New York Jets 15, Carolina Panthers 12
DAVE CANALES: That was fun, huh? Just the finish of it just felt good, running the ball we way we want to, that tough style, pushing the pile. Dillon did a great job for us just finishing off the game right there. Jake organizing us with about 20 some odd seconds right there to get one more play off. I know everyone's kind of hoping -- especially the Jets hoping, hey, we're going take it in, but couldn't help it. Too good of an opportunity to finish so I'm really proud of the way the guys did. Defensively responding to adversity, two big returns got out, flipped the field right away, ended up in holding them to field goals on both of those, so I thought that was fantastic the way the defense responded there.
We came out pretty clean, a couple of guys to evaluate. Anthony Brown we're evaluating something in his hand and Mike Boone we thought might have had something. He came up and he would have been up at the end there, so anybody else? Lamar Jackson, yeah, just being evaluated so not a soft issue but something in his leg so they pulled him out to make sure we could get a look at it, and he wasn't able to finish, but I think that's it.
Q. Tae Davis.
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, Tae the same thing. Being evaluated. We're gathering information right now still so we'll have more information tomorrow there. Any questions?
Q. Dave, on that final drive just running the ball down the field, was that more about kind of just establishing the identity that you guys want to run the football? What went into the thought process there?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, a combination of two things: Just giving our guys an opportunity to feel what it feels like late in the game. We got to be able to run the ball, you know? And in my mind, I'm imagining we're in this four-minute world. Can we finish with the ball? Can we finish all the way through and the guys really came together. Couple guys I really got to say thank you to Mason Brooks who just got here two days ago and then Ike Boettger who got here yesterday, so spent time with Goody, with Joe, with Keli'i, Dean Petzing, all those guys just rallying around together to make sure we got through this game, so really four guys that have come to us in the last week, two in the last two days and I just couldn't be happier with those guys being able to help us out and evaluate everybody tonight.
Q. You obviously made the decision not to play the starters today. When did you make that decision and then we know you said you had to evaluate what you saw in practice, what was behind that decision fully?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, really just looking at the guys, the health of the full unit. We're going to get more people back, so, again, this week would be another just week to evaluate. We're going to have more of those guys that would be playing with that starting group, so this could be a good opportunity for that this week but, again, it all depends on how practice goes. It all depends on the depth of the guys we have to finish games, so, again, that's really just where my head was at. Like if we throw a group out there but we're missing a bunch of pieces, it's not really giving us the full look at working together and doing that, so I want to make sure that they're able to do that together and so that kind of was what went into the decision.
Q. With health, when you have 38 inactives and you can only keep 53, how does that affect how much value you can get out of tonight?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, single play, every time these guys have an opportunity to show us who they are, how they can help us, we're looking for the style of play. We're looking for the tough, aggressive finishes. We're looking for guys to be heady in situations, you know, whether it's third down or red zone or whatever situation might come up, so this is gold. This is gold for the guys that get these students to play on special teams. That's a big thing for us. If a guy can cover a kick, if he can be a reliable blocker in the return game, these things really speak volumes for our group, so love the opportunity for them.
Q. Did Chuba followup testing confirm your earlier thoughts that it was okay?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, he was -- so he came out clean there so we'll get him back out on the field this week and we'll be able to continue to work as a group.
Q. Dave, Demani Richardson had the big play tonight, the interception. How would you say his camp has been, his preseason has been?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, for him it's like every day is new lessons. Learning different lessons, leverage and all that, and the cool part about Demani is he had an opportunity tonight, he took advantage of it. Sometimes we get those ops and the guy either can or can't come up with the ball so he did a fantastic job of finishing that play, putting us in a good situation, getting us back on the board and really making it a three-point game at that point so that was awesome.
Q. Dave, to follow up on that, he had a big performance Monday, had those two picks there, how much can -- especially during training camp and you're practicing so much and for so long in hot weather, how much can that carry over to these games in your experience?
DAVE CANALES: You hope to see the guys making plays, whether it's in the receiver room or the secondary. You love seeing those guys, okay, practice is one thing, now can he carry it over to the game? So just a great opportunity on a overthrow, so I was fired up for him there.
Q. Can you talk about cornerbacks, Jamison, did he help his cause?
DAVE CANALES: Jamison did a great job. Dicaprio Bootle made some nice plays today. Lamar made some fantastic plays on the ball tonight. Chau Smith-Wade was all over the field, you know, at corner. Made a nice play in the endzone on a go ball op and really looked savvy in there at the nickel spot. That group is really making a statement for themselves as we go forward.
Q. Dave, how beneficial is it going to be for you as a play caller to have your full group out there, to have live reps before the season starts?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, you'd love to, but we've had a ton of reps and a lot of practice time and it's really just about getting our full group healthy so we can function together, whether that's in practice or the game.
Q. How much do you hold back from your preseason game plan when you're doing your play calling?
DAVE CANALES: It's our run game. It's the core of what we do. We have some thises and thats off of those things, but the run game and then the keepers, the boots, that's like really the heart and soul of it so it'll look like that. We'll be able to take those high percentage completions and it really helps the run game when you're able to hit those boots and all that so the part that we need to see more of with our group that's out there is just third down, just making sure that our protections are right, making sure we're throwing and catching. There were some tight plays we didn't make today. Some good opportunities down the field. I would have loved to see us come up with a couple of those, so that's the part where we got to continue to grow.
MODERATOR: We'll do a couple more.
Q. [Inaudible] you going with this group in the opener or adding another piece?
DAVE CANALES: We'll see. We'll see. These guys have -- really to answer that the right way, we have to respect these guys' opportunity and we're calling them out there to be -- they're out there the whole entire game, some great film to evaluate and we start with us. We start evaluating and competing in our own rooms and then we'll see what happens after that.
Q. Dave, Amare was still in pretty late tonight. What was the idea in what were you looking to see from him over the full four quarters almost?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, just trying to give him opportunities to show what he can do as a receiver, certainly as a returner, and he's been reliable. He's been doing the things we've asked of him. Got a couple of short pass opportunities, would love for the ball to get pushed down there to him down the field at some point to see what he can do there, but I'm really pleased with Amare and what he's done so far in camp, so just trying to increase the amount of opportunities.
Q. ... be okay if Bryce doesn't play next week and just doesn't play throughout the --
DAVE CANALES: We'll evaluate this week and let you guys know at the end.
MODERATOR: All right. Thank you very much, coach.
Q. Jammie Robinson led all tacklers tonight. What has he done to kind of set himself apart?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, good, tough football, versatility, playing nickel, playing safety. He's on all the teams so plays with great energy, you know, a beautiful play in the post right there. It was a bang, bang play, the officials saw it as a pass interference. We all knew it was a really good play and it was marginal. It was quick, but for him to be able to continue to make those plays, finishing off tackles on runs, you just see him flying around all over the field. That's the style of football that we want to play on defense.
MODERATOR: All right, thank you very much.
DAVE CANALES: Thank you.
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