Hello Folks & welcome to the Rich Eisen show presented by RedZone's the Athletic. This year on my show I have decided to spend time interviewing all 32 coaches in RZ during Training Camp & Preseason as we ramp up for S77 here in the RedZone. We started in the AFC East & For those of you unable to watch us on Peacock or listen to the podcast we have released the interviews here in this article.  Now as a NY guy its only right that I start in the AFC East with my beloved New York Jets. Here is how it went:

(R) Joining us today on the Mercedes Benz Vans Phoneline is none other then Coach Atom of the New York Jets. We are very excited to have you here today to speak with us about the state of the team & learn about training camp over in Floram Park, NJ. How are you feeling about what you have seen from the team so far?

(A) Thank you for having me Rich. I’d be lying if I said it was all sunshine and rainbows. But I knew this job wasn’t going to be a cake walk when I took it so I feel confident in my ability and my team’s ability to make adjustments and play as well as I know we can. 

(R) Well coach I for one will be watching every week & hope that you can turn this team into a winner. As a long suffering Jet fan its been quite a while since I got to watch them succeed here in RZ. Most of that success will be determined by the young QB. We know Wilson was selected a year ago with the 2nd overall pick, year 2 will be very importat in his developmet. With a much better supporting cast from a year ago how do you think he fits into your scheme & what you are trying to do here in NY & what are youre expectations of the young man out of BYU?

(A) Yeah for sure, he will be very important to our success this season and moving forward. Zach is one of the more underrated young QBs in the league I think. He’s still very very young and also has a canon of an arm. He has a good feel for throwing the ball short and deep with good accuracy and can cause defenses problems with his legs when he needs to. My expectations of Zach for this season are to just learn the new system and get better from week to week. He’s going to flash his high potential a couple times each game, it’s just going to be about turning those flashes into an every down thing.

(R) Well I certainly wish him well, he seems to have figured out his way off the field if you know what im refering too. I hope he finds the endzone as well as he finds the cougar den. Moving on from Zach & talking a little more about you coach, last cycle you came in taking over as a replacement for a longtime RZ Vet & you had some success. How do you think getting your feet wet in RZ last year will help you moving forward with your own team from Day 1?

(A) I think stepping in halfway through last cycle helped me a lot actually. The last 2 season of last cycle I finally felt like I was getting 100% confident in my ability. I think I now have a good sense of where my place is in this league and I only plan to go up from here. Also the aspect of not having to take over someone else’s team is going to big for me I think. I enjoyed that falcons team but they were not built in the way I would’ve liked. This jets team will live or die by my own decisions and that for sure makes it less frustrating. 

(R)  Looking around the division there are some tough teams in the AFCE. How do you think the Jets stand up against the other teams?

(A)  I think people are doubting this roster can keep up with any of the other teams in our division and I don’t blame them because they don’t know what to expect. We have a lot of unproven guys but if they come out and play like I know they can we should be pushing for a playoff spot for sure. It all comes down to our young players stepping up. If they’re up to the challenge I don’t see why we can’t make a playoff push year 1.

(R) Obviously this previous draft was Massive for the Jets. Landing players like Sauce, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson & Breece Hall. How does having such an influx of young talent at premium positions position you to turn the Jets around?

(A) It sets us up for prolonged success. Other teams have to worry about expensive contracts with aging players at premium positions. We may not have established superstar players but we do have a bunch of guys that could develop into that in the next 1-3 seasons. Also, not having to worry about drafting certain positions right off the bat is one of the reasons I chose to come to New York. This roster can only get better with time and the same cannot be said for some other teams. 

(R) Looking at the rest of the roster, what is maybe an area of weakness or a position you are still looking to upgrade?

(A)  I think we have room to improve at a couple positions. But like I said earlier we’re pretty set when it comes to having youth at the more premium positions like QB, RB, WR, DL, and CB. Interior O line, linebackers and Safeties are what comes to mind immediately when thinking about where we might look to add a piece or two either before the trade deadline or come next off season. 

(R) What do you expect from the Jets this year? Is it 8-9? Is it AFCE Crown? Is it deep playoff run? Superbowl? Talk to me coach, what does a successful season look like to you?

(A)  A successful season to me, like I mentioned earlier, is one where we get better every single week. Wether that includes a playoff run remains to be seen but I know this team is definitely capable of doing that. My main focus is developing the players we have and to have team success along with that would be my ideal situation. 

(R)  Alright coach before I let you go, lets go a little off the field here. Picture you win a SB & you're going to go out & celebrate with a great Meal where are you headed? What's the go to type of food you're eating?

(A) If we actually won a super bowl my team can have whatever the fuck they want. Don’t know if I’m allowed to curse here but yeah, if all they wanna eat is ass that night, I’ll make it happen.

(R) Haha I feel that coach & yes please feel free let the F Bombs Fly. Well I appreciate you joining us & giving a look behind the curtain at 1 Jets Drive. I look forward to watching your team this year & I wish you all the best. Thanks Coach take care.

Next up on our Tour of the AFCE we spoke to coach Theo of the New England Patriots

(R) Always tough to talk about the Patriots but boy do I love their coach. Coach Theo welcome, we are happy to have you here on the Rich Eisen show, presented by The Athletic, Coach lets jump into it how do you feel about what you have seen so far in training camp? 

(T) Happy to be here Rich, look My team is not perfect and we had some work to do on both ends of the ball, but I love my linebacking core. I feel like we will have a solid front that can bring some pressure and help out or defensive backfield. With Malcom going out at corner during camp we’ll have to make things work this season. But I think we will surprise some people. 

(R) The previous regime drafted QB Mac Jones last year & he had a good rookie season. He will enter the season as your starter but does he fit what you are trying to do here in New England & will he be the guy long term?

(T) As you know Rich a coach likes to come in with their guy and vision. In this case I think Mac can fit my vision for our offense. I want use to solid in the run game and make timely accurate passes. I think Mac fits the bill there. The beauty of a rookie contract is we have a couple seasons to see how this works out. Right now Mac is the guy for us.

(R) I love to see growth & development in coaches. Its beautiful your home responsabilities have helped translate into your coaching career.  Lets move on to the AFCE, the battles ahead of you will be good ones. This team is great on paper, how will that translate on Sundays compared to the rest of the AFC East?

(W) On paper or the ratings sites can say whatever they want. Things for us are always decided on the field. I love the group of coaches we have in the AFCE. Coach Adel is an RZ mainstay. What he was able to do in Baltimore the last cycle was impressive. Coach Ambers and I are like brothers. He's a real Hoot. I always like going head to head with him on the field. Coach Atom joined us mid-way the last cycle and really came into his own the last two seasons. I think the AFCE will be competitive from top to bottom and the 6 division games we all play each season will be a knockdown drag-out fight. 

Whew that went how I expect them all to go. We went out there from the first snap & handled business today.  Back to back weeks now we have beat up on the lesser teams in the AFC East.  If only we could have swept Buffalo! 

I think the whole team came to play today, the offense looked awesome, Sam was slinging it all over & the defense made life miserable all day long for the Phins.  Being able to take advantage of a weak O-line was huge for us.  Quinnen had a sack & a half, Jenkins had a sack & a half & then Christmas came up with a huge sack as well. All that pressure helped our guys in coverage as well.  Blake Cashman had an interception, Mosley made the huge one in the endzone & Quincy Wilson had two interceptions from the Nickel spot.  Im really happy with how they played. 

Sam was able to get us going early with the strike to Mims on what seemed to be miscommunication from the Dolphins defense.  They looked super confused early on making a lot of switches all over the field before getting set.  Sam finished the day 24/33 for 354 for 3td's & 1 interception.  He also found Chris Herndon & Jamison Crowder for scores. Perine & Adams each ran in touchdowns on the day as well. Nice to see two young guys who work really hard, make the most of their opportunities.  

It was a good team win but we have our work cut out for us to end the year.  I like where we are heading into the bye, at 6-4 & tied for first I will absolutely take that.  We face Miami, Las Vegas, Seattle, Los Angeles (Rams), Cleveland & New England to end the year.  We need to realistic go 5-1 to have a chance at this division in my opinion.  The Bills are playing good football right now but it has been NCI the whole AFC East has dropped games the past two weeks while we have been on a 2 game winning streak.  We cant be complacent, its time to turn it up a notch.  With that I open it up to questions:

We heard after the Bills game you did not even address the team, and the following practice was rough. Do you think your guys responded to that & is that the right move when being the coach of a team?

