. When all of a sudden you pop and you’re doing the right things and you’re making plays like that’s something that, especially when you’re light (at the position), and we had no choice, it’s like, ‘Hey, we need you to get in there and do this stuff,’ and when a guy goes in there and just figures it out and makes plays, that’s a huge plus in my book.
Dennis Waszak Jr., Associated Press: Adam, sticking with the tight ends, last year until now, what did you see with (Trevon) Wesco and what he needed to do? I mean he looks bigger this year, what have you seen?
Night and day. Coming from basically he didn’t have a position coach in college, to where he is now, where he worked extremely hard, not only on himself physically, but mentally. He knows so much more, he works so hard to learn all the things he needs to do because we use him in so many different roles and then he has a role on special teams. But just that year, it was bad Chris (Herndon) didn’t get to play for us because Chris is such a dynamic player. It was great for Wesco because he had to play. He had to get game reps and that’s why he was able to develop as quickly as he has. It was an adapt or die situation for him, to where he had to get in there, he had to figure it out, we had to get him ready, and he did it, and he went out there and got better. And I think the more he played the more confident he got, the more we started using them in different roles and put him in positions where he was a possibility to get the ball, running the ball, being the main in-line blocker, whether it’s on the backfield or line of scrimmage. I think that really helped his confidence and then, since he’s been back, it’s been impressive to watch how his brain works so much faster this year and he’s making adjustments and we can use him in so many different roles. And then let alone the physicality he plays with, when you’re able to put a tight end in the line of scrimmage and he can go up against outside linebackers and defensive ends and win and be as aggressive as him, and then line up in the backfield and just go downhill and then hit a linebacker, It’s been fun to watch his progression in such a short period of time.
