Jets Postgame Quotes (Week Five)
Head Coach Robert Saleh
Video: Here
On the injuries…
“[C Joe] Tippmann, he could have finished and then ‘AVT’ (G Alijah Vera-Tucker), he’s being evaluated for a calf.”
On the halftime adjustments…
“Give credit to breaking those guys in and, obviously with the offense, it felt like the offense was moving the ball well in the first half. We just started to do things, defensively they got us on a couple screens, [Broncos QB] Russell [Wilson] was scrambling, so one of the big adjustments obviously was just keeping an eye out for him, and we did that on the first third down and thought defense was outstanding, minus one drive, but overall it was gritty. It wasn’t pretty, a lot of things that we’ve got to improve on but I’m proud of the guys who fought.”
On if they are concerned with G Alijah Vera-Tucker’s injury…
“It’s a concern for sure.”
On if G Alijah Vera-Tucker’s injury is an Achilles injury…
“He’s going to have to get an MRI.”
On if LB Quincy Williams proved he is the best linebacker in football…
“Oh yes, he backs it up every day, he backs it up in practice, he backs it up in meetings. He’s a game-wrecker at linebacker. I’m so proud of him. You talk about the players, they get thrown away and they try to find their way. He stuck to it, kept his head down, kept working and he’s found his way and we’re very fortunate that we have him.”
On the mindset to unleash LB Quincy Williams later in the game…
“I credit ‘Brich’ [Defensive Coordinator Jeff Ulbrich]. There was a motion flaw in the protection as they get in the huddle from film study, so we were able to get two back-to-back in a two-minute situation. Felt good about our two-minute plan and knew that we had an opportunity to do a few runs.”
On if RB Breece Hall is back…
“He’s pretty good, isn’t he?”
On if RB Breece Hall looks like the same player from last year…
“He took one to the house. He’s had a couple opportunities. Against Buffalo he had a chance to go house, against Kansas City he had a chance to go the house, so it’s good to see him take one to the house. He’s a special back and when he gets up, ‘Brich’ [Defensive Coordinator Jeff Ulbrich] always talk about him, he’s kind of a deceptive runner, he’s just so massive, it doesn’t look like he’s moving fast and you feel like you’re tracking properly and then all of a sudden you say oh crap, where’d he go?”
On QB Zach Wilson’s performance…
“I thought [QB] Zach [Wilson] did a great job. The interception was unfortunate, but overall, he did a good job. Just offensively as a whole we’ve got to be better in the red zone. If we did, we probably could have blown that team out of the water but it’s still, like I said, gritty win. We ran the ball well, moved the ball, stayed ahead of the chains. I thought that we were really good in the second half.”
On the weight this game carried based on the offseason comments…
“It feels good to win in the league against anybody, it doesn’t matter, but it was it was a special, being for ‘Hack’ (Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett) obviously being here a year ago, [to rack] up over 400 yards on them and putting up 31 points.”
On the play at the end of the first half…
“I guess the first half, it was a little sloppy, obviously. It’s an O-zone situation. We’ve just got to be better in those situations.”
On if QB Zach Wilson needs to improve his awareness…
“We’ll look at the tape because even in that situation, you still have a chance to go clock it so we’ve just got to be more efficient on things. We’ve got to look at it as a team, but we definitely could have done better as a coaching staff and as an offense.”
On QB Zach Wilson’s interception…
“It was the right decision. Like I said, it was a good play from them. [Broncos CB Pat] Surtain [II] is one of the best in the league. He can catch them between his legs, give him credit.”
On if Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett got the game ball…
“Yes.”
On the defensive adjustments…
“They’re getting us on a lot of screens and the quarterback was running and getting a lot of yardages on the screen, so it was just a matter of taking out the screen game, taking out the QB scramble, making him play quarterback. I felt like the way they were calling it was making him play quarterback.”
On if he was upset with the penalties…
“Yeah, like I said it was sloppy. It was a sloppy game in the first half, and it was disappointing because we felt like we were moving the ball well, we felt like we were right there playing defense. Again, [Broncos QB] Russell [Wilson] was doing a great job with his feet. They were doing a great job with the screen game getting yards and we just need to settle down and if we could just eliminate the self-inflicted wounds on offense, eliminate the screen game and QB scramble on defense.”
QB Zach Wilson
Video: Here
On getting the win for Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett…
“I mean he’s an unbelievable dude, amazing character. This may be a little selfish, but I’m glad he’s here with us. Obviously, it’s been tough on him, but I’m glad he’s here. I have a lot of love for him so whether he said much this week about it or not, I know it means a lot and it meant a lot to this team and for him, so very happy for that.”
On having RB Breece Hall back…
“It’s awesome. That dude is a stud, but I think it starts with the guys up front. I mean, those guys, some big holes right there and when you give [RB] Breece [Hall] a chance to hit it like that, and he’s able to make some guys miss. He’s very explosive in the run game.”
On if he thought RB Breece Hall was going to score…
“Yeah, I handed off and looked back and you could have driven a semi-truck through that hole, so unbelievable job.”
On the play right before halftime…
“I need to be better in that situation. I knew the situation was to throw in-bounds, and we had to clock it. I think obviously I was frustrated we didn’t get back quick enough to clock it, but what’s that five yards, throwing it to [TE] C.J. [Uzomah] really doing for us? We are already in field goal range and really, it’s to take a shot at the endzone and I knew that, but I felt like he was open. I was going to give him a chance to try and run for it, but really there was no shot for that. I should have just sailed it over his head, and we kick the field goal the next play, and we need to be better right there. I was frustrated we didn’t get the clock off, but I could have helped us right there and just throw it in bounds.”
