Q: Have the date and time changes of the Jets game made it difficult for the players?
A: It's really not that bad. We had a walk-thru yesterday and found out last night that the game had been postponed. I thought the guys adjusted. We came in today and I thought we really had a crisp, sharp practice. Guys were flying around, moving around. I got to see a few more Jets looks, since we had a short week in the first place. I think guys are now set on going home, resting up today and tomorrow.
The weirdest thing will be tomorrow night, not being in the hotel, but being at home or wherever and then showing up for meetings Monday afternoon and then playing the game that night. That will be a different routine that we haven't had. But I think everyone has adjusted well. Obviously, we've been through this a little bit before, last year with the Minnesota game. So I think it's going pretty smoothly.
Q: Do you think having your disrupted twice last season has helped the players adjust this year?
A: Maybe. It's a little bit different. Last year, we were traveling around and staying in hotels and we didn't know where we were going to play or what was going on. That was different. With this game, we know when we're playing, we know the time. We adjusted and got to have an extra practice. I thought guys stayed mentally prepared and didn't complain about anything. They were going with the flow of things. I think that's the right approach. We'll be excited about getting back on the field on Monday.
Q: You won't have a chance to practice between the Jets and Patriots games. How will that affect you?
A: That's why this game is so important. I thought getting in another practice and running around today was helpful. This game coming is going to be very important. We're going to get some looks and see how we stand against a 3-4 team, a team that does some exotic blitzes and a top-quality team. We have to make sure everybody is on the same page and communicating and everybody is doing their responsibility. Hopefully, we'll go out there and play well.
After that, we'll see what the schedule is. Usually, in the last preseason game you don't play much, anyway. We'll adjust next week. After the Jets game, we'll get our focus on New England.
Q: Have you ever had your schedule affected like this by a hurricane, whether in high school or at Ole Miss?
A: We had some high school practices that were affected by hurricanes. During the summers and in August, we always just left early. That was my dad's approach, to say, "If we can get out of town we'll leave a few days before and miss all the traffic and chaos. And if it changes direction and it doesn't hit us, that's a blessing and we'll come home and everything will be fine."
Q: You probably never expected to deal with a hurricane in New Jersey…
A: You never quite expect it. Hopefully, it will weaken by the time it gets here and everyone will get out healthy and without too much damage done to the area. You never know what's going to be thrown at you. It's good they were able to detect it early and give people warning to get out of the way.
Q: Did Coach Coughlin stress to the players they need to be careful tomorrow?
A: That's why he gave us the day off. He said it's supposed to hit tomorrow morning and it's a big storm, a wide, long hurricane, so it's going to last the majority of the day with high winds and heavy rain. So stay in the house and have enough food and water so you don't have to leave and let this thing full clear before we have to go out and about.
