On Andre Johnson…
He’s a fine player. He has a chance to be a great, great player. The thing that I’m really impressed with, he’s a real worker. Every great player I’ve ever been around, having a
because it’s so hard to make big plays. He has the total package from that standpoint and the thing I’ve really liked about him is he’s a very sharp kid. We’ve moved him around quite a bit, trying to find ways of getting him the football and he’s been able to handle that mental approach, because it’s been a plenty good load on him as well.
On last week’s pass defense…
Numbers wise, we’re down at that the bottom in the league. We really struggled the first few weeks of the season, stopping anybody, in all honesty. We did not play well defensively. We’ve played better for a streak and then this past week, we went after Buffalo and they made a couple of huge plays early in the game. The kid (J.P. Losman) made two great throws and (Lee) Evans, he’s something once he gets his hands on the ball. It’s really more credit to them making those plays, but we battled back and put ourselves in
it better around him to make him better. I expect a lot out of him, he’s done some good things, but he still has a long, long ways to go as a player. The thing I am most satisfied with him as a player is he has learned to prepare like a pro and he has gotten better each week.
On the Jets’ defense the last few weeks…
They’ve been really good. They go up to New England and do a heck of a job against Tom (Brady) and that crew over there. Last week they had their football team in position to win it 3-0, until Chicago makes that one play off of the hitch route. They have a lot of confidence in their back end, they’re not afraid to come get you. That presents a lot of problems for you front wise. The things that they do are very difficult to prepare for, that’s Eric’s (Mangini) stamp on that football team. He’s always been that way, when he was a coordinator and he’s doing things the same way. He’s very difficult to get your
Probable: *RB Kevan Barlow (calf), *LB Matt Chatham (foot), WR Tim Dwight (thigh), *OL Pete Kendall (knee), *WR Justin McCareins (foot), *DL Rashad Moore (hand), & *QB Chad Pennington (calf)
On Mario Williams’ development…
He’s playing nicked up; it’s been difficult the past few weeks. He has that Plantar Fasciitis. It hasn’t gotten any worse, but it hasn’t gotten better, it may not get better the rest of this season. He is on a different practice plan, so that he can get ready to go on Sunday. That’s been discouraging for him, these last three weeks, but I think it’s also encouraging from a football team standpoint because he’s giving it everything that he has and he’s learning to play through some pain, which you have to do to be a great player in this league. He’s
next year and skip year two and three. Hopefully the ability to play at such a young age helps them progress much quicker.
On still feeling like a rookie…
Oh, there’s no doubt. You think you’re ready or you say you’re ready but the load that you take on is something that I don’t know that you can ever really say that you expected. I had guys talk to me about it. When you’re a coordinator your concentration is on your side of the ball. When you become a head coach you have three different areas of football to worry about, offense, defense and special teams. You have 53 players and their lives that are a big part of your day every day and media and everything. It has been tremendously
chance to be around Jerry Rice and Rod Smith, those guys have work habits second to none. That’s what that kid (Johnson) has here. His future is so bright, he’s had a heck of a year for us. He got a little bit up last week, but he’s been exceptional for us, we always find a way to get him the ball. He’s the one big time player that gives us a chance week-in and week-out to make some plays. I’m very impressed with how he play, but really impressed with how he works.
