Jets Post-Game Quotes (Preseason Week 1)
Head Coach Robert Saleh
Video: Here
On QB Zach Wilson updates:
“No update yet; we are going to wait on the MRI.”
On if Zach’s knee was stable while testing it on the sideline:
“I’m over with trying to decipher doctor language, so I’m just going to let the MRI play out and figure it out tomorrow.”
On what his senses were with Zach’s injury:
“My senses have always been opposite. We will wait until tomorrow, seriously, I have information in my head, just want to leave it alone.”
On level of concern on Zach’s injury:
“I’m always concerned until I get the final evaluation. We walked off the field with great, positive thoughts and it’s been opposite. We’ve walked off the field with bad initial readings and it was opposite. I’m not going to put anything out there, just let it play out and we’ll see tomorrow.”
On if Zach’s injury is an ACL tear:
“Until they dig, they won’t know. That part is supposed to be intact, but again, let’s wait until the MRI.”
On if Zach should have just gone out of bounds during the play he was injured:
“One hundred percent”
On his optimism:
“With all of it, I’m still optimistic. That’s never going to change with me. I get up here and try to feed off of them, and if it ends up being wrong, I just want to let it all play out, and I keep saying my nightly prayers and see what happens.”
On Zach’s spirits:
“He’s in good spirits; he’s fine, a little frustrated obviously, but he’s as good as you can be in this situation.”
On what was going through his head the moment he saw Zach get injured:
“A lot of swear words.”
On if Zach said anything to him when he was surrounded by their trainers:
“No, I’m just trying to listen in and just trying to let him know I’m there, and my conversation was really with the doctor at that point.”
On how the team responded to Zach’s injury:
“I thought they were fine. The guys were fine. Players know; they know the deal. Football, obviously in my opinion, is the greatest sport in the world. The negative to football is that it’s very violent. It’s a physical game and when these players step on the field whether it’s practice or a game, their careers are on the line, their season is on the line with every snap. I think players get that. It doesn’t change the empathy that they all feel for one another, but I think they’re fine. I think they’re in a good space.”
On if there is a chance that Zach injured his PCL:
“That I don’t know. I don’t know about that.”
On the next steps if Zach’s injury is season-ending:
“Can we wait until after we get the MRI results before we start talking about that? I don’t want to put that negative juice out there.”
On assessing the QB situation next week and QB Joe Flacco:
“You guys know how I feel about Joe, everyone does, the whole world does. Joe’s a phenomenal football player. He’s having a great camp, and he’s got a lot of juice left in the tank.”
On if it has been a tough week:
“No, I’m fine. [I have] 20 years of coaching and have seen the worst of it. I’m fine.”
On the offensive breakdown on the play Zach was injured:
“I think we got pressure off the right side, Zach felt it, he spun out, he was scrambling. [He needs to] run his butt out of bounds, he wanted to get more. It’s a new sod, the turf isn’t exactly as firm as you want it. They just laid it down I think on the 29th. It hasn’t been used yet, so there’s a lot of different things there. Hopefully we’re still in good shape.”
On his message to the guys:
“It’s a resilient group. For all the negatives of the first drive and all that stuff in the first quarter, it is a celebration of the second half and these young guys, because they’re gassed, they are playing every rep on offense, defense, all that stuff. And we talk about first half and second half, everything we have been doing at practice and coming out with intent and purpose and representing the solid play that we want. They deserve to feel good about the way they played, and that locker room is very upbeat.”
On if he was concerned about the turf:
“Preseason it is not always going to be great, but I wasn’t concerned, it felt good. It’s just that fresh sod, it’s going to be looser, but for us it was more make sure we have the right cleats more than anything.”
On his halftime message:
“One of my favorite things about preseason is the second half, and those young guys who are battling for roster spots and league-wide get to come out on the football field and represent the style that they want. They are fighting and they’re gassed and they’re doing everything. So, the message to the team is I’m excited to see that, that is the best part and the fun part of preseason. That’s why we play preseason, is to watch those guys. Obviously you’re trying to tune up for the regular season. So, in the second half, when those guys get out there, that is awesome.”
On his seemingly ‘down’ attitude:
“I’m good, I promise.”
On his response to Jets LB Quincy Williams’ hit to Jalen Hurts:
“No, I talked to him after the game. Egregiously awful from Quincy, and he knows that – he knows better. And those are the plays that Quincy has to get out of his game if he wants to become the linebacker that I think he can be, that we all think he can be. It’s one thing to make a mistake in the game, it’s another thing to make a mistake that leads to points, touchdowns. It’s a good drive, we’re off the field, Jalen is a phenomenal quarterback, and to stop them, hold them to a field goal after giving up an explosive – pretty good showing for the first drive. Then to have that happen extends the drive. Anytime you extend the drive like that it’s probably going to lead to bigger points. So Quincy knows, but at the same time those are the plays he’s got to get out of his game if he wants to be the player we think he can be.”
On any other possible injuries:
“Nope, not that I know of.”
On anyone who stood out during the second half:
“How about the quarterback? He was fun. I thought [Jets TE Lawrence] Cager did a great job. I loved [Jets RG Nate] Herbig, the offensive lineman, just grinding. He was nursing some aches and pains, but was grinding on there. I saw [Jets TE Jeremy] Ruckert scored a touchdown. And then on defense, just the D-Line overall, play was really, really good execution across the board. I thought the defense did a great job. They had that one drive, obviously, but up until then, they were getting a lot of three-and-outs and did a really nice job.”