Yeah I was livid after that Bills game, not going to lie. I just think we didn't make plays in that game, we had a ton of opportunities to win & didn't make any plays.  Thats not going to become a trait a Moji coached team has.  We will make plays.  Look what happened since, we routed the Patriots & Dolphins back to back. We have looked much better since I went in on them at practice. Sometimes running suicides all practices makes you appreciate working on your craft to get better.  If we lose to a better team because they flat out beat us, im okay with that, I really am. What I will not stand for is half ass effort & just dumb mistakes that prevent us from winning. Those are punishable & they got punished.  I stand by what I did 100%, our guys are hungry & they want to win. I think they responded positively. 

Sam has throw 3 touchdowns in back to back weeks.  We know a lot of the plays changed heading into the Chargers game, how do you feel Sam is finally grasping this offense?

Yeah you can see Sam looks a lot better out there, limiting turnovers & not missing like he was.  Things were rough for a few weeks there and thats on me. We have made changes multiple times this year so that we could fool opposing coaches & try to compete.  Thats on me making things too complicated for everyone.  We have such a unique skillset here I have to do what I can to make sure that Sam & everyone else are in the best spot to succeed.  I think that we are finally in a spot where Sam knows what I am going to call & can really see what the goal is for the offense.  I do think that adding wr Keelan Cole has been a huge addition. He had 2 big catches today for 50 yards.  What he brings to the team though helps, him taking snaps away from Mims & from Perriman really makes those other guys work harder & want to make the most of their opportunities as well.  Cole has nice size & speed & has really good hands. He is still learning the offense so will be a rotational guy for us but having that one other guys we can throw out there that will be a matchup nightmare for opposing teams is great for us. I am looking forward to getting him more involved as weeks go on. As far as Sam goes, the kid is going to be a great QB, he just is. Its all about how quickly we can get him to that point.  I think he will be a Pro-Bowl QB this year, im going to do what I can to make sure he accomplishes that. I know it was a big goal of his coming into this season. 
 

The experts all picked against you guys and you were pretty vocal about it.  What did you see in this matchup heading into this game that you thought was disrespectful for experts to pick coach BM over you here?

Look I know we have not been the most consistent team in the league this year, but I think we are a good football team & most weeks are a real tough out.  I love coach BM hes a great head coach & has won in this league before.  But lets be real, there is only 1 Moji. To be honest when you have coaches like BM or Glenn who are great dudes, and are good coaches, but when you go head to head with me you better be able to make a bunch of adjustments & I saw none of that in this game, or this season from either coach.  That Dolphins team was very very vanilla & nothing really fooled us. Everything was straight forward & a guy who watches as much film as BM does should be ashamed of himself.  Nothing was disguised all game, everything was straight forward & if you just line up & play against us & dont try to fool us, you're going to get beat.  We had 2 teams try to lineup & really show what they are doing & they both thought their "Talent" on the field would win their matchups. Both teams got blown out. If you are not going to get creative you're going to get beat. I am the best coach in this division & no one should pick either one of those teams over the Jets for the rest of the cycle. Sure they may catch us couple times, but I go into every season looking at 4 wins on the schedule.  After what I saw the past two weeks, I was correct.
See you guys in two weeks

It feels really good to get back on track! With the way the past two games have gone we had a lot of things to change heading into this one.

I know I haven't been around post game the past two weeks, my contract only requires me to do 8 of these press conferences a season + a mandatory one at the beginning & end of the year.  Believe me you were not missing anything the past two games, there was nothing good to say.

This game was a true chess match, thats a well coached team here in LA. I thought the offense moved the ball really well all day, especially for how good that team is defensively. The opening drive for us resulted in a 98 yard pick six which simply cannot happen. We drive all the way down the field, 10,11,12 plays whatever it was & then we have miscommunication & it results in a pick 6 is just awful.  Things like that we still need to clean up.  I think the move we made to a much more "West Coast" Style helped us this week.  Sam was a lot safer with the ball then he has been the past few weeks.  I think Herndon was huge this week, he had 7 catches & helped us move the sticks a lot.  Bell is Bell, he is 2nd in the whole league for receptions/yards for a running back.  We do need to get him going a little bit more on the ground, but that will come. Crowder with a great route on the slot wheel play to score our only receiving touchdown of the day.  Herndon ran up the same & Sam looked the safety off in cover 2 to allow Crowder to get wide open for the touchdown.  

The defense was much much better this week. I think we held Keenan Allen without a catch until the 4th quarter & he finished the day with 1 catch for 16 yards.  Bless Austin did such a good job in coverage on him.  That being said Mike Williams torched us a bit.  It was a tough matchup for Poole who is a lot smaller then Williams. Poole did have a big int to end the half & made a couple of key breakups to end the game.  Blake Cashman is just a tackling machine out there, tacking on 10 more this week.  Quinnen Williams was able to register a late sack, as was Sharif Finch.  Finch also was signed to a 5 year $6M extension before the game, keeping him here in NY for a while. 

There is plenty to work on in order for us to play a complete game. I would also like to see us win a game big, my heart cant take all of these close games. Thats just the nature of RedZone though, you will always have stiff competition & everything is earned.  There arent many times we are blowing guys out.  I know next weeks game vs Buffalo is huge.  Both teams enter at 4-2, both teams enter coming off wins & both teams really need this game.  Us winning week 1 means absolutely nothing right now. We have to go back home & defend MetLife stadium.  That team is clicking right now on both sides of the ball. They just dismantled a really talented Chiefs roster, even if they are poorly coached.  We have our work cut out for us next week.

With that I will open to questions

You say you made changes to the offense & Sam seemed pretty comfortable this week, what exactly was changed?

We simplified things, we went to a more "West Coast" style. A more vintage Patriots type of offense & I think we have a lot of the players capable to do that.  I think with Herndon playing that Gronk role he shined today.  Crowder can play the slot role as well as anyone & then getting the ball out to Lev in space to let him work.  I think it gives Sam a lot more safe throws where he can get the ball out quick. With guys like Ingram & Bosa coming at you, you have to get rid of it & that is something we prioritized this week.  We did not do a great job protecting against Denver or Arizona. It was a big focus for us this week. I truly don't want to give away anything else about our offense, for obvious reasons.

Coming into the year everyone said this Jets team has the worst pass rush in the league, you are currently ranked tied for 8th in sacks & Quinnen Williams is 3rd in the league in sacks. With a couple of games to go on the late slate how have you guys been able to get pressure when it seems this team does not have a true edge rusher?

Q has been amazing for us so far this year, & he does it against the run & the pass. I think our team does a really good job of doing their job. Except the 2 weeks prior, for 4 games now we have been able to generate pressure & there has not been a lot of blitzing necessary. I think by shuffling our guys in & out & moving these guys all over it really has to keep the o-line on their toes. They can't get comfortable & always have to communicate on who they are picking up.  The goal is to make life as hectic for the o-line & QB as possible.  Then it comes down to taking advantage of matchups.  I said it from day 1, Quinnen Williams will be a star in this league. The guys is bursting with talent.  I think hes having a great second season after his rookie year did not go as everyone expected.  That being said we are only 6 weeks in, teams will adjust & start to figure out what we are doing.  We will have to keep bringing new looks & getting ready to make plays.  Its all about setting our guys up with the best chance to win their individual matchups. Then they have to execute.

I have a lot to do in order to prep for Buffalo, I will see you all in MetLife next week.

Lets Go!! This is another monster win for this team, and boy was this one a full team effort.  All smiles in that locker room today because we looked pretty solid on both sides of the ball. Key players just seemed to will us to victory today!

Before I break it down I have to acknowledge the effort that Sam Darnold, Le'veon Bell, Earl Thomas, Blake Cashman & Jameson Crowder all gave out there today. You want to talk about leaving everything on the field, man did they do that and then some. 

We just may be the worst 1st quarter team in the league and im not sure why, maybe its my fault but my one negative takeaway is that we have to start faster, we cannot continue to show up in the second quarter and only play three quarters of football. We have to do it for a full 60 minutes otherwise its going to start catching up with us. Rivers came out of the gate Red Hot! And quickly scored on a nice route where AJ Green just beat our corners deep & Rivers dropped it right over his shoulder for a pretty easy touchdown.  Those are two guys who have been All-Pro's in their career and thats just simple pitch and catch for them, they will get that every time. I grabbed our DC Gio Small after that play & we agreed that we cant be that aggressive vs this team, gotta make them earn it & put together long drives. It seemed to work for us well in the 2nd half.  

