Here are some quotes from the past few days about tonight’s Minnesota Vikings at New York Jets Monday Night Football matchup.
Jets coach Rex Ryan on how much the team is looking forward to playing on Monday Night football against Minnesota.
It’ll be huge, but we haven’t played worth a darn on Monday Night. You go back to last year when we got beat by Miami (and) this year we get beat by Baltimore. We got beat in the preseason on Monday Night. We’re changing things up a little bit. Our schedule is changing up a little. We’ve got to find the formula to win on Monday night. Now normally, you’re playing a good football team (and that) probably has something to do with it, but we really do need to find a way to win. Playing in front of our fans after being away for two weeks is going to be a huge boost. Monday Night football is great. The whole country sees you, but I think the biggest thing is the fact we’re playing a home game in front of our fans.
Ryan on why his team embraces the spotlight.
We don’t have anything to hide. We know we’re not lined up perfect. These guys (media) can tell you that. “Rex you said this (and) everybody else said this.” ‘Oops. I’m more leaning this way’ (laughing). We’re playing football. We’re coaching football. We know it’s a multi-million dollar business, but it’s still a game and we’re not doing heart surgery. We don’t have anything to hide. We have the best facilities in football. We take care of our players, in my opinion, better than anybody else. We have the support staff around our players in this organization that’s top of the line. We have great people in our locker room, so what do we have to be afraid of or ashamed of? Go ahead and show it off. I think that’s who we are. One thing we want to do is, I wanted every coach in the National Football League to want to come coach for the Jets. I wanted every player in the National Football League to want to play for the Jets. That makes your job a lot easier when you get that kind of reputation throughout this league and I think we’re starting to get that reputation.
Jets defensive coordinator Mike Pettine on defending Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson.
That’s a good question because that’s something we’ve been stressing all week. We don’t want to lose sight of him. With all (the) talk of (Brett) Favre and (Randy) Moss and the other weapons they have in the pass game, this is one of the best rushing football teams in the NFL. It has always been our point of emphasis. If you can’t stop the run, you’re in trouble. Rex (Ryan) has already said that he’s a special back. If he’s not the best, he’s one of the best, him and maybe the kid at Tennessee (Chris Johnson). He’s special because he’s a bigger guy who has little man moves. He’s strong and breaks a lot of tackles.
Pettine on how the Moss trade changes their game plan.
I don’t think it changes it much. Part of it is we have a lot of calls up in our inventory and I think it depends on how they are using him. (We have) calls that are designed to eliminate a vertical threat, so we’ll have those options available to us on game day. We didn’t want to come in with an entire plan for him and have him come in and play 15-20 snaps. At the same time, we didn’t want to shrug it off and say, ‘He’s not going to play much. There’s no way he’s going to be ready,’ and have him come out and play 60 plays against us. We just wanted to make sure package-wise, that we have the flexibility to go either way with it. It’s built into the plan to handle it. Again, there’s some uncertainty there as far as where they line him up, whether they’re moving him around, putting him in the slot, putting him outside, (or) putting him by himself on the backside, so that’s something we’ll have to see as the game unfolds.
Brett Favre on what he thinks the crowd reaction to him will be on Monday.
I don’t know. It was one year and I think, I would hope like with any place I’ve played, the people appreciate the effort I’ve given. Trust me, I take a lot of the blame, as a quarterback should. We probably get way to much glory. I did all that I could do and I hope that they appreciate that. That doesn’t mean they have to like me. I know I’m coming in (as) an opponent. From a future standpoint, it worked out well (for) them.
Favre on the acquisition of Randy Moss.
I think, on paper, it can be a great addition. I’m excited about it. I think this team is excited about it. We know what he brings. We’re excited about it, but we still have to play. Like I was saying, it’s a great addition, but we still have to block, we still have to go out and make the right reads and we have to do the little things correctly (and) try to fit him into this offense. It’s a totally new language to him, so as he’s thinking this thing though, we can’t overload him and can’t really tax him. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very excited about this opportunity. I think all our players are. Any player across this league would be excited about this opportunity.