DE Justin Tuck helps make the tackle. Photo by Tony Gonzales
Head Coach Dennis Allen
On the game: "Tough loss on the road. Not the way we wanted to start out our season. There's obviously some things we still have to work on, some things we have to get better at. There were some good things that happened in the game, but we weren't consistent enough really in any phase of the football game to give us an opportunity to win the game. And that's where we have to get better as a football team. I have to do a better job as the head coach of getting us to be more consistent, being able to execute our jobs on a more consistent basis.
On not taking more shots down the field: "Listen, we had some shot-plays dialed up and they did a nice job of defending them. We couldn't get the ball down the field. That's one of the things we have to work to improve on. When we get opportunities to take shots down the field, we have to be able to get the ball down the field; we have to be able to get open, protect, and get the ball down the field. That was disappointing because I thought there were some plays to be had."
On Jets receivers having a lot of running room: "Really, on a couple of drives, there were a couple of breakdowns that cost us. That's really what it boils down to. And so we have to work to get those things corrected. And, again, that's what I'm talking about – we just have to be more consistent in our execution."
On Geno Smith's mobility: "Obviously, I think that was the biggest factor in the first half of the football game is he was able to keep some plays alive and create some things and get out of the pocket and convert some first downs. It allowed them to maintain possession of the ball a little bit longer in the first half than we would have liked. So, that's something again, we knew that was something that he brought to the table – his ability to scramble, his ability to make plays with his feet – and we have to do a better job against these mobile quarterbacks and keep them in the pocket."
On the running game: "I thought they won the line of scrimmage battle. And, really, without watching tape, I think they were able to win the line of scrimmage battle on both sides of the football. That was an area that we wanted to improve on. That's still an area that we have to get better at. I still feel like that we're going to be able to run the football and we just have to go out and execute and do it better."
On decision to punt on 4th and 19: "I can't remember what the time was – four and a half minutes or roughly four and a half minutes to go – you're kind of there on the fringe of do you punt it and use your two time outs and try to save some time? And then when it went to 4th and 19 I think it was, I decided to just go ahead and punt it and try to stop them and see if we could go down and score. I thought there was still enough time to get two possessions. Obviously, we had to be able to get the on-side kick to be able to do that but we weren't able to get that on-side kick there at the end."
On Derek Carr: "I thought, overall, I don't think the game was too big for him. I think overall I saw some positive signs, things that he did well. Obviously, saw some mistakes, but it's a great opportunity for him to learn. It's a great opportunity for him to grow from this. He faced one of the better defenses in the league today and he'll learn from it and he'll get better from it."
On if Carr had nerves: "He was pretty calm. They threw a lot of different things at him, which we kind of expected that they would and I just think overall as a team we didn't make enough plays to give ourselves an opportunity to win the game."
On staying in the game despite statistical disparity: "We had a chance but we didn't make enough plays to win the football game. That's really what it all boils down to. It's not about any type of moral victories or anything like that. We need to take advantage of opportunities when we get them and we need to win some football games."
On Khalil Mack:"A little bit like Derek – I thought there were some ups and downs. I thought he did some good things where he was able to get a little bit of pressure. I think he was one of the guys that missed the tackle on the long run, so there were some positives, but there were also some things that he needs to work on. We'll go back and look at the tape and see where we need to improve and what things we need to work on and we'll get better from it."
On players who did not finish the game: "Taiwan Jones is the only one that did not finish the game."
On if he was surprised by not winning line of scrimmage battles: "It's disappointing because I think it all starts up front. You want to win the line of scrimmage, but again, we'll go back, we'll look at the tape, we'll see exactly what happened, where the breakdowns occurred and we'll work to get better from it."
QB Derek Carr
On if he felt ready: "Absolutely. You have to take away positives. I could see the pressures. I could see the coverages. I was able to see those things. Now, we just have to get on the film and I have to do a better job of handling that, making sure we pick them up and you can put all that on me. I have to fix those things. But, from seeing it to knowing where it was coming from to all those things, now I just have to find answers for myself to fix those things."
On if he felt added pressure: "Just like any other football game. I think they did a good job, but obviously, once we turn the film on, I'll have a better answer."
On if he should have gone down the field more: "We had shots called; we definitely did. We threw a couple of them. You can't go into the game and throw a whole bunch of those. This game doesn't work that way. We had a couple called. There was a couple times where we did hit one. We had a couple others down the seams where we threw them; we had them. We were pushing the ball down the field, but you have to mix and match both. You can't just go down…if we threw it down the field 32 times, everyone would be like, 'we need to throw a little bit shorter.' It's just one of those things."
On the communication: "Yeah, the communication was great. We communicated. We had a plan. Now, we just have to go to the film and be able to have better answers. Myself – I need to do a better job of putting us in a better situation. But to go out there for the first time and see all the pressures that Coach [Rex] Ryan throws at me, I was able to see them, I was able to see the coverages. Now I just have to do a better job of making the correct calls and putting us in a better situation. You can put it all on me."
On the second half: "Again, that's a tough one without seeing the film because obviously play-actions, different things, different things you're going on, I have to be able to see the film. I don't know exactly what was going on, but I promise you we're going to work at them and fix them. This isn't my first loss. This isn't my first time losing a game. It's not my first time dealing with adversity. And every time, you can put it all on me because I'm going to go ahead and work my tail off and we're going to go and fix these things."
