Head Coach Robert Saleh, 8.10

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Rich Cimini, EPSN.com: How do you switch now from the joint (practice), what kind of practice will it be?

It’s very similar. We were just going to do seven-on-seven and a two-minute drill with Carolina, so rather than doing with them, we’ll service one another in terms of ones versus ones, twos versus twos, and then we’ll finish our practice.

 

Antwan Staley, New York Daily News: When you look at the film from yesterday, just kind of what are your thoughts?

There is always going to be things you want to clean up offense, defense, special teams, from a schematic standpoint. But for me, the first thing I’m always trying to do is evaluate is our style of play, and the standard at which we try to do with our physicality, our effort, the precision in which we operate. I thought the special teams did a really nice job. I thought defense did a really nice job. Offense, obviously, we were still trying to click with a lot of new faces. So, they are just a little bit behind, but full confidence that we’ll get it going.

 

Dan Leberfeld, Jets Confidential: Who will be out there today?

Pretty much the same crew. I think actually, Garrett (Wilson) is going to be getting some individual today and Sauce (Gardner) will get individual.

 

Brian Costello, New York Post: Was (Jason) Brownlee okay, Robert? He took a knee to the head at one point?

Yeah, he went through the protocol. It was his neck, he kind of was feeling a little tender on his neck, but he’s fine.

 

A couple of people have talked to you about this throughout camp, but what’s your thought in terms of how your team has handled the attention and the extra spotlight that comes?

I think it’s been good, you’re always trying to look for guys who get comfortable. When you’re getting praised a lot and you have a starting spot and you are getting paid, you’re just trying to see if they kind of level off and you’re just trying to feel that as our duty to keep the main thing the main thing and make sure the guys are always pushing the envelope, but I feel like we’ve got a group of guys who are made of the right stuff. Joe (Douglas) and his staff and working with us, we’ve been very deliberate in the character that we brought into this locker room, and I don’t think these guys look at anything. I think they still view themselves as a team that hasn’t proven anything. We haven’t been to the playoffs, we won seven games last year. All the external noise is all coming from the fans, which is great and we’ve earned it because we’ve done a lot of really good things, but we haven’t earned it because we haven’t won anything yet.

 

How comforting is it for you to have Aaron (Rodgers) who’s been through all this before? 

It’s great, he’s been through all the highs and lows – winning seasons, losing seasons, world championships, and he’s been part of teams that have started slow and finished fast, and vice versa, but like I’ve said he’s another coach out there. He’s a tremendous source of information for me to be able to sit down and just talk though things, and just to get his insights, because he is in the locker room. He is with those guys and he does protect those guys, which he’s supposed to do, but at the same time, he understands the other lens, which is a very unique trait in a player to understand both sides of the coaches and players equation, so just having him has been great.

 

Rich Cimini, ESPN.com: It looked like from our vantage point that Mekhi (Becton) had a couple of pretty good blocks yesterday, moving around people. What did you think of his performance yesterday and what do you see for him on Saturday in terms of ramping up a little? 

Yeah, like I said yesterday, the talent, we’re not worried about the talent. We’re not worried about his ability. We’re not worried about any of that stuff. For him, it’s about getting comfortable with that knee and straining himself to push through and find ways to be able to show that he can play a full game and then on a normal practice schedule, show that he can do it again. If he can do that, and that’s what this whole camp is about, is to get him mentally connected to that knee, so he’s got full confidence in it and if we can do that then we’ll see, very normal. I mean he had a block yesterday that was unbelievable and for him, it’s all confidence.

 

Rich Cimini, ESPN.com: What do you think his snap counts will be on Saturday?

We’ll see. I know I gave a number yesterday. I’d like for him to push as far as he can.

 

Eric Allen, New York Jets: What do you think of Tony Adams continued development, he seems like he’s always finding a way to get to the ball?

He’s been doing a great job. He’s fighting, he wants to be a starter. (Adrian) Amos is not making it easy on him either, but he’s showing up. When we talk about representation of style of play, he embodies all of it, and he’s doing a really nice job.

 

Zack Rosenblatt, The Athletic: How would you characterize how that battle between Billy (Turner) and Max (Mitchell) has been going?

It’s been good. Both showing a lot of good things, obviously, you look at Billy, he’s got all the veteran experience and savviness and then you look at Max, he’s got, not that Billy’s not athletic or anything, but he’s just younger, and he’s a little bit bigger of a body. That competition has been going pretty good.

 

Antwan Staley, New York Daily News: As far as Zach (Wilson), what do you want to see from him on Saturday? And what’s the expectation of him? 

Continue to stack up good days. I know yesterday, you probably felt like yesterday was not his best day and that’s okay. He threw his first interception of camp, it’s been two and a half, almost three weeks now, so he’s been having a good camp. You’re always going to hit a bump in the road I don’t care how good of a quarterback you are. Just to see him bounce back and continue and get back on track on the road he’s been on. I’m excited about his direction, he’s in such a great mindset, so it’s just a matter of him just getting back on the horse and rolling.

 

Brian Costello, New York Post: What’s your concern level right now with the offensive line?

My optimistic side will say we have time. Duane (Brown) is coming back, there’s still a lot of pieces, we’ve got some cards in our back pocket that we can use, but as a coach, you want it done yesterday. We want these guys rolling, we want confidence, we want to start humming, but I also understand all the different moving parts and verbiage and new scheme. Keith (Carter) has a different style to the way he coaches and his technique, so there’s a learning curve, so that part of it, I have empathy for and understanding that it is going to take some time for them, but yeah I’m a coach, I always wanted it yesterday.

 

Brian Costello, New York Post: If no one emerges in that tackle competition and seizes the job, is AVT (Alijah Vera-Tucker) a possibility there?

We’re going to play our best five and if that’s how one of them shake up, that’s something we’re going to have to talk about.

 

Andy Vasquez, NJ Advance Media: Does his versatility give you more confidence that you’ll be ready for Week One?

Yeah, AVT is a very special football player. You guys know how we feel about AVT and what he did a year ago is unprecedented in football, so we’ve got full confidence. Like I’ve said, we want to keep him at guard as best we can, because we think he’s an All-Pro guard, would still be an unbelievable tackle, probably a Pro Bowl tackle, but we know that we will be his absolute best on the inside, but his versatility is obviously very beneficial.

 

You mentioned a minute ago, Aaron being a coach on the field. Do you anticipate him calling some more plays for Zach on Saturday?

He puts in his suggestions. One great thing about Aaron is that he is very respectful to I don’t want to call it a line, but to that position of power that we’ve allowed- not allowed, I’m trying to give this a word for you guys, we’re leaning on him, obviously. I’ve been very vocal about it. He’s such an unbelievable human with unbelievable thoughts, but he’s very respectful and isn’t abusing it in terms of just, ‘Hey, this is my view and if we disagree, that’s perfect coach, thanks for your insight’ and then there’s times were I’m like, “*expletive* Aaron, that’s really, really good, we’ll implement it,” so right now, it’s been a really good team effort and I anticipate it continuing that way, he’s just been phenomenal.

 

I know you guys didn’t beg for Hard Knocks, but what’s that adjustment been like having all the cameras around?

It’s fine, we have One Jets Drive. I feel like since I have walked in here, there’s been more cameras on a New York practice field than I’ve ever seen in my life, so it’s been the same for me.