Q: How accurate would it be to say that, as the defensive coordinator, you are pleased this morning to see a 2.4 rushing average for C.J. Spiller?
MP: I think obviously the only things that we are concerned with are getting the win, and obviously we're happy to come away with the win. Certainly we look at… Certainly, Buffalo, Spiller, Coach [Doug] Marrone and Coach [Nathaniel] Hackett do a phenomenal job with that offense. They have a lot of weapons that they can utilize and Spiller is a great player for them, along with the quarterback who can do some great things back there, Stevie Johnson. So obviously we're happy with the win, that's what we're looking for, but we're trying to really improve on getting better for next week.
Q: What kind of stress is added to the defense when you are forced to try and stop the run out of sub packages that have more defensive backs on the field?
MP: Well, like I said their game plan was really to come out and try to execute with that set. But for us, we just try to do the best we can to go out there and execute our game plan against whatever it is their doing and try to make sure we are in a good situation there for any run and pass situations that might come up in the game. We're going to go back through and fix any mistakes that we had, but it's great to come out with a win, and now our focus has turned towards the Jets. It will be a tremendous challenge for this week to get ready to go on a short week along with an offense that, through the preseason into yesterday, from a system standpoint, does a great job of handling the package that they're installing there. Obviously Marty Mornhinweg coming over as the coordinator with Rex [Ryan], the philosophy that they are trying to install there really kind of came together yesterday. So, it's a big challenge for us this week.
Q: How would you compare and contrast EJ Manuel to Geno Smith?
MP: Obviously the quarterbacks are two different [players], so I don't think that comparisons are what you're looking for here. Geno Smith had a great game yesterday, but the Jets' offense in general as far as what they do, it's a system in place that they're implementing that can cause a lot of problems and a lot of different challenges for you for the week. That's really what we're taking a look at. Geno Smith played well, but he has a great support cast around him. [Bilal] Powell, the running backs, [Chris] Ivory, [Santonio] Holmes, [Stephen] Hill, [Jeremy] Kerley, and then the tight end situation there, where they played all three of their tight ends and [Kellen] Winslow [Jr.] had a big day. They're just going to try and keep mixing their personnel out there and try to make it difficult.
Q: What have the last 16 hours been like for you in terms of game preparation for the Jets?
MP: Well, we try to keep a schedule, and when we are on a shorter week we try to cram our normal schedule into a lesser amount of days. So sometimes you need to push ahead and push forward [more] than on a normal week. You just try to get to everything as soon as you can and take it as the course of the week comes.
Q: Can you speak to the importance that the defense has put on creating turnovers and how important has it been to the defenses' success?
MP: Well I think fundamental football philosophy, no matter what level you are playing at, is to try and take care of the football. So I think that has been a definite important point that you are going to put on your team. From a defensive standpoint, there is nothing more important than trying to get the football, and that is what we are going to do. Certainly we are trying to prevent a lot of different things from happening on the field, but we are going to try take advantage of any opportunity was can to get the ball and try to get the offense back out on the field or try to score. So, it is definitely something that we are trying to do.
Q: How would you sum up what a Marty Mornhinweg offense is?
MP: I think just in general if you take a look at what they did here and what they've been doing is trying to disperse the ball around and have a very well balanced offense in both the run and the pass game, put the quarterback in good situations to make good throws, good decisions and also give them the ability to make some big plays. With Geno Smith having the ability to move around, he can create some plays on his own that adds an extra element to their system. I think they do a great job of trying to keep the offense balanced and trying to keep you on your toes defensively from the standpoint of the different personnel groups that they can use, formations, motions, shifts, different types of plays that they mix in and out based on down and distance. I think balance is a critical thing that they try to strive for, and I think they've done a good job of that.
Q: Other than the victory, what were you most pleased with?
MP: I think in general when we go out there we are trying to go out and compete at a high level for 60 minutes of football, and when you come into the first game there are a lot of unknowns that you are going to face. I think our guys, I just want to give credit to all our players who came out, played hard and handled the different adjustments that we had to make throughout the game, and really play with a good sense of urgency for 60 minutes. That was pleasing from our standpoint, but certainly we have a lot of work to do and a long road ahead of us, so we are going to tighten back down and try to get some things fixed and move forward.
Q: What were your general thoughts on the pressure produced by the pass rush?
MP: Well I think, like I said, there were a lot of aspects from the game where we are going to try and go back and improve on. Certainly we want to get better at everything we do every week, in both the run and the pass game. That's really what we are going to try to focus on and it's a big week for us to kind of push forward here and really start to think about the Jets and the different problems that they present to us and try to get better from last week on a short week and get ready for Thursday night.
