Transcript: Thomas Jones, 12.14
On how energized he is to be back in the playoff race…
We obviously know we sit in a great position now, but, I know it’s a cliché, we really have to focus on one game and one day at a time. We start Wednesday in practice. We play Atlanta this week. That’s our next opponent. If we don’t beat Atlanta, then it doesn’t really matter what happens the rest of the season. We just take it one game at a time. We have the Atlanta Falcons coming up here. They played a great game yesterday. We expect them to come up here and play hard. Our guys are ready to win.
On if it’s tough knowing that there is no room to error…Not really. You should look at it like there is no room for error from the beginning. You should go out there anticipating a tough game and not expecting to win, because there are a lot of teams in the League who are working hard and trying to get to the playoffs and the postseason. I think we have a very talented team. Rex (Ryan) and the coaching staff have done a great job motivating us and coaching us and getting us ready to play and putting us in this situation. It’s one of those situations where we know we have to win and the room-for-error thing goes out the window.
On the Jets defense…
This is one of the best I’ve been around. When Rex came here, the mentality that he brought and the players that he brought in addition to the players we already had here, I think they brought a lot of guys in here that just fit with what Rex stands for and Rex brings a lot out of the guys that were already here. You’ve got a mixture of veterans and young players on the defense. Anytime you have that mixture of chemistry of good football players and smart football players, you are going to be successful. We take a lot of pride in being good. We had a really good training camp against them. It was very competitive. We made each other better. The defense definitely made us better as far as being a tough-minded offense coming into the season. They’re playing great right now. They’ve really kept us in a lot of games despite the situations we’ve had to overcome on offense and not being able to score as many points in some games. They’ve definitely kept us in the game.
On if he’s every been a part of a team that has limited the opponent to 15 yards and no first downs in a half…
No, I don’t remember ever being in a game like that, high school, college, anything, where that happened. Yesterday was pretty amazing for us to watch them go out there and dominate like that. Tampa Bay is an NFL team. They have some great players in their offense. For them to go out there and dominate like that was something we needed to watch and was inspirational for us because on offense you see the defense go out and make plays and get stops. It makes you want to go out there and do your part as far as being the offense and scoring points and helping them out.
On Rex Ryan’s confidence in the team…
It says a lot about his character and says a lot of what he believes in us, 4-6 teams are pretty bad. People jump off the bandwagon. There’s not as many people watching you at practice. It’s pretty obvious when you’re 4-6, no one really thinks you’re in the position to win out. Rex believed in this team from the beginning of the year. He believed in the coaching staff and the players he put together. We all believed. We know we had a couple of setbacks, but a lot of the situations we were in that caused us to lose were because of us. Not taking anything away from the teams that beat us, but a lot of times we were in the position to win those games and didn’t take advantage of the opportunities. It wasn’t that we were just getting beat or blown out. We were hurting ourselves in a lot of the situations. We’ve been able to eliminate some of those mistakes and turnovers and big plays. That’s what’s helped us win three games in a row and this is what Rex was talking about when he said this team was close.
On the offensive line…
This is the best offensive line in the NFL. Every one of these linemen deserve to go to the Pro Bowl. Every one of them. They work extremely hard. They watch a lot of extra film. They do a lot of extra things in the weight room and the training room to prepare themselves. We take a lot of pride in the running game. Like I said before, the defense has a nice mix of veterans and younger players and we have a nice mixture of veterans and younger players on our offensive line. We have guys that want to be great, not just good players. Every one of those linemen want to be great. That makes a big difference for a running back because any time your linemen like to block, it means you have to step your game up. If you’re not doing what you’re supposed to do, you’re going to be the odd man out. I have a great relationship with all those linemen. We’re really good friends on and off the field which makes it a lot better. Tony Richardson is one of the best fullbacks to ever play the game. In my opinion, he’s the best fullback in the League. I’m blessed to be in the situation to run behind these guys.
On if this is the best stretch of his career…
I’m not really sure. I don’t really look at it like that. I just try to take advantage of my opportunities, I’ve always said that. Actually, the best year I had yard-wise was in Chicago in ’05. It wasn’t last year, it was ’05. I’m just trying to take advantage of my opportunities. Every day I come to work, I’m happy, I’m blessed. Every game I go out there, I know I’m blessed to be out there. It’s a dream come true every time I can put the pads on and go out there and play a game I dreamed of playing since I was five years old. When I get in the game, I don’t think of anything else but the game and just taking advantage of it and enjoying it because once you’re done playing football, you don’t get these times back. I try not to look at as going through a really good stretch here or there. I just look at it one day at a time, one game at a time, and prepare and just be ready to take advantage of the blessing I get on Sunday when I get to play.
On fumbling the ball as a running back and if he’s given Shonn Greene any advice…
Those things happen. I don’t care if you’re a rookie or a veteran, it’s football. Those guys get paid too to make plays. To me, when a guy fumbles, you already feel bad enough as it is as the guy who fumbled, so to make any extra comments about it is kind of a slap in the face. You just have to get back and shake it off and keep going. Shonn is a really good back. He’s willing to learn. He’s humble and he’s one of those people who learn from his mistakes. This is the NFL and it’s tough sometimes. The guys are attacking the ball and he’s been put in a couple of awkward positions for the ball to come out. He’ll bounce back and he’ll work as hard as he can in practice. He’ll focus on what he needs to focus on and he’ll bounce back next week.