We went 3 & out after that.  The Colts marched down & scored again, this time only getting a field goal.  We had to punt again before the end of the quarter, luckily for us we turned it on after that.  Down 10-0 Sam lead a fantastic drive down the field, including a big gamble on 4th down on our own 35. The Colts did it to us to open the game & you know I will not let another coach be more aggressive then me, especially Mr. Chapstick who you all know the history between us.  Sam was honestly going to try to get them to jump & it seemed to work on 4th & 2.  Their DT jumped but the ref never called it, Sam snapped the ball & somehow fit in a beautiful pass to Herndon who was able to slip past the linebacker & get 13 yards. We capped the drive on 2nd & goal from the 2 yard line. The Colts sold out for the run on 1st down, which I anticipated them doing again.  Sam had a really nice fake to Lev on the goaline & everyone bit. Herndon was wide open in the corner of the endzone for a pretty easy touchdown. 10-7.  Sam once again marched back down converting big first downs to guys like Crowder & Lev Bell, both of which just seemed to make the first guy miss all day long. We ran a little RPO to Crowder in the slot, Perriman made a key block on the corner & Crowder was able to dive into the endzone before the Safety could get to him for us to take a 14-10 lead.  The Colts would march right down & score before the end of the half on a perfect throw from Rivers once again. Their wideout Parris Campbell just went over the top of Quincy Wilson & was able to pull the ball down in traffic as he fell into the endzone.  17-14 but we got the ball to start the 2nd half.

The 3rd quarter was very back & forth, Sam had a couple of interceptions that looked like PI but we did not get a call, the DB hit Crowder early and nothing was called, which was surprising because Crowder drew two PI's in the first half.  We finally were able to get down there late in the quarter.  3rd & goal we ran a swing screen to Lev.  He again made the first guy miss & barreled over the safety to get into the endzone, just all desire by Lev to get in.  In all honesty he should not have scored there but man he was a man possessed today.  He picked up so many key first downs & extended drives just by breaking the first tackle.  21-17 Jets.

Late in the 4th we had it 3rd & goal on the 4,  Lev again tried to get in but they made a great play to stuff him just short.  At the 2 minute warning we decided to send Hauschka out there to go up 3 instead of risking turning it over.  We held the Colts out of the endzone all half & I trusted our defense to do it on one more drive, 24-17.  Colts march down the field & get themselves in position to score, with no timeouts & about 20 seconds left the pressure got to Rivers & he threw one up in triple coverage in the endzone. Rookie Ashtyn Davis made a nice play on the ball & came down with the interception to close it out for us, just like last week, except that was Thomas.  

It was a huge game for us, the Colts are a team everyone picked to go really deep in the playoffs this year, thats a great coach & a great roster.  It was a dogfight & I am so proud we were able to come out on top.  Just to touch on some of these guys again, Darnold went 16/26 (61%) for 204 yards, 3touchdowns & 2 interceptions.  Lev Bell had 41 yards rushing on 14 carries & tacked on 59 yards on 5 receptions including the touchdown.  Crowder also had 5 catches for 52 yards & his touchdown as well.  On defense Blake Cashman had 10 tackles & a sack.  Earl Thomas had a big interception & had numerous big plays where he broke up plays deep down the middle, including a huge 3rd down play early on in the 4th which would have set the Colts up to score but instead had to punt.  Ashtyn Davis also had the pick as I mentioned earlier.  The Dline deserves credit too, not only did they make up for last week & hold the Colts to 37 yards rushing they also had 4 sacks on the day. One each for Cashman, Nathan Shepherd, Sharif Finch & Andrew Van Ginkel.  Sitting at 3-0 when everyone doubted us all offseason long is huge for this club & man do we feel great.  There is still plenty to improve & we know our high's cant be too high & our lows cant be too low,  we know we are good enough to beat any team in this league we just need to play our game & take it one play at a time.  With that I will open it up to questions.

Coming into the game Rivers looked like a way too early favorite for MVP, he had 6 touchdowns & no interceptions through 2 games. You were able to pick him off twice today & seemed to knock him off his game especially in the 2nd half.  What was the game plan for this team coming in to stop Rivers.

In my opinion Phil is a future Hall of Famer, the guy is just so good. He doesnt miss throws, hes smart, hes super fiery & competitive, how do you not love a guy like Rivers.  I know his arm strength isnt exactly what it used to be & after the deep play to Green I said we have to leave guys over the top all game long. We cant give Green & Hilton chances to go up 1 on 1 with our corners without having some help.  Davis & Thomas played great & limited Rivers from testing the deep ball. I trust our guys underneath, it was a lot of 34 today honestly. Our linebackers are all really versatile & can make plays against the run & the pass.  Its why Cashman gets so much time & why Avery moved to OLB so that we are a little bit better in coverage out there.  Our dline did their job today as well. So its really just each level of defense trusting the others. 

Darnold right now is a top 5 qb in the league, with 760 yards & 7 touchdowns to 3 interceptions, he is one of the few qb's in the league with a positive TD to INT ratio.  Why do you think he has been able to be this successful so far.

This is the Sam we expect & I say it every week, like you guys are waiting for the other shoe to drop, this is our QB & we expect this play all the time from him. Hes such a smart kid and besides the talent he has in his arm I really think its the presnap reads.  Hes doing a great job of anticipating what the defense will do & can see the play before it happens. He really knows who he has before the play starts & it isnt often he has to look past his first or second read. Whats awesome about Sam is he is also athletic enough to extend the play and find that third or fourth option if he has too. Plus his supporting cast has been playing really well. Everyone has bought into the offense & understands exactly what their job is on every play. When we play as a team it helps the individuals shine.  

Looking forward to next week, you head back to MetLife to take on the Broncos & coach Astin who has been struggling lately. Thats a coach you have not always had the best relationship with on the field. What do you expect heading into that game?

Yeah im not buying into any of the talk going into that one. We arent listening to that they are struggling, or they have 0 sacks on the season, their defense cant stop anyone. Not listening to any of it. We are treating this game like we are facing the winningest coach in RZ because we are. I dont care if he is 0-15 when we meet, an Astin coached team is getting our best effort & we are going to prep for this like its the biggest game of the season.  I wont get into anything personal, but hes getting our best effort.  See you guys at MetLife.

That was a gritty win right there!!! What a wild ride that game was huh? There is so much to dissect after that game. I really don't even know where to start.

I am really proud of these guys, and that may be silly so early on, but you can see there is no quit in this team.  We started this game off with a pick 6 after both teams went 3 & out.  Then we got absolutely dominated for almost the rest of the half. After capping off 2 nice drives to end the half we are somehow up 21-14 despite allowing them to run for 100 yards & 2tds in the first half.  They score in the 3rd to tie it.  We trade field goals & then they go up by 3 with just 2:27 to go in the game.  That drive the boys put together there at the end was nothing short of Brilliant! Sam was methodical & made throw after throw. Some big catches by Crowder & Perriman & Griffen set us up.  After the strike to Griffen around the 50 second mark, which was such an impressive diving catch with a LB on his back, we had it 1st & goal from the 4 as time ticked down.  I said lets run this here, they may not be ready.  So we rushed the jumbo unit out there, Perriman wide right & let Lev get to work.  It was probably his best run of the day, we did not have a ton of success on the ground against a really stout front.  You could see they were late rushing onto the field with their goaline defense.  We ran a simple power left & Lev made a gorgeous cut back to the inside to walk into the endzone.  It was so well done.

The defense came up big too. San Fran had 2 timeouts & 38 seconds to work.  Kittle burnt us a couple of times & they ended up with 1 play to win it, down 4 with about 10 seconds left.  They were about 30 yards out & we were able to pressure Jimmy a little to throw it before he wanted too. Earl made a great play on the ball & was able to come up with the pick in the endzone to seal it for us. 

Man that game was wild, I have to give Sam a lot of credit, I thought he was lights out for most of this game.  He faced a furious pass rush, that was in his face all day. He faced a hell of a secondary & a great LB core.  The kid was just terrific. Even his pick I dont really blame on him, I thought the LB got there early & hit crowder before he had the ball & took it away from him.  Such a bang bang play as you're throwing out of a sack, I will take our chances on that. Usually Jameson is coming away with that ball.  Sam went 22/35 (62%) for 295 yards 2tds & the pick.  He really carried us today. We dropped a lot of passes, especially early on. Our guys made up for it in the 2nd half however.  I thought the pass to Mims for a touchdown with 4 seconds left in the 1st half was absolutely perfect, he could not have thrown that ball any better.  Denzel did a great job of beating his guy off the press & securing that catch over his shoulder as he fell down with the cb on his back for his first career touchdown. What a great moment! We were really fired up heading into the half.

