Rex Ryan Talks Buffalo Bills

(On who would fill D’Qwell Jackson’s spot if can’t play) “I think with D’Qwell, we’re hoping, obviously that D’Qwell can go. He’s doing everything he can to be out there. In typical guys playing for the Cleveland Browns fashion, he’s getting rehab nine times a day. He wants to play. This guy loves to play and we’re hopeful. I’m sure that will come down right to the game time, to find out if he can play. If he can’t, we’ve been working a lot of guys. It could be a couple rookies in there, Kaluka (Maiava), David (Veikune). Those guys have worked hard. If they get in there, they’re going to have to do a great job and rise up and help us get a win.”

(On what effect the Braylon Edwards trade could have on the team and the controversy that led up to it)- “I thought you were talking about that missed field goal. Did I say that out loud? Anyways, somebody look at it and research it. I never said anything. That was disappointing. About the trade, he’s an offensive guy, so I can’t really talk much about that. I just know we added a fine defensive player in Jason Trusnik. We’re looking to play him right away, give him some snaps early in defense and see how he does with his new teammates.”

(On what he told Rex Ryan about Edwards)- “Talking to my brother, all we were talking about is my dad’s hernia surgery, so maybe he took that as a positive note. I don’t know. He’s doing well though. Obviously, with him being the head coach of the Jets and me working here for the Cleveland Browns, if you are talking about personnel and things like that, it’s more to it than just brother-to-brother. Obviously, I’m employed by the Cleveland Browns and would do nothing to hurt our status and our team. I wasn’t in a comfortable position to really say anything to him about Braylon Edwards. We all know he’s a fine talent.”

(On if it is important for players to see their coaches animated)- “I don’t know if you see that animated of an Eric Mangini say, on the sidelines on Sundays. We see him and believe me, he’s plenty animated. When he’s sitting there yelling at me, he’s plenty animated in his office and things like that. Eric wants to win. We’re all to the point we want to win so bad. We’re willing to do anything. That’s true emotion coming out of Eric, and really all of us, the players, the coaches, you guys, everybody, all of Ohio, they want to see the Browns win. They don’t care about the Bengals. They want to see Cleveland win and it’s our time.”

(On if last week was more a reflection of who Eric Mangini is)- “Yes. I can’t study him during the game because I’m trying to do my job. I know he has a lot of pride and he’s an emotional guy. Obviously, we all know, it’s well documented, how intelligent he is and what a great leader he is. He has a lot of passion and emotion. I see that every day. When that lip starts quivering, it’s like ‘Back up,’ because he means it. He’s a great head coach, does a great job.”

(On if he was kidding about Cincinnati missing the field goal in overtime)- “I mean, you could watch the tape Mary Kay (Cabot). That’d be great. I’m not saying anything, but man, maybe the posts were crooked.”

(On if they had a clear view of the field goal on the coach’s copy)- “I don’t know. I don’t want to get fined, I mean, I pay enough money already in a house I don’t even live in, in California. I mean really, you guys look at it.”

(On Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch in the run game for Buffalo)- “Jackson does a great job of that. Lynch is really special to me. I coached, I believe it’s his uncle, Lorenzo Lynch, one of the toughest guys I ever coached. I coached him at safety. He led our team in tackles in Arizona. This guy, he runs the ball like he’s a linebacker or defensive tackle. He looks people up. You see him, even last week, he averaged 0.4 a carry, hitting linebackers, swatting d-linemen off him. He doesn’t even go down. They had to put new rules in for him. ‘Well he finally stopped. We’ll whistle him down.’ This guy is a load. He’s been a great back. He’s a tremendous player. Obviously, whoever you have in there, we’re going to have to do a great job on the running game. They have All-Pro receivers, so they have a lot of weapons. I don’t think that’s Carson Palmer back there, by any stretch.”

(On if they immediately contested the field goal at the time it was kicked)- “I don’t want to make this a big story. I don’t know. I was disappointed. I thought he missed. Of course, I was pissed that we gave up the fourth down scramble on a quarterback that’s never scrambled in his life. [They] threw a touchdown pass in double coverage, so maybe I was seeing it a different way. I’m not an expert. That’s why I’m saying maybe somebody else should look at it. I know one thing, I’m sick of losing.”

(On playing well in the run defense against Cedric Benson and Cincinnati)- “I thought we did, too, and a more consistent job. They hit a couple runs on us late. Again, that’s guys just trying to jump in there and make a play. I think right now, that’s the biggest thing we have to watch, is you have to be in your gaps. You have to be accountable to each other. Jumping in to try to make the play when it’s really not there to make, that becomes a problem. You constantly have to fight that, especially in a close game, when every play means so much. To take yourself out of gap integrity is always a mistake.”

(On the defense making strides last game)- “Yes, I think we played better. We’re looking to just keep getting better each week, like I think we will, like I know we will and eventually be a defense that everybody can count on.”