QB Mike White
Video: Here
On Jets QB Zach Wilson’s knee injury:
“I think we just have to wait and see but he was in good spirits and celebrating with the team.”
On how the team responded to Wilson’s knee injury:
“It is preseason, but it is a game so you want to compete and you want to have success. I think it was good. You’re going to face some early adversity and for us to go down there after the drive Zach got hurt and go get some points and go score a couple drives later, I think it was good. And then finish the game the way we did, it’s good football. It’s not about adversity, it’s about how you handle it and we went through it tonight.”
On the locker room embracing Jets offensive lineman Nate Herbig:
“He’s awesome. He’s just a good locker room guy, good teammate. He goes out there and works hard. He’s a captain tonight, so he’s officially undefeated as a captain and I told him that. He tried to laugh it off, but it’s facts. He’s a great guy, great for the room and is a good addition.”
CB Sauce Gardner
Video: Here
On his thoughts after his first game:
“I felt good to be out there with my brothers. To be able to go against a different team than I see every day in training camp, I think I did well the time that I was out there. I am looking forward to doing a lot more.”
On Jets QB Zach Wilson’s injury:
“It is awful seeing not even just a quarterback, but one of your brothers, in general, go down. At the end of the day, he was giving it his all, he wanted to be out there with us. We were all feeling a little down, but we knew we had to do it for him because we don’t know what the injury is.”
On how he thought the offense and defense performed after the first few drives:
“There was a lot of adversity. I think we bounced back and started playing complimentary football. The defense was feeding off of the offense and vice versa. I think that is what got us the win tonight.”
QB Chris Streveler
Video: Here
On the final drive:
“Yeah, we had a pretty big return. Got the ball out to around the 50-yard line, which was awesome. And then the first ball got tipped, completed and it’s kind of the biggest thing for a two minute drive is just putting the ball in play as early as you can and getting a positive play. And from there, ripped off a run, had some other plays. Just exciting to get out there and get some opportunities and play some football.”
On if he was able to talk to QB Zach Wilson at all after the game and check on him:
“Not really. He was kind of on the way out when we were on the way in. Obviously, concerned for him and just hope that everything is good but I don’t really know what’s going on.”
On what stood out about RG Nate Herbig as a teammate so far:
“Yeah, he has been a great teammate. It’s been interesting for me, you, know, I signed the first day of camp. So coming in, meeting guys. Herbig has been a guy I’ve had a lot of meals with and I feel like that is the time during camp when you can bond with a lot of guys, get to know guys. On tough days he’s always cracking jokes and bringing a smile to guys face but he’s always ready to work and comes to work and does a great job. So he played great tonight and the guys up front did a good job and everyone contributed.”
On if he has taken any team reps during camp:
“No, not really.”
On if he thought he had an opportunity to play:
“Well, they had told me, ‘Be ready’. This morning, [QB] Joe [Flacco] wasn’t playing so they said, ‘You might get in in the fourth.’ You just never know when an opportunity is going to come. And in a business like this, for me throughout my career being so many places, whenever things get frustrating or you aren’t getting reps you just have to keep pushing because you never know when that opportunity is going to come. Mine came today and we were able to make the most of it and able to really just have fun and play football.”
On how much fun he had out there:
“It was really fun. You know, you’re working through the kinks yesterday in walk through. Got a couple reps just to work through the kinks of my cadence with everybody. And then once that was smoothing out, just going out and playing football, throwing that first pass, getting a completion, taking a hit. And you’re just in the game. I’ve played football my whole life. It was just really, really fun to get out there and I’m thankful for the opportunity to play today and had a lot of fun.”
On what he likes most about this offense from a quarterback’s perspective:
“One of the things that I’ll just say about the quarterback room is that this is one of the best quarterback rooms I’ve ever been around. We all just get along really well. There is a lot of back and forth dialogue between [Offensive Coordinator] Mike [LaFleur], [Head Coach] Rob [Saleh] and all the quarterbacks about what they like, what they’re seeing. There’s just a lot of great guys in that room so it’s been really fun for me to be a part of that room and get to grow with those guys and learn. Just the collaboration between all of those guys I think it’s going to make for some good offense.”
On if all the moving around through the career has made him adaptable:
“Yeah. It’s kind of an acquired skill to be able to move from place to place and meet guys and learn new offenses. So having done that a few times, this is my fourth team in nine months, I guess, so you learn to kind of roll with the punches and again, just be ready for your opportunity whenever it may come because you just never know when it’s going to happen.”
On what it was like to capitalize on the opportunity to play after getting very few reps at camp:
“I don’t know what it says about me. I just think it was a team effort. It’s not just me out there playing. You go out there in the fourth quarter and those are a lot of guys, some of them like myself that are just looking for an opportunity trying to make plays. Not only for this team but trying to put things on film for the other 31 teams. I think it’s just a lot of guys that, I’m not the only guy who hasn’t gotten a ton of reps in camp, guys that are studying the playbook and just working hard, keep their head down and grind, and then whenever that opportunity comes, make the most of it. I think that’s kind of what the situation is in the fourth quarter of these games usually.”
On Jets QB Zach Wilson’s knee injury after his scramble down the field:
“I don’t know what happened with that. I mean it’s obviously a football play to scramble and run around. Football is football. I don’t know what happened with him but I wouldn’t say that was an irregular play to scramble like that.”