The film from this game wont be pretty to watch though.  There are a LOT of concerns about how we played against the run.  I thought we were glued to those lineman in the first half. To allow that many yards in a half is unacceptable, we got bullied up & down the field for a majority of this game.  We have to get that sorted out. We did get to Jimmy a decent amount when he dropped back, couldn't get the sack but we hit him plenty to force bad throws on 3rd downs or to force the two picks we did have.  Quincy Wilson made a nice play on the pick 6 early on, Wake hit JG on the throw & it looked like there were two Niners there to make a play but Wilson quickly attacked the ball & went. Man did we need that.  I thought Crowder was massive for us today, 7 catches for 111 yards & the touchdown. Perriman was also good adding in 83 yards. We wanted him to get more, I know he had a big goal this week of breaking 100 again. But when he went down late in the 3rd with the stinger we did not want to risk it.  We kept him out there as more of a decoy then a real threat.  He will be fine for next week in Indy.  

We were able to get C Conor McGovern back this week. His presence in the middle of the line was severely missed.  Team doctors are hopeful that TE Chris Herndon & RB La'Mical Perine will both be clear to play next week as well, but both will be game time decisions more then likely.  Also LB Jordan Jenkins has suffered what appears to be a torn labrum. Early indications are he will miss about a month with the injury. With that I will open this up to questions. 

It seems Sam is really starting to turn it on right now. After a rough preseason & camp is this the Darnold you expecting coming in?

Honestly, he can be even better. I think the world of Sam Darnold & I don't want to spend the whole press conference gushing over how much I love my QB but for a 23 year old to have stones like he showed today, man that is special.  He is the reason we won this game today, he made some really great throws.  That scramble left throw across his body as Crowder adjusted his route because he ran out of room was a top notch, Rodgers like throw.  That is just a play you can't teach.  I think as Sam & the offense plays more & gets used to each other, they will keep getting better and better. I wish we could start scoring some first quarter touchdowns on offense, but we will get there.

The Defense struggled a lot for almost 3 quarters. Then in the 4th you were able to bend but don't break & hold them to two fieldgoals which allowed you to score the field goal & touchdown in the 4th to win.  What do you think was the biggest change from the first 3 quarters?

Going into the 4th tied at 21 our guys knew it was do or die time. They knew the impact a win like this would have on our season. I think they just wanted it more honestly.  We did a great job of shuffling guys in & out a little more to keep the dline fresh. I think the secondary played great & I think we caught onto the tendencies the Niners had.  They stuck to their game plan & it really did not change. That allowed us to anticipate things a little more & start making some more plays.  I think the Dline started eating up more double teams which allowed Mosley & Avery & Cash to go make more tackles. Once we started playing more selfless along the dline & those guys were okay not getting tackles & just clogging things up so the LB's could work, we were much better off.  We were never really threatened by their passing game. Sure we made sure we knew where Kittle was at all times & he had a great day for them, but outside of that we really were not worried. The run had our attention & we said if Jimmy beats us, he beats us. Luckily for us, he did not beat us.

This team seems to have a really nice mix of young players who are making an impact & veterans who you can lean on. How important is that balance to have on a roster?
Yeah that is really how this roster is built. There are a lot of guys under 25 on this roster who still have so much to learn. Key players like Becton, Mims, Cash, Davis, Herndon & Sam to name a few.  But these guys all start & play all game long. They are all super talented but there are times they need help & that comes with growing in this league. Having guys with a wealth of knowledge to lean on & ask questions or talk you through what they are seeing is just so valuable to a team. It gives these young guys a really great safety blanket to lean on. Guys like Le'veon Bell, Mosley, Avery, ETIII, Peters, Crowder etc. These guys are in there every play & give that calming presence to the team.  I know that last drive Sam had these guys ready to go but Lev was also helping calm everyone down.  He was on the sideline walking up and down just so confident saying we got this, we got this.  Then the boys went out & sure enough he capped it off to win. Having that kind of presence is so helpful you really cant put a price on it or put it into words, but without guys like that the whole thing crumbles.  I love where this team is at right now. Being 2-0 is great and we have a lot of work to do, a LOT of work.  This team is full of fight and they wont quit. I ask for nothing more as a coach. 

Next week you face off with a very very familiar foe, coach Chapstick & those Colts. With your rivalry being as long & colorful as it is, how does that impact your preparation for next week.

Coach Chapstick is a great coach, he honestly has been my biggest rival here in RZ. He is such a dynamic coach & does things differently its really hard to prepare for. His teams always run it well, they pass well, the defense is sharp. Its just a chess match the whole way. How many games have we had vs each other that came down to the last possession? Its a ton thats for sure.  I look at me & Ricky as like one of those iconic rivalries that you know it will be good when these two guys go to battle. Your  Manning-Brady matchup or Tiger & Phil.  Crosby & Ovechkin, Hart vs HBK or Jon Jones & DC.  Iron sharpening Iron & two guys who have been here for a similar length of time who always seem to get matched up and put on an absolute banger.  I am really looking forward to the next chapter.  You have two teams who came into the season as polar opposites. Guys picked the Colts to win the whole thing & be a dominant force all cycle & then the "lowly" Jets, who have no prayer this season.  One expert said this team had "no redeeming qualities, outside of possibly Darnold"  That was the breakdown of us this season. One expert picked us to go 0-7 to start....0-7, if you think our guys didn't read this shit all offseason you're wrong. We heard all the noise. We had like 1 or 2 guys that believed in us. Well here we are at 2-0 & we were big underdogs in both & now we face ol Ricky. I know there is a lot of work for us to do still on the season but Im looking forward to this challenge, that is a fantastic team & the praise of the Colts was spot on.  I hope everyone keeps sleeping on us though, things certainly looking up here in Gotham. See you guys in Indy
 

THATS HOW YOU START A SEASON! WOOOOO!!!!!

Man what a game huh? Im sorry I am a little fired up! But lets be real, you guys are used to this.  I guess we will start the press conference talking about the game.  I think we did a terrific job of weathering the storm early & keeping our composure.  We looked like crap to start, down 10-0 early. Give up a FG,  then we get a quick 3 & out, then we get a 3 & out only for us to have a bad snap on a 54 yard fieldgoal that Hauschka couldn't get his full foot on & it wasn't close....AND then BAM Touchdown Bills and its 10-0.  A lot of teams would have folded there, I am really proud of these guys for getting hit & then immediately punching back.  Sam showed great composure on the first play of the next drive & Perriman used that speed to beat his guy across the field & Sam found him in stride for a 79 yard touchdown.  That really energized us. 

We really locked down today too. I mean to give up 10 early & then score 22 unanswered & shut the Bills out for the whole second half makes me really happy.  We made some adjustments at halftime & decided we had to bring more pressure.  I will be honest I expected a much more run heavy attack & it threw me off in the beginning. We rebounded nicely & once we started bringing pressure we got there often.  Quinnen Williams had his breakout game in the league. I am so proud of how hard this guy has worked all offseason & in camp. 3 Sacks in week 1 is a hell of a way to start the season. Henry Anderson, who we moved inside to DT after week4  of the preseason, tacked on a sack.  We hit Allen a lot too that was the key. 2 of our 3 int's were because of the pressure in the backfield.

That first pick Allen had a fairly clean pocket & Blessaun Austin made a great jump on the play & was able to step in front of the comeback route to Diggs to pick Allen off.  The 2nd one Patrick Onquasor came off the edge & hit Josh as he was setting up to throw.  The ball kind of floated out & Earl Thomas had his welcome to NY moment with an easy pick.  Then our last one was just a great job by rookie Safety Ashtyn Davis to bait Allen into throwing down the sideline & flew over to make a great play on the ball & keep his feet in. His first pick in the league is really impressive.

We will go back & breakdown the film, we have to fix the running game. Hopefully Center Conor McGovern is ready to play next week, he could have gone today if it was a playoff game but this early in the season I would rather be cautious so we held him out.  Lev took a while to get going. Buffalo really sold out on not letting him beat them. They brought a lot of pressure all day long & it was tough for a lot of the game. That is what we expected thought, that is a great coach over there & they play a very tough style. I was glad we were able to hold up long enough for us to get that ball out to Lev on the pass to score the touchdown late in the game. That was the one that sealed it for us.  