On James Jones' TD: "It's great. It was a great catch by him. I've seen him do it; I've known him for 5-6 years. I've seen him make catches like that when we've been out at the park or wherever. I've seen him do it, so I expect James to do that every time because he's that good of a player. Was it great? Yes. Great catch. We found one-on-one, that's the match-up that we wanted and James went up and made a great play. But James expects to make that catch also and he did a great job."
OL Austin Howard
On returning to MetLife Stadium: "It's always a little surreal to come back for the first time, but as the years go on, you kind of get used to it. That's kind of how this game works. Here one day, gone the next. It's something you have to get used to. I felt like we went out there today with a good gameplan, but we just didn't execute to the best of our ability. So, we're going to come out this week, watch the film and get better.
On whether he felt the first game playing with a rookie quarterback was going to be a challenge:"You know what? We have nothing but all of our faith in (Derek) Carr. I believe he did the best he could to go out there and help us win a game. Like I said, things didn't always go our way, so we had to battle through a couple of things and we came up short."
On whether there were any communication problems:"Not at all. We're going to continue to work on our communication up front, as any team will do. That's going to continue to get better throughout the year. That's just one challenge that we have to face, especially (during) an away game, so we just have to keep working at that and get better."
RB Maurice Jones-Drew
On no penalty being called on the play when he fumbled:"(Quinton Coples) did a good job. He made a great play. I was lucky that Derek (Carr) was back there selling his fake and he got the ball and it wasn't a turnover. They made plays today. We made some too late in the game, but we just have to continue to work on (getting) better on first and second down and I think we'll be fine. We won't have to worry about getting those penalties."
On Carr's performance:"I thought he did a great job. (He) stayed in the pocket and got out when he needed to. (He) definitely tried to stay in there and get the ball downfield. That's what you look for in a young quarterback. Guys, who will stand in there and take some of those hits. They were bringing exotic pressures all over the field and we were trying to pick them up. They did a good job of overloading some guys. But, it's game one. I thought we made some great strides and we did some good things throughout the game. We just have to continue to get better and focus on the little things and it will take care of itself. We have a very talented team. We just have to gel. It's a work in progress. It's not going to be overnight. We understand that, but we know we had chances in this game to take it over and we just, as an offense, we didn't move the ball enough to keep our defense off the field. So, there's some things we've got to work on."
LB Khalil Mack
On Geno Smith's mobility impacting on the game:"He's a good quarterback. He gets out and scrambles. We tried our best to contain him, but he was able to make plays."
On if Nick Roach's injury limited the defense:"That's no excuse. Even though Nick's one of the best linebackers in the league and you want him out there, you have to go out and play tough. Miles (Burris) did great."
On if he was comfortable in his first regular season game:"There are some things I have to get better at. I'm getting better every time I go out there and I just have to get ready for the next game."
On playing multiple positions:"I love this game. I love playing and will do whatever the coaches want me to do. I just have to make plays."
DE Justin Tuck
On why he did not pursue Chris Ivory on his 71-yard touchdown run:"I just got a helmet right to the chest, so it knocked the wind out of me for a little bit."
On why he came off the field in the third quarter:"I landed on my ribs. My clumsiness."
On whether the game was won up front:"It always is. That's always the case. We just didn't make enough plays up front. I thought we played good in spots, but you've got to be consistent, especially against a big, physical team like that, that (has) a great defensive effort. They're always going to be in the game because of it. We've got to make more plays."
On whether Geno Smith gave the Raiders defense problems because of his scrambling ability:"He did. That's a credit to him. He's able to keep plays alive with his feet and then make plays down field with his feet. I think that was a huge part of his success today. He really kept us off balance as far as what we wanted to do on third down, and they were able to convert some third downs that we should have gotten off the field on. I think for the most part, that was the difference in the game for us, not getting those third downs and getting our offense some good field position."
FS Charles Woodson
On if he was surprised at the Jets ability to move the ball:"I don't know if I was surprised. I don't know what to think right now. I felt like we had a great game plan and that we could get a win on the road, and it didn't happen. We have to look at the film, see what we did wrong, and try to get better from here.
On his interception and its impact on the game:"I read it, he threw it, and I picked it off. You need impact plays like that and we ended up getting points out of it, but you have to continue to build the momentum. You have to be consistent throughout the game and we weren't. When you make a big play, you have to compile them and we weren't able to do that.
On Chris Ivory's 71-yard touchdown run:"He came through the hole and it looked like we had him bottled up. He was able to slip through a few tackles and it was off to the races.
On the Jets receivers getting yards after the catch:"That's something we have to look at and clean up. I thought the game plan was great today. It was a simple game plan that gave us the opportunity to just go out and play. But when we call the plays we have to execute them better than we did today.
On the team's attitude after the loss:"We are going to continue to play. There is too much fight in these guys to give up.
On if this was a let down:"It was a letdown because guys had opportunities and we let them slip through our hands. We felt like we could have won this game and there are a few plays on both sides of the ball guys wish they could have back.
On what he will say to his teammates:"It's really all about showing them. It's not about talk. These guys have heard every speech under the sun. They have all been on different teams and been through losses. It's about preparing yourself to win games and continuing to work hard. That's how you get better."
On the play of Geno Smith this season compared to last season:"He did a lot of the same things. He made some plays with his feet and kept plays alive. He got a couple of first downs when we should have had them stopped. He looked a lot like he looked last year and came up with a win. Hats off to him."