(On the defense playing well in the second and third quarters against Cincinnati)- “I tell you what, I really think it was a combination of our offense doing so well that our guys were getting tons of rest over there. We had tons of time to sit there and talk about any adjustment we had and things like that. From where I was standing, I thought our offense was doing a great job. They were out there all day. I know we went three-and-out a number of times against Cincinnati. I thought everybody was into the game. Usually you win games like that. It was heartbreaking for sure.”

(On if he felt like the air went out of the players when Cincinnati converted on third-and-long late in the fourth quarter)- “Not at all. I know they hit that third-and-long. Obviously you look back, you have to be critical of yourself first. There are a couple things I probably could have called there. I went with a four man rush, thinking we’d get to him, which we did during the day. Usually, that’s been a three man rush type of situation. Carson Palmer made the play, and he’s going to make the play. He’s a great quarterback and sometimes those great players do make the plays, like (Chad) Ochocinco made on Eric Wright. That’s as good of coverage you can have and he still got the touchdown pass. You can’t stay perfect against those Pro Bowlers. They’re in the Pro Bowl for a reason. I don’t think so. We lost the fourth down. It took four downs to get us in the goal line, and the guy had to scramble to do that. Kamerion (Wimbley) needs a whole new jersey, wardrobe, after that. It came back that there was no holding, whatever. I’m not [complaining] about it, just it’s ridiculous. Fourth down, the guy [got] uncovered. He did a great job uncovering and caught the touchdown when we thought we had two guys on him. That’s hard. Then you stop them in overtime and the offense is doing great, scoring points. No one panicked when we were down 14-0. You saw so many great signs. To lose that game, it wasn’t right.”

(On if Carson Palmer converting on the scramble play was a result of players being fatigued)- “No. Really, I know we had several extra plays in the fifth quarter, but we weren’t tired at all. We had guys begging to say in. (Shaun) Rogers played 70-some odd plays. He wouldn’t let anybody else go in. Guys were fighting hard. What happened, he just found a little lane in there. Most quarterbacks don’t have the guts to pull it down and run on fourth-and-11. That guy not only had the guts to tell his head coach, ‘I want to go for it,’ but he pulled the ball down and ran and made the play with his feet, bad ankle and all. Sometimes those great players make great plays. Standing up here with another loss, I can’t wait to do this when we win.”

(On the secondary)- “I thought the entire secondary played well. Those guys, they’re a group that’s coming along. They’re coming together. Every week there is always some Pro Bowler at wide receiver. This is another group with outstanding receivers this week. We’re counting on Brandon (McDonald), Mike Adams as well, Mike Furrey. These are guys that showed up. Eric Wright, obviously, leads this group and has played really well. I thought Brodney Pool really played well and showed some range in some of the things that we were expecting from him.”

(On saying Trent Edwards is not as good as Carson Palmer)- “Absolutely, he’s not. Not too many quarterbacks are. The guys best redeeming quality is he can run, do some things. We’ve played Brett Favre. We’ve played Carson Palmer. Those are two pretty good quarterbacks right here. This guy always seems to have a lot to say, so I’m going to say the same thing. Let’s go. Let’s get it on, see what he’s all about this week.”

(On Mike Furrey)- “He’s done well. The thing is, not only is he playing defensive back, he plays multiple positions back there. They say he plays offense too, so that’s pretty good. This guy loves football and he does a good job. He’s all over the place.”

(On Terrell Owens)- “This guy, obviously, is one of the premier receivers in football. He does an awesome job. He jumps out on the tape. There’s this big, tall guy that can flat out run, looks like he loves to play. Last time I saw him up close and personal, I’m like, ‘Good god, that’s a big guy.’ Then I saw him and felt great about it after the game. We held him to nine catches. I’m like, ‘[Darn], he’s pretty good.’ We’re going to have our hands full with him, obviously.”

(On why Owens would sign with Buffalo)- “I don’t know. Maybe Edwards is great, I don’t know. I know one thing, the wide receiver, Owens, is fantastic. Why he went there? I don’t know. Maybe it’s a good spot for him.”

(On the problems tall receivers present for shorter cornerbacks)- “I think with these gigantic guys that can run and catch, their problems on pretty much anything, even if they were shorter. The thing is, with the added size, that’s also an issue with guys that can jump up in the red zone and get a ball on a jump ball and things like that. You saw (Chad) Ochocinco be able to stretch out like Stretch Armstrong. These long armed guys are hard to cover. T.O. is a special guy, there’s no question.”

(On what he can tell his corners about defending tall receivers)- “There’s only so much you can do, and especially when you’re in man coverage. They’re going to throw the ball out there and it’s you versus him. Jerome Henderson does a fantastic job of coaching these guys and he can tell you all about the techniques. When I was coaching secondary in Arizona, we were number two in the league in pass defense and I just said, ‘Cover them.’ I don’t know, maybe there’s more to it now than that, I guess. You really have to lock them down and do a great job. That’s the way it is.”

(On if Trent Edwards has said something about his defense in the past)- “You know what Mary Kay (Cabot), I think you might be right there. I don’t know. I respect the game. Love the players in this game. They can say whatever they want to say.”

(On if he played Edwards when he was with Oakland)- “Yes, we played them last year. He did a good job.”