With that I will open it up for questions.

Great game tonight coach, however there was huge news for you today! You were inducted into the RedZone Hall of Fame.  Can you please talk about this great accomplishment for you & your thoughts?

To be honest with you its still kind of surreal & hasn't really hit me yet. I got the news like an hour before Kickoff & it was a quick celebration but man I have a job to do.  I was really hoping we would pull this out though, capped off the day the proper way for me.  I am sure when I can collect my thoughts & reflect on this, I will be a lot more prepared & address the league & its owners in a way they deserve.  This is no doubt a great honor & I am so thankful to everyone involved.  I love this league & I never imagined I would be in the Hall of Fame.  

Congrats coach, getting back to some of the game, after being down 10-0 what were the conversations like with your offense before they went out there for that touchdown? Did panic or doubt ever set in?

No I wouldn't call it panic or doubt.  I know we are a good football team & can hang in there with anyone. I think it was more of a frustration. We had our first 15 plays scripted and believe me what you saw early on was not the script. Buffalo did a great job giving us tough fronts to run against & bringing pressure to throw Sam off. I think Sam started like 1 of 6 in this game. It wasn't pretty but Sam never wavered.  He grabbed the guys & said "hey its opening day for them too, we can do this. Its only 10 points & there is a lot of game left, lets start punching back".  And he went out there & the next play threw a touchdown to Perriman.  Its really nice that your young QB can take command of the offense & the team like that.  I think the maturity Sam shows at only 23 years old is so impressive. It makes my job a lot easier.  At halftime we kind of threw the gameplan away & said if we lose we are going to lose letting Sam open it up.  That is what we did & it helped soften the box a little which got Lev going.  The defense also set us up in favorable field position multiple times.  After they got a few stops in the 2nd quarter you could kind of see the intensity start to appear. At halftime those guys were hungry to get going.  Now hopefully next week back home at MetLife we can start a lot faster against the Niners because that is another really tough team.

You guys did a fairly good job today against the run as well, was that something you guys were focused on doing this week?

I mean like I said earlier I just expected a lot more of ground & pound from the Bills, usually they don't just throw it 30x a game with Josh but I mean we adjusted to stop that & were okay.  We played a lot of soft coverage early on & let him sit back there because we were in the 34 waiting for a run & he was hitting his throws. Once the pressure started & we played a little more man, those windows tightened up, he didn't have a clean pocket which made him move his feet & change his launch angle's & he struggled in the 2nd half.  The Dline went from trying to press the oline to make a play against the run to just blowing past them & putting Allen on his back.  It was a great job by the big boys up front.  I want this defense to be able to stop everything, 16 rushes for 44 yards on the ground made me smile & 54% with 3picks for Allen makes me smile even more.

I don't know if you saw, but the Dolphins blew out the Patriots in week 1, trying to show everyone that they are for real & that the Von Miller trade was not only to sell tickets in South Beach.  What are your thoughts on the Dolphins 48-3 win over the Patriots?

I am not focused on Miami right now, they are a well coached team with a lot of high effort players.  I expect a dog fight when we see them regardless of what they did today.  Maybe now in all of their coaches interviews he can stop pretending that they are the 0-16 Lions.  My focus for now is the film from this game & getting back to New Jersey to start working on the game plan for next week when the Niners come to town. 

I want to thank you all for coming & for all the nice words about the Hall of Fame.  I am very pleased with how we bounced back today & will keep working to improve next week. 

Well I am already getting tired of doing these press conferences & having to announce injury news to a key member of our offense.  So I will start there, TE Chris Herndon has suffered a torn Abdomen Muscle, the same injury La'Mical suffered last week. We expect Chris to be out 4-6 weeks. He will go for an MRI tomorrow to confirm & then we will get him with the team doctors & started on the road to recovery. 

Other then that hanging over our head I was pleased with how we played, I think for a dress rehearsal it went well. I think the starting unit was really sharp on Offense. This was probably the best version of Sam we had. He went 10/15 for 133 & 2 touchdowns. We finally got through without any Interceptions, so we can finally check that box.  I think its just night and day since we switched play calling up for him 2 weeks ago. He is really starting to take strides towards being great. By the time we got the ball back the defense already put us up 7-0 & Sam was able to lead a nice drive & cap it off with the strike to Crowder who ran a really clean route to split the safeties & score from 21 yards out.  Sam did a great job looking off & holding the safeties before coming back to beat the cover 6 right down the middle. 

Going back to the defense, man how good were they today? Intercepting Rudolph 4 times was great to see. They were all over the field today. Mosley had 2 interceptions, including the pick 6 on the first drive.  That play really seemed to fire the team up. Pittsburgh was on a long drive deep in our territory until Mosley made that play. It seemed to be the play that woke us up & we kept rolling from there.  Was nice to see Earl Thomas come up with a pick as well. We haven't been giving Earl a ton of reps because we trust him to get himself ready & there is no need to over play him & risk injury, but it was nice to see him settle in & make a play during his time out there. Nate Hairston also come up with an interception late in the 3rd quarter.  

I was very very pleased with the play of the Dline in this one as well. 3 sacks on the board but they really made life terrible for Rudolph. I know 3 of the interceptions we got were directly caused by the dline. We hit or rushed Rudolph a lot in this game. We have been rotating things a ton trying to generate pressure & it finally worked.  Quinnen Williams started it off with a big sack early in the game & hit Rudolph on the pick Earl made.  Q has been great so far this preseason, he is really developing as a pass rusher for us & that will be a huge boost for this team. 

We did give Hauschka the start in this game at Kicker and he rewarded us going 2/2 on field goals & 3/3 on extra points. A decision on Kicker is going to be made before we leave for Philly this week.  With that I open it up to questions.

Hey Coach Moji, It seems to everyone that QB Joe Flacco has been struggling. He seems to be getting the least amount of playing time & he has not played well while in there. Is there going to be a move made for QB depth? Or are you happy with Joe & rookie James Morgan on the roster?

Its kind of a mixture right, sure Joe has not been getting a lot of playing time, but at the same time hes also a longtime veteran.  He is a former superbowl champion, I think guys like him or Frank (Gore), they have been professionals for so long that missing reps in preseason in their late 30's is not going to make a huge difference. Its important for guys like Morgan to play while they are young & trying to adjust to the speed of this league.  I am very happy with how well James Morgan has played this preseason. He has opened a lot of eyes around camp so far. That being said as guys get cut & all of the roster cuts happen, we will be looking to upgrade at every position, if possible.  I am always tinkering with the roster looking to find the best combination of 53 that we can find. Depth is a huge part of a team & as you can see we are quickly turning into the walking wounded here, we need to have quality backups & that includes the QB position. So yes moves are a possibility.

With this being the "dress rehearsal" for the regular season, do you expect any starters to play next week? And if so for how long?

We will see, I haven't decided yet.  I want to get with the coaching staff, go watch the film from this game & then make a decision on who needs more work next week & for how long.  I know most of the older vets will not be playing, your ET's, Mosley, Peters' etc.  Those guys will for sure be out. Some of our younger guys like Mims, Davis, Cashman, they may see some time.  I don't anticipate it being very long.  I know regardless of what we see on film, Le'veon Bell will be sitting.  Hes having way too good of a preseason & is a major part of our offense. We need him 100% ready to go for week 1.  

Obviously you don't want any players getting hurt, but you could say Herndon going down is not a huge deal for this team. Ryan Griffen played all last year with Herndon out & it seems him & Sam still have great chemistry.  Do you think the offense will miss a beat with Herndon out?

Ryan Griffen is a terrific player, and he had a career year last year with Sam. It seemed they clicked from day one & with Herndon serving the 4 game suspension & then getting hurt in week 6 he really was the #1 TE all year.  Him & Chris are such different players it allows me to call different stuff & use both of them. With Chris on the shelf for a few weeks it will change things but Griff is such a good player & really pays attention to details.  That touchdown he had today was just a result of great chemistry between him & Sam.  Play action on the goalie & the whole defense is expecting run, Sam makes a great fake & has to get rid of it quick because of all of the guys in his face. He knew exactly where Griffen would leak out in the back corner & hit him for a really easy touchdown. Both guys are just on the same page.  I will have to adjust some things but again this is the importance of depth. I think Griffen will allow us to keep clicking on offense but there is no doubt we would rather have him & Chris both out there. 

