Offensive Coordinator Mike Kafka
Q: What's the biggest challenge that the Jets defense creates for you guys this week?
A: I'd say really at all three levels, they're very talented. They have great team speed, they're aggressive and these guys do a good job of tackling the football, so we'll have to have a good week of prep.
Q: (Wide receiver Jalin) Hyatt obviously had the two big catches last week and (Head Coach Brian) Daboll said he's going to keep playing more and more. Where is he in his rookie year development?
A: I'd say he's right on schedule. Yeah, he's right on schedule, working every single day, looking to improve on all the little things that we talk about in our individual meetings, all the fundamentals, the techniques and getting more accustomed to the offense each week. You can see that growth.
Q: How much does that growth make this offense more dynamic? The more he can be involved and the more he can contribute.
A: Jalin's doing a great job in his role, every week's different. I'd say, Jalin's had some good production downfield a little bit, so I think he's finding a role. I think as the weeks go on and the season goes on, maybe it grows a little bit more from there, but he's right on schedule.
Q: How do you see Jalin and (wide receiver) Wan'Dale (Robinson), who was here last year but interrupted of course, how do you see them complement each other? I know they compare notes, and they study together sometimes but how do you see that and how it's helping the two of them?
A: I'd say those – I mean, that whole group, really, that whole receiver room is really pretty close, and they do a great job together bouncing ideas off each other and studying and prepping. I think those two are really no different, they're young guys trying to learn and grow together so I think if they form a nice little friendship – it's a great leadership that we have in that room with some of those veteran guys too that kind of bring them together.
Q: I know the rules have changed a lot regarding protecting the quarterback obviously over the years, but we still see so many teams that are on their backup quarterback. Do you think those rules in place can actually prevent those injuries or is football just to violent a sport when you're out there trying to make a throw and stand in the pocket that it's inevitable at some point?
A: I mean, I'd say football is an aggressive sport. I think the rules are in place for players safety, which is, as a coach, our most important feature of the game is to make sure our players are safe, so whatever rules we need to put in place to make that happen, I think that's a positive. That's what we should be leaning towards.
Q: If you remember the preseason game, I think the first play was you throwing with (quarterback Tyrod) Taylor to Hyatt deep on (Jets cornerback) Sauce (Gardner) and we all saw on Hard Knocks where Sauce was flabbergasted that you guys would even try to throw the ball deep on him with a rookie. Was that play call anything beyond the actual play call? Like important to send a message to Jalin like, 'Hey, we trust you against one of the best in the corners in the league to go deep.' Was there any significance to that play call?
A: I wouldn't say so. I'd just say it was just one of the parts of the game plan that we thought we could use in our game plan and something that we wanted to look at and see in an NFL preseason game.
Q: How did Daboll get involved helping to run the meetings – how has that impacted what you're doing behind the scenes?
A: I'd say Dabs has been involved in really every aspect of the football team. Offensively, defensively, special teams, I mean, you see him around the building in meetings, whether it's individually, group – and it's a collaborative process, which has been the same since day one.
Q: Did you see any difference last week on Sunday against Washington in how the offense performed?
A: Last week was kind of last week, I thought we did a nice job, we were able to get the 'W' but that's in the past. This week's a new week, we've got to put together a good week of practice.
Q: Obviously it's an interesting situation because you don't play the Jets in the regular season every year but given you guys share the stadium here, how much goes into this week and how much pride will there be if you're able to get a win here?
A: I think what the most important thing is that we just continue to follow our process, follow our prep, trust all those things and go through that the right way. We don't want to skip any steps or look past anything. If we just go through that process and make sure we're all on the same page and put together a good week work.
Q: Was there any momentary sense of relief in the first half when you got that touchdown pass from Tyrod to (tight end) Darren (Waller)?
A: I thought it was just a well-executed play. We were able to get on the board early, which was great. Obviously, that's something we've been stressing, and we were able to get that done and obviously had some missed opportunities throughout the rest of the game which we've got to get better at but overall, it was a positive.
Q: How much different does the offense look to you with a healthier (running back) Saquon (Barkley) or a healthy Saquon back in there?
A: I'd say Saquon's doing a great job being – obviously, he's back so it's one of those things where he's involved in the game plan, he's running the ball more. We can use him outside on the perimeter as a receiver. He had that long touchdown catch which was a great play by him, broke a few tackles, so I think Saquon doing a great job like he has been his whole career.
Q: That play that you just mentioned, was that the actual play or was that an off script play the way the pocket broke down?
A: Tyrod just kind of stepped – it was actually great protection, Tyrod just kind of stepped up and found a nice opening and the checkdown ended up being right there for Saquon and he just gave him a nice little throw and catch right in the correct spot and Saquon made it happen after that.
Q: Do you get a lot of different looks because Saquon is on the field from defenses? Do you say, 'Hey, they're accounting for him so we can do this instead of –'
A: Yeah, I'd say there's been some focus on Saquon, which I think is warranted, he's a good player. As far as the specific looks, I think what you see on tape – you study for those looks and try to anticipate those things, so I wouldn't say there's very specific looks just because of the amount of different schemes that we've run offensively.
Q: Do you find the Jets defense is a little more straightforward I guess than some of the other teams you've faced? Certainly, more than your own team is. In terms of, 'Here's our four, here we come and we're going to cover the backend.'
A: I think they have their scheme, which is very sound, very difficult to game plan against because they have great players. Their coaches put them in good positions to make plays, so again I think we have to really prep and really make sure that we're all on the same page here to make sure we go and execute the right way.
Q: What do you see in (Jets linebacker) C.J. Mosley? He's been with the Jets for a while and kind of sustained –
A: He's had a ton of production. I remember him when he was in Baltimore. He had a lot of production there and a lot of production with the Jets so he's a really instinctive player, he's always around the football, he's always tackling the football. He does a great job reading the quarterback's eyes in the pass game and creates a lot of PBU's and pass breakups. Just being around the football, he kind of muddies up the picture for the quarterback, so we'll have to know where he's at every play.
Q: (G Mark) Glowinski seems like he played better the last couple games, you know he had some early season struggles. What have you seen from his mentality? At the beginning of the season coming out then coming back in.
A: I think Glo's a great example of the work you put in during practice and then if you practice how you're going to play, that carries over into the game and he's put together three, four really good weeks of practice work and it has carried over for him.
