Post Game Press Conference – Jets HC Jeff Ulbrich
JETS HEAD COACH JEFF ULBRICH
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
October 27, 2024
Q: Just talk about that last series defensively, them driving down, not being able to make a stop.
JU: Yeah, we talk about being at our best when our best is required, and that was not it. That’s on coaching, first of all, and then second, we’ve got to execute, and we did not execute in critical moments. We say that’s not who we are, but it’s who we are until we demonstrate otherwise.
Q: Are you at a loss right now, just kind of what’s going on with this team?
JU: I’m pissed. They’re pissed. I’m hurt. They’re hurt. We are not executing in critical moments, especially down the stretch right there. We had opportunities to win this game, should have won this game, and we didn’t. So give credit to the Patriots; they took advantage of a team that didn’t execute as well as they can.
Q: You talked about how you felt like this was the best week of practice you’ve had in a long time. Do you feel like that translated to the field today?
JU: There were spots where it might have, but just overall it wasn’t good enough. We’ve all got to take a hard look at ourselves, starting with me, and the process, practice, meetings, walk-through, all of it, and make sure everything is right and make sure everything is being done at the highest level because right now, the product that we’re putting out there on game day is not the product that’s conducive to winning and building a culture that we’re trying to establish here.
Q: There was a lot of talk about Davante Adams speaking to the guys after the game last week and put that culture in the right direction. How much of a step back is it to lose in this fashion to a team like this?
JU: Yeah, it hurts, and it’s hard. You get the process right and you get the energy right, and when it still doesn’t produce the results that you want, it’s just not the feedback that you want to give your players, your team, your organization. This was more than energy because I thought the energy was fine. That was not where we fell short. Where we fell short was in the execution, especially in the critical moments of this game. So we’ve got to get that right. Until that gets right, nothing else really matters.
Q: What happened on the delay on the two-point conversion? What led to it?
JU: We’ve got to be better from an operations standpoint, just overall, and that’s every single player, every single coach. That’s Aaron [Rodgers]. That’s all of us.
Q: In the first quarter you had to burn three time-outs –
JU: Yeah, same answer.
Q: Is that just guys not knowing where to line up?
JU: We’ve just got to be better collectively. Every single human being out there has got to be better. Aaron has got to be better. Coaches got to be better. All of us got to be better.
Q: I don’t mean this in a rude way, but it’s not a young offense up there. There’s a lot of veteran players. How do mistakes like that happen when you have such a veteran team, specifically on the offensive side of the ball?
JU: They shouldn’t happen, first of all, whether you’re veteran, rookie. It doesn’t matter. Inexperienced, experienced, doesn’t matter. The operation of our offense, it should not do that. Does it happen every once in a while, every couple games, maybe. But to happen as often as it did tonight, it’s not good enough, and it’s got to get fixed.
Q: Do you regret sticking with Greg Zuerlein?
JU: No, I do not.
Q: Is there anything you would do differently if you could rewind those last few seconds of the game?
JU: I’ll take a hard look at the tape and there’s probably some calls that I could have adjusted and maybe done some different things, for sure, and there always is, but it’s my job to put them in the best position to be successful, and I obviously didn’t do that.
Q: Greg Zuerlein obviously missed a number of kicks. Are you committed to him long-term or is it something you’re going to look at?
JU: Yeah, we’ve got to take a hard look at everything that we do, everything. It’s not just on Greg, it’s on all of us. We’ll do that this week.
Q: What was your message to the guys in there?
JU: This is a moment of darkness, and we understand that the outside world is going to get really loud right now. But the only thing I know in life is that when it gets dark and it gets hard, that you work and you point the finger at yourself and you look inward and you figure out what can I do better from an individual standpoint. If we do that collectively, which I believe we will, that’s your only opportunity to dig yourself out of this. That’s your only opportunity to improve and fix some of these wrongs. That’s where we’re fortunate, that the character of this locker room, I think they’re going to demonstrate who they are.
Q: You haven’t had a lot of guys that have been through coming out of darkness. The guys have been through some tough seasons. How challenging is it for them to do it when they don’t know what that looks like?
JU: Yeah, there’s a part of it that’s some blind faith when it comes to that, and understanding that all I can do is work, and you stack enough work up in a productive way that it results in the results that we want. At the same time, we’re going to have to lean on some of these veterans that we have in this locker room, some guys that have been through it and some guys that have rebounded. It’s going to take every single human being in there, coaches, players, support staff, everybody, to get this thing turned around.
Q: What did you think of the way Haason Reddick played and what happened to C.J. Mosley?
JU: Honestly, it’s really hard for me to see exactly what Haason was doing. I’ll take a look at the tape and let you guys know. But he was dialed in. He was focused. I felt his energy and I felt all of that, so it’ll be interesting to see the tape. C.J. in pregame, he had a neck, so he was unable to play unfortunately.
Q: Do you think maybe – I know you want to keep doing it, but do you feel like maybe trying to be the head coach and also calling the defense, that your responsibilities are just being stretched too thin at this moment?
JU: Like I said, I’ll take a hard look at everything, and if that’s one of the things that can help us, then it’ll definitely be on the table.
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