There was a lot of "Chatter" that this secondary is going to struggle with the departure of Maye & Dessir.  Sure Earl Thomas is here but its still a new defense he has to learn & there are some young guys in that secondary. After seeing how they played tonight do you think they are going to be missed or will this unit be fine?

There's no doubt losing two really good players hurts us, but I am confident in the guys we have.  We are working on different coverages & finding what works for these guys. The young guys have really stepped up & played well so far. 2nd year corner Blessaun Austin has been really impressive & will be our #2 guy week 1 against Buffalo. He will start opposite Poole.  Hairston & Wilson are still battling for that Nickle spot.  I know they are young & we will break down the film because plenty of mistakes were made tonight, but they did a good job tonight.  I am not worried, I know with a young group there's going to be growing pains. I think that is something we have prepared ourselves for. They will continue to gel as a unit as the year goes on & I truly think we will be okay. 

Alright everyone, thank you for coming. I will see you guys next week in Philly for the preseason finale.

Welcome everyone, I will start this off here talking about the game.  I think we looked a lot better tonight then we did last week. The first team was really clicking. I thought Lev was fantastic tonight, Sam found him on 2 separate occasions for touchdowns through the air.  Defense got things started early, Q made a great play to beat his man & get the strip sack.  Wake showed that veteran awareness we are looking for to scoop & score. 

Sam was night & day from last week.  He had 2 touchdowns & 1 interception, and the interception was a really great play by the Detroit cornerback.  The offense had good rhythm, anytime you can start with a 14 play 96 yard drive after a great punt pinned us that deep you're probably going to have a good day.  The defense stepped up in the first half to help us hit halftime up 21-10.  

The second team played tough today as well, both La'Mical Perine & Frank Gore both punched in short yardage touchdowns for us and the defense did enough to hold onto the lead.  We did have two injuries this game, the first being Center Connor McGovern, who the training staff tells me his X-rays came back positive for a broken thumb.  He is expected to miss the next 4-6 weeks, which is a big blow to the offense. This oline has been clicking & he is obviously the anchor in the middle, tough injury to suffer.  The second injury was La'Mical Perine suffered what we think is a tear in his abdomen, he will go for an MRI tomorrow morning to confirm.  Right now the doctors are saying he will be out anywhere from 5-7 weeks while that heals. Really unfortunate because hes been having a great camp & a great preseason. He has 25 carries for 99 yards this preseason & had the touchdown today.  He was certainly earning himself more playing time.

A little roster housekeeping that was done following the game:

We have released WR Josh Bellamy, LT Conor McDermott, MLB James Burgess, OLB Kyle Phillips, RG Josh Andrews and WR Josh Malone.  We have also agreed to 1 year deals with the following players: LT Marshall Newhouse, WR Jaron Brown, K Stephen Hauschka, RB Bilal Powell and C Daniel Kilgore.

With that I will open it up to questions.

With the injuries suffered tonight, will the team be looking to bring in other players to help out or is the team satisfied with the guys that were just added?

We are always looking at who is available and doing our due diligence to upgrade at all times.  That being said I really like what some of these guys bring to the table. Brown has played in the league for a while & has done more then proven himself.  Kilgore is a big guy with a bully mentality, just what we want on our oline. Then we were able to bring back Bilal Powell, long time Jet & someone the fans here have come to love and admire during his tenure here.  We know what we have with Powell & he will make a great addition to the runningback room.

Sam looked to be a lot more comfortable this week and was really in control of the offense.  What was the biggest change from last week to this week?

Yeah Sam is going to keep getting better every week, the more reps he takes in practice & in these preseason games will only make him better.  We did sit down this week & go over our playbook. We made a considerable amount of changes to get us both on the same page. We both agreed that the best version we have seen of Sam was in New Orleans, so we decided to get back to some of those things we ran there that let him be successful.  The whole offense really has seemed to buy in. It will allow me to get more creative as a play caller & allow these guys to show what they can really do.

You now have two kickers on the roster with the signing of Hauschka. There is clearly going to be a kicker competition these last two games, is this a fair battle or was this move made to push Maher a little?

Its absolutely a fair competition, Maher has been perfect so far in the preseason but we did see some inconsistency in practice & our scrimmages.  Through their career Hauschka has a more accurate foot but Maher is capable of hitting the longer kicks. It comes down to how they both kick at Metlife.  The wind here in New Jersey swirls around that stadium & makes it tough to kick. We want to make sure we have the right guy to kick through all the wind & also keep it down the middle.  Its something we will monitor as we finish out the preseason.

Everyone in the building seems to be really high on Le'veon Bell right now, but he isn't getting any love around the league.  Is this a guy people are really sleeping or is that just a little bias since he's who you have?

Oh believe me I am biased about all 53 of my guys who make that opening day roster, we are going to do things the Jet way and I have no doubts in our locker room. But honestly, everyone is sleeping on Lev.  He is just such a dynamic guy, there rent many players like him. He is obviously a great running back but he does so much more.  His blitz pickup are great, he has such good vision & understands the concepts of each play so well it really helps the whole offense. He also runs routes really crisp & clean for a running back, and then he has really good hands. We can move him all over & create mismatches all over the field.  I honestly think at the end of the season Le'veon Bell will be in the running for Offensive Player of the Year.  I am really looking forward to watching him work this season.

Alright I want to thank everyone for showing up to the post game press conference, I look forward to seeing you guys next week at MetLife for our game vs Pittsburgh.

Good evening everyone,

I will start the presser off talking about the game and then we can open this up to you guys.

First things first how about that finish huh? Thats a gritty job by the 2nd & 3rd unit to go out there down 17 at half & come back to win this one. 20-17 win on a walk off fieldgoal after we forced a fumble & bombed up a prayer to Mims. To call the timeout with 1 second left & then kick the fg was perfect.  Hats off to Morgan first & foremost, the kid played great today. His first real NFL snaps & he did an excellent job. His first pass being an INT & then went 13/13 after that for 199yds & tacked on a touchdown. 

I think overall we did a fantastic job on the ground, all 4 backs looked good. Gore only had one snap but im not worried about him being ready, the guy has been through preseason more times then anyone on the roster.  Lev was very sharp, he looked really sharp on his jukes & took his 5 carries for 40 yards.  La'Mical Perine & Josh Adams both had a nice day as well. Perine went 16 for 65 & looked great in his first real work as well. He fell forward consistently & put his head down to get as many yards as possible.

Defensively we have to talk about that man Cashman again. I know I spoke the other day in my last press conference about him & hes making me look really smart immediately. Cashman had 5 tackles, 2 sacks & an Int. I think he looked fantastic all day long & flew around making plays. With that I will open it up to questions.

"Denzel Mims got some time with the 1's but was also out there late. What was the gameplan for him this week against the Giants?"
Yeah I did not want to have Denzel out there too much, let him get his feet wet & he played solid in his short amount of time. He had 3 catches for 100 yards, the big one coming on the 57 yarder at the end of the game.  I figured lets put the kid out at the end & throw one up & see what he can do. And man oh man he did not disappoint. I think Mims has a very bright future here in NY.

"Sam had a rough start tonight, those interceptions you spoke about seem to still be an issue. Are we sure this is not going to be something that continues all season?"
It wasnt ideal thats for sure and part of it is on me. We are running the ball against the Giants 1's for 8 ypc but I wanted to see what we could do opening it up. I put Sam in some bad situation, but thats because I trust him. We will figure out how much of the offesne to open up & making sure we play smart in the right situations. I am not worried about it right now. Sam will be fine & we will be fine.  If we are having these conversations a year from now, then its time to worry.

Can you speak on the signing of Cameron Wake? Another guy that was picked up on the waiver wire, who seems to be way too old for a rebuilding team."

Wake is an experienced veteran who can come in here & be a situational guy that at the end of the day will hopefully help us get sacks. Lets be honest we dont have a 20 sack guy on this roster, Q could end up being that guy but he is not right now. We have a rotation coming in on 2nd and long & 3rd downs, to help get after the passer. Wake will be a nice role player for us. 

Looking at next week in Detroit, how long do you expect the starters to play?

Right now it feels like the first half is the right answer. I know theres plenty of coaches around the league sitting their starters all game. We are going to get these guys some action. Some guys like Cashman, Davis, Becton etc. may end up playing into the 3rd quarter.