On the interception…
“The throw needs to be better. I missed inside a little bit. Third-down situation and man coverage, they put their best player on our best player, and he made an unbelievable play. It got tipped around a little bit and he cashed between his legs. It could kind of either way, but you can say a great play by [No.] 2 [Broncos CB Pat Surtain II] right there.”
On red-zone struggles…
“I think we need to go watch it on the tape and find where we could better in the red zone. It’s tough to score in this league but we need to be better there, and I think we need to get rid of the penalties and negative plays. I think that killed us kind of in the first half. It didn’t really feel like we were playing that bad, but we weren’t moving the ball necessarily in the first half. I think we had a couple of third and long’s, I think we’re 0-5 in the first couple of third downs in the game and we can’t be there because we can’t be third and long, we’ve got to find a way to get ahead of the sticks. I thought we did a better job of that in the second half.”
On the locker room scene…
“You can see the emotion on his (Jets Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett) face a little bit and he’s trying not to show it, but we all gave him big hugs and told him that love him, told him we’re grateful to have him here. He means a lot to us, obviously winning is hard in this league so that’s first and foremost but, obviously how things went for him this past year, it’s tough so, it means a lot.”
On their final scoring drive on offense and his pass completion to WR Garrett Wilson…
“Awesome play call. I wanted to suggest, ‘Hey, let’s keep throwing it,’ but we were running it so well, we can’t. It’s OK. How can I be efficient? How can I take care of the ball? How to compete in these situations. I thought it was an unbelievable call. It’s something that either we have the shot with [Jets WR] Garrett [Wilson] or we don’t and I’m safe with it. I either run or throw a check-down to my right. Garrett did a great job, o-line did a great job protecting right there and we got a chunk out of it. Those are the plays you need to try and seal a game off at the end.”
On building off of his performance last week against the Chiefs…
“The name of the game for me is how efficient can I be? I’m going to go back [and watch film] and there’s going to be some plays I want back, absolutely. The processing and then even being able to use my legs a little bit today was needed. Especially at the end, trying to get [Jets K] Greg [Zuerlein] into field goal range. We’ll go back and watch it because there’s always things to learn from in this league. I feel like I’m seeing the field well and being decisive and getting the ball out of my hands quickly. But of course, there’s places to improve upon.”
On how they are preparing for the Eagles next week…
“Great team. The crazy thing with the NFL is everyone’s great. That’s unbelievable. It never feels like there’s anything that’s easy in this league. Every game comes down to the fourth quarter or one-score games. Just like that right there at the end, you think you got it done and they start coming back. It’s going to be a big week for limiting the negative plays. How efficient can we be? Can we stay ahead of the sticks? We have to score in the red zone.”
CB Bryce Hall
On falling on the ball during the fumble recovery…
“You know what, in those moments, I wasn’t even thinking about it. I saw the ball, and I picked it up and thought like I could be in the endzone. Thinking back on it, I probably should have taken a knee to end it ,and we wouldn’t have been in the stressful situation in the end, but I just saw it picked it up, and I was like I might as well score with it. Tried to go a little bit toward the middle.”
On winning for Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett…
“Honestly for me, I think for us as a defense, it wasn’t really personal or any of that stuff. We knew we got an opponent, we come in, and anytime we feel like we have a standard that we want to play to the level of excellence that we know we’re capable of. We just saw it as another opportunity.”
On winning a close game unlike last week…
“It’s awesome. The cool part is I think we didn’t even waver from that last one that went all the way down to the wire. These guys rally as a group. Coaches put us in amazing positions, I can’t say enough about what they do. I just feel like that’s the character of this team. We’re steadfast. We faced some adversity already early on in the season. Man, there’s nobody to waver and that’s cool to see.”
LB Quincy Williams
On what has changed in his career now…
“The biggest thing is keeping the main thing the main thing. Actually, this offseason I met with a couple of people, bettering myself, and taking constructive criticism. A lot of work with [LB] C.J. Mosley. Really talked to him about how he becomes an All-Pro. How did he start fast in the game? So this offseason, I worked out a lot with him. Did a lot of DB drills, I know my coverage was where I was weak at, so focused on that. Also got with Nikki [Mense], our dietitian about my meals so I can be injury-free for the season. The biggest thing is just buying into it and actually focusing on the game. Then it’s year three in the scheme, trusting my teammates and my coaches, so when they call the play, I’m just doing my job. Then like I said, working out with C.J. during the week so we see the same thing, we talk the same language, and we are on the same page.”
On the sack fumble…
“We haven’t called that play in a minute. We haven’t called that in practice or nothing like that. So like I said, trust in the coaches, they call the play. As soon as that play was called, I knew it was going to be a sack, that’s the biggest thing. Coaches call the play, trusting that my teammates are going to do their job and trust in me that I’m going to do my job. Man, I can’t remember if we ran that play or not, but I know when it got called, I said, ‘Oh yeah, this is going to be a sack.’”
On trying to knock the ball out…
“My biggest thing is doing my job. The play got called, and I know it’s a sack. I wasn’t really focused on the ball. I know he carried it loosely, but I wasn’t really focused on the ball. I wanted to get the sack when the play was called. So it was my job to get the sack. I appreciate everybody else. I knew I was going to come up huge because I trusted my teammates in coverage. Then when the call came in, I trusted my teammate in coverage. I got the sack. That was my job.”
DL Quinnen Williams
On showcasing the pass rush in the fourth quarter…
“It was an amazing opportunity. ‘Russ’ (Broncos QB Russell Wilson) had a full game of great runs. Going into the fourth quarter with that lead definitely gave us the ammunition just get our heads back and get off the ball.”
On the team getting a win…
“You have to win football games in the NFL. You have to have all aspects—special teams, offense and defense—to be [a] good team and to even make it to the playoffs. So each and every week we got to stay and get better and it’s time to start stacking wins.”