Going back to Sam & the offesne for a minute, if the struggles continue do you think there will be changes made to the playbook and what is asked of Sam?

I mean I am always looking to put my guys in the best situation. The playbook looks different then the one we used during our time in New Orleans. If the struggles continue would I go back to dialing up some of the older stuff I know Sam has experienced before? Absolutely. I will adjust my playcalling & our scheme & minset to the players that are here & do what it takes to make them be as successful as possible. I know we have our work cut out for us but its the first week of preseason & I am happy overall with what we saw tonight.  I wasnt going to run Lev into the ground tonight & let Sam sling it a little, lots of things to test out.  We will calibrate this week & I will see you all in Detroit next week.  Hopefully the feedback is a little different.

Welcome to the NYJ training camp press conference with coach Moji. Coach will be up in a second to talk about the team & then will open it up for questions.

"I want to thank all of you who are here.  Its been a long break but we are finally here and man I am so pumped up to get to work with this team. Training camp has been ultra competitive for us so far. Several players have stood out to me and earned themselves more playing time.  

Before I break down the team, I will start with the moves we have made over the past 24 hours. With the league year open we have agreed to send a 3rd round pick to Philadelphia in exchange for RT Jason Peters. Peters is such a good player adding him to that lineman room was a no brainer for us. He will compete with George Fant & Chuma Edoga in camp on the right side of the line.  I know a lot of people are going to question the move since Peters is 38, let me tell you what this guy brings to the table is so valuable.  He will solidify our right side of the line & his ability to mentor rookie LT Mekhi Becton made this a no brainer for us.  Becton has looked absolutely incredible so far, and my lord is he a massive human. I am excited to watch the strides he will make with a sure fire Hall of Famer in Peters mentoring him & taking him under his wing. To get a guy like Peters for a 3rd round pick & to still hold the Seattle pick in the 3rd round was a really great move for us.

The second move we made was a tough one, we have sent CB Pierre Desir & FS Marcus Maye to Kansas City in exchange for a second round pick.  I want to first thank Maye for his time here. He was a great Jet for the past few seasons & we wish him nothing but the best.  Desir wasn't here very long but he showed up & worked his tail off everyday. He is a true pro & I wish him the best of luck in KC.   

You always hate to lose players of that caliber, but where we are as a team getting another pick in the 2nd round was just too tempting. We now have 2 1sts, 2 2nds, 3rd, 4th, 2 5ths, 6th & 7th.  10 selections in this upcoming draft will help us add some key pieces & get this thing turned around.  I cant promise we will be a playoff team this year, but know this team is going to play hard & help is on the way this offseason.  Hang in there Jet Nation, we will right the ship, that I do promise.

Last bit of house keeping here before I talk about what I have seen through camp, it turns out we have been awarded the first selection in the preseason waiver wire draft, that pick has been used to sign FS Earl Thomas.  I am very excited to get Earl in here & see what he can do. Having him back there on defense will be huge for us. Adding an All-Pro FS to the team & that Dbacks room was a very pleasant surprise. I hope Earl can show Ashtyn everything he knows. 

Alright my notes from camp:  Starting with the Offense, Its been up and down for Sam back there at QB.  I have seen a lot of great throws, which I knew I would get from him, having played for me in the past.  There are some little things we are working on fixing, like getting the ball out a little quicker. We have had a lot of turnovers come from Sam getting hit & that is something we are trying to clean up.  He physically looks great though, hes in great shape & has been working really hard to install the new wrinkles into the offense.

Lev Bell & the rest of the backs have looked really good as well. Lev is special man, he does it all. His ability to just carry the load on the ground or through the air has made play calling really fun so far through camp & in our scrimmages. Hes been fantastic & has helped bring along rookie back La'Mical Perine, who has showed some burst so far through camp.

Im sure all of you have seen the WR's work. Mims, Perriman, Crowder, Hogan, all of these guys have shined at times. We have a lot of speed at the wr position & they are building some quick chemistry with Sam.  Herndon has looked really good as well catching the ball. He looks like he did 2 seasons ago before missing last year with injury. All reports on him have been positive from the training staff & he has the green light for this season. The thing we are working on with this group is holding onto the ball. We have had some drops lately & its something we are really focused on. Speed is great but sometimes you need to make the tough catch with 2-3 guys around you. that's something I think we can do a little better.

Moving to the defensive side of the ball the big standouts have been Ashtyn Davis & Blake Cashman.  For a rookie Davis ability to read the field has been ultra impressive. He has been flying around from sideline to sideline making plays on the ball. Hes such a dynamic player we will have him all over the field, similar to how some former NY SS have played without naming names. 

Cashman has been a beast in the run game. He has no fear, he just flies to the football, he takes on blockers, its really been fun to watch him play ball. Teaming him with Avery & CJ is quite the linebacker room.  We have been working both Avery & Cash at ROLB & I think that will continue to rotate as the season goes on.  I think our ability to move guys around & be versatile will help us win games this year. 

Overall I have seen plenty of good things but there is a lot to clean up before we get started. I am excited to keep working with this team & turn them into a real powerhouse here in the AFC. It wont happen overnight, but we will get there.  With that I open it up to questions."

Reporter: "You touched on Sam's struggles so far during camp, are there any doubts in the building that Sam can be the answer at QB for this franchise?"
Moji: Absolutely not. I have all of the faith in the world in Sam. Hes a huge reason I decided to come back to NY.  We had a lot of success in the past together but we have unfinished business together.  Sam is going to be great, you can just tell when you watch him play.  My job is to make him great as fast as possible. When you put two very driven guys together, that both have massive chips on their shoulders, usually you get results. Neither of us will be satisfied until we win the big one & I trust Sam is the guy to help us accomplish that.

"The division is really tough & this is arguably the worst roster in the whole AFCE. Especially after the additions of Von, Barnett & Thomas to your respective division opponents.  How do you plan to compete?"
Yeah there is no doubt the division is super talented. I think that we face 3 really solid teams twice a year. They are all well coached & have very active users. We know we have our work cut out for us but I don't think we are that far behind. I truly believe that this group of guys is going to fight & leave it all out on the field every week.  Even if we don't win a bunch early on, I promise you that no one will look forward to facing the Jets on their schedule. We will compete each & every week! At the end of the season I think there will be some coaches really surprised at where the Jets finish.

"With the departure of Maye & Desir, what is the plan in the secondary? Earl will obviously start at Safety but what does the Cornerback situation look like?"
Yeah the plan now is to have Earl at FS & move Ashtyn to SS. I really like the depth we have at cornerback. Brian Poole is fantastic & I can sit here & have a whole press conference talking about all of the good things this guy does. Hes very physical for a corner & I think we need more of that on this team.  Right now 2nd year CB Bless Austin is going to start on the outside. He showed a lot of promise last year as a rookie out of Rutgers & as long as that knee stays healthy he is going to be a key piece for us this year. That third spot is kind of up for grabs right now. It will be one of the more important battles throughout the preseason. Quincy Wilson seems to be leading right now but anything can happen. I like the depth we have with Nate Hairston & rookie Bryce Hall.

"How has the development of Quinnen Williams been? There was so much noise last year when he was selected 3rd overall & a lot of that hype seems to have diminished after a disappointing rookie year. Is Quinnen still part of the long term plans of this team?
Yeah I think Q would be the first one to tell you he wasn't happy with how his rookie year went. Sometimes those High Ankle sprains can just eat at you all season & it really does hold you back. Honestly Q has looked great all camp. Hes been quiet but hes actually having a really nice few weeks. I would love to see the sack output increase & we are working on different things to help him out, but he has been solid. Hes a strong kid & hes super athletic. I think hes been fantastic in the run game & we are fine tuning those pass rush moves to help him really bounce back with a strong sophomore season. He has a really bright future as long as he keeps working hard. 

Alright everyone I appreciate the time. This is something I am going to try to do after each game. We talked about giving more media access & doing interviews after we play. I look forward to speaking with you all after we face the Giants here this week.
Its time to get to work


 

Man oh man! What a whirlwind these past several hours have been, lets go back.


After leaving New Orleans & writing my heartfelt goodbye I landed at JFK Airport to head home to Long Island to spend some time at home before my life would change yet again.  I spent the last few days looking at Mock drafts before our new CBA kicked in & the "RZ Coaching Carousel" began.  I knew with my track record I would have a couple of options from some teams. 

Not going to lie, I was pretty nervous at 8pm when the Coaching Carousel began. All of those nerves completly went away when I saw that New Jersey area code & a familar number popped up on the phone.  I knew finally it was time...To Come Home!

I couldn't answer that phone quick enough, Jets owner Woody Johnson & his brother Chris Johnson were on the phone & they expressed their interest in bringing me back.  My tenure in NY was a succesful one & as we know this is the place I won my first championship. After succesful stints in Green Bay & New Orleans we all felt it was time to come back home. 

I jumped in the car & started the drive over to 1 Jets Drive in Florham Park.  I knew who my first call had to be & man are we both pumped to be reuinted. Sam Darnold will be my quarterback once again & I am beyond excited. I also spoke with all of the incoming draft picks because obviously these guys thought they would be playing for someone else. 

1st round pick Mekhi Becton had a great talk about what to expect in the offense. His tape jumps out at you and he will be a staple for this team for years to come.  Getting Denzel Mims in round 2 was huge for us as well. A big speedy reciever who will stretch the field for us & be someone Sam can grow with.  I have big big plans for Mims. 

Somehow we were able to snag S Ashtyn Davis out of Cal. Let me tell you pairing this guy with Jamal Adams, Marcus Maye & the rest of the defense is going to be incredible.  Davis will be used all over the field similarly to how you have seen Honey Badger used in his career.  We were also able to snag DE Jabari Zuniga out of Florida.  A great DE in college, Zuniga will have the opportunity to start for us on day 1. I was able to have great conversations with the rest of the draft class & some of the veterans on the team.  Reuniting with guys like Jamison Crowder, Lev Bell & CJ Mosley has been awesome.  

Its a different feeling opening those big glass doors & walking into the Jets facility. A level of comfort and excitement and nerves all hit at once.  I sat down with the Johnsons, we talked about gameplanning & I picked up that pen & signed that contract.  A tear ran down my face and what a relief it was.  It was funny Woody asked me who else offered you contracts & honestly I am not even sure.  I know my agent fielded the rest of the calls but I didnt even ask.  I saw the one number I was waiting to see & I ran with it.  There is no place I would rather be. Getting up on Sunday, smelling that thick smog that is hovering over MetLife, its something you never forget and something I will always cherish.  

I was nervous leading up to today and believe me there is a lot of pressure for me to come back and win here.  But winning at home is so much sweeter then winning everywhere else.  I know a lot of people don't end up going back to teams that they have already had history with. But for the first time in a long time I can finally say that I am home and man does it feel good to say. 

Head Coach of the New York Jets - Moji
 

Dear New Orleans,

Honestly this is not the letter I intended to write to you following this past cycle. It was an interesting and wild ride, one that did not go how I saw it in my head. I mean don't get me wrong I don't want to call it a failure and for most people it was a successful stop but something is not sitting right.

We all know how it started, things were looking great, we were red hot! Drew was an MVP Caniddate, and we had a top scoring offense in the league.  The defense was dominant, Cam Jordan couldn't be blocked.  Lattimore & Pat Pete were the best Corner Combo in the league. Demario Davis led a dominant front 7.  Man where we rolling, just how I saw it when I took this job.  

If you told me A top 5 defense was on the field with a lead and under a minute to go in the Superbowl, I will sign up for that every single time... And 9/10 we are winning that game.  But THAT GUY, struck again, as he seems to do in my life.  Brady won that bowl for coach Beech with no time left and we were sent home absolutely stunned.  Like most of you I already had all my superbowl gear out and ready.  I thought "damn I am coming off a SB win just the previous season in GB, I could become the first coach to win B2B championships with different teams".  It didnt come to pass. And sadly we never got back.  We got close, we got damn close, but we never got back.

We ran into some great teams this cycle and some ones that honestly we had no business losing to. Great teams like Coach Porter's Niners,  a dear friend who I am beyond excited for after his success this cycle. We ran into a buzzsaw Cardinals team with a 2time MVP Murray at qb and a coach well deserving of the HOF in coach Adelmann. We ran into teams like the brutal ground and pound of coach Allen's skins, who went on a hell of a run but also came up short.  Great great teams but for me that isnt an excuse. I should have been better.

I wont lie to you, I was shell shocked that offseason when Drew retired.  We had a lot of conversations and he told me he didnt want to come back and be a shell of himself.  He was playing with a lot of discomfort in his shoulder all year and didnt think he could be the guy to lead this team.  It was a little later in the offseason then I would have liked but we improvised, I changed the way I called plays and we made a deep run.  But a Tyrod Taylor led offense just wasnt the same as having Drew back there & we fell short in the playoffs.

We had to hit the reset button and had to make some tough decisions. Coach GStar was in the league now and having an underwhelming offesne just wouldnt compete with his lob mob antics.  So we tore it down and we rebuilt it.  A couple of mediocre seasons, again not how I wanted it to go, but that was the low point for us this cycle. We missed the playoffs twice and things didn't look good. Then I saw the alert on ESPN...

"QB Sam Darnold was going to test free agency after failing to agree to a long term contract with the New York Jets" 
Those of you that have followed my career know my love for my home and my first organization I won a ring with is no secret. I have many ties in that building and they run deep.  To peel back the curtain a little for you all, once Drew told me he couldnt do it anymore I made a phonecall to 1 Jets Drive every single offseason seeing if they would be willing to move Sam.  At first I thought we could make it work, it would cost a lot but to get a young QB with the upside of Sam is a no brainer.  After a while it seemed it would never happen. I saw that headline hit and I was waiting on Sams front porch at 11:59 right before the legal tampering window opened.  As soon as the clock hit 12:00 I knocked.  Me and Sam sat down for hours, I shared my plans with him & the fit just seemed perfect.  And Perfect it was, Sam's numberes soared here in New Orleans and he became one of the leagues best QB's and one of the best I have had the priveldge to coach in my career.  That doesnt come lightly either, there have been several MVP's on my teams, but this felt different.

There was still a lot of work to do, we had againg players on defense and more roster turnover with the CBA 3+1 caused more tough decisions.  Losing Kamara for Watt seemed like a bad deal at first, it took Watt some time to adjust to our playstyle. But my lord once it clicked it really clicked, he became a top 5 rusher in the league. Losing guys like Lattimore and Mike Thomas just seemed to be to much to overcome. We added some great players as replacements.  Guys like Grant Solomon, a 5th round wr out of Duke who blossomed into a superstar at WR.  Calvin Ridley in a Saints jerssey was great to see after being tourmented by him for years. Jordan Wilkenson is one of the baddest men on the planet and an absolute monster at DT.  Watching other guys like Eddie Love, Demaryius Byrd and Robert Allen all come in as rookies and grow into great players throughout their careers.  I really thought we would do it, these past few seasons we had the pieces in place, we had deep playoff runs, but we seemed to always fall short.

WhoDat Nation, I want to appologize, believe me I wanted that ring as bad as most of you. But I also want to thank you.  I want to thank you for coming to the Mercedes Benz superdome every single home game, packing that place out and making it one of the loudest and toughest places to play in all of Redzone.  The passion you guys show is incredible and I thank you for that.

To the Saints organization I also thank you, this journey was a remarkable one in my career and all of you put in a lot of long hours with me to try and put a winning product out on the field.  I am sorry I did not live up to my promises and I am not one to rest my hat on moral victories or silver linings but this doesnt feel like a complete failure.  Don't get me wrong I am utterly disappointed that I don't have more hardware to add and couldnt bring New Orleans their first RZ Championship but I really enjoyed coaching here despite those short comings.

To the great players I was fortubnate enough to coach all these years here I also want to thank you. From the ones I have mentioned like Sam and Drew, to Eddie Love and Alvin Kamara, to Michael Thomas and Grant Solomon.  Guys like Cam Jordan and Terrence Watt. Marshonn Lattimore and Pat Pete, Jared Cook and David Njoku.  Truly hard working guys like Golden Tate and Jamison Crowder.  And the many many players I did not mention  I seriously thank you.  This has honestly been the most talented group of athletes I have ever worked with and for that reason it is very hard to say goodbye.  We had great moments, some great wins.  We had some bad losses, but this group ALWAYS bounced back.  They never quit and we left it all out on the field.  I cant ask for anything more then that.

I don't know what the next step is in my journey.  The CBA is scheduled to change a lot of things later this week and for the first time in my career I honestly do not know what is next and where my next "home" will be. New Orleans will always have a special place in my heart.  There is plenty of unfinished business here and who knows, maybe in the end this isnt goodbye afterall just a long "see you later." 

- Coach Moj