Patriots, Titans, Cardinals highlight home schedule

The San Diego Chargers announced today that ticket prices for 2010 will remain the same for the third-consecutive season.

Season ticket prices range from $48 to $90 per game. All single-game tickets, if available, will range from $54 to $98. Season ticket holders receive a savings of up to $110 over single-game purchases.

Chargers fans once again will be treated to an exciting schedule of home games. The home schedule includes matchups against quarterback Tom Brady and the New England Patriots; wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and the Arizona Cardinals, as well as another hard-fought battle against rushing champion Chris Johnson and the Tennessee Titans. The Chargers also will take on the San Francisco 49ers and the Jacksonville Jaguars, both in the playoff hunt late in the '09 season, as well as AFC West rivals Denver, Kansas City and Oakland.

The Chargers, winners of four consecutive AFC West titles and five in the last six years, continue to provide one of the most exciting and successful teams in the NFL. Seventy wins over the past six years ranks fourth in the NFL, and that strong showing on the field has led to 48 consecutive regular-season and postseason home sellouts.

Season tickets are available now by calling 877-CHARGERS, going to www.chargers.com or stopping by the Chargers' ticket office at Gate C at Qualcomm Stadium.

###

Chargers kicker Nate Kaeding will miss the 2010 Pro Bowl due to a groin strain. He will be replaced on the AFC roster by Miami Dolphins kicker Dan Carpenter.

This would have been Kaeding's second-career Pro Bowl. He kicked the game-winning field goal for the AFC in a 31-28 win over the NFC at the 2007 Pro Bowl in Hawaii's Aloha Stadium.

San Diego President Dean Spanos signed Head Coach Norv Turner to a three-year contract extension today, extending his contract through the 2013 season.  "I'm extremely proud of the job Norv has done with this team," said Spanos. "In three seasons he's led the team to three division titles.  I'm confident that if we strengthen our roster and continue to provide Norv the assets he needs, this team will have continued success."

Turner has the top overall winning percentage in team history at .648 (35-19) as well as the top regular-season percentage (32-16, .667).  The Chargers are 13-0 in December under Turner and 4-3 in January.  His three playoff wins are tied for most in team history.  The team's 13 regular-season wins in 2009 are the second most in team history, and includes a team-high seven wins on the road and a 4-0 sweep of the NFC East.  The team committed the second-fewest turnovers (17) and the third-fewest penalty yards (570) during the regular season.  Its 78 penalties are the fewest by the Chargers since 1976 when there were 14-game seasons.

Turner's leadership did not go unnoticed nationally as USA Today named him its NFL Coach of the Year. 

Head Coach Norv Turner

“I got in in the morning and I watched the tape in all three phases.  There were so many different situations that were similar to what we’ve had throughout the year where we were able to make big plays and make plays at a critical time that went our way and changed close games.  We had numerous opportunities in all three phases in this game to make those kinds of plays and we didn’t make as many as we have.  I think when you put the whole thing together, we didn’t get it done the way we had the last 11 weeks.  I think it’s a couple of things, and the first thing always is the team you’re playing.  The Jets did a good job.  They had a good scheme.  They executed extremely well.  In a game like this against a good team, you know there’s going to be give and take.  I thought we made plays and we had big plays in the passing game throughout the game that gave us opportunities.  We struggled on some critical third downs.  Defensively, we played the run throughout most of the game at a real high level.  Obviously we made the one run and the back is an outstanding runner. 

“The biggest thing for me is when you step away from it, and it’s hard to do that after this short period of time, but we have got an outstanding football team and we have got good players and great character players and people that you want to be around on a daily basis and guys that will get this thing done.  They will get this thing done.  There’s no question in my mind.  One of the things I look at, we played Indianapolis two years ago.  We went to Indianapolis.  They were 12-4, two seed.  We beat them and ended their season.  They came in here last year, eight game winning streak, hottest team in football.  If they got past us they were the team to go to the Super Bowl, and we beat them and ended their season.  They’re getting ready to play in the championship game.  There are things that you have to overcome in this league.  I think our team understands those things and like I said, we have the type of guys that will do that.  I think the future for this football team is outstanding.”

How do you explain some of the uncharacteristic things?
“I wish I could explain it because as we all said, those things are things that are uncharacteristic of us and things we haven’t done.  It’s disappointing to me and we know that, I don’t care who you are, those things are hard to overcome.”

This is the second year in a row Jackson has drawn an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the playoffs.  Is that something that you talk to him about?
“Absolutely and it’s something that we talked about a year ago when it happened in the Pittsburgh game.  The things that we talked about when we first met on Monday a week before the game were the things that have gotten us to this point were our poise and our discipline.  As I said last night, when you’re in the top five in fewest penalties and top five in fewest penalty yards, those things matter.  Those things helped us, and again, obviously when other teams were making those kind of mistakes, it’s twice as good.”

When you say, ‘We will get this done,’ do you mean win the Super Bowl?
“That’s our intention and that’s our goal.  I believe this team is capable of coming back and putting ourselves in position to make a run at it over the next period of time.”

So in your mind the ‘window of opportunity’ is still wide open?
“This team in a lot of areas has gotten younger.  I’m not going to talk about specifics in terms of our personnel today, but I do know this: we’ve had a lot of young guys make strong contributions to this team and a lot of guys stepped up that you wouldn’t have expected.  Brandyn Dombrowski to start as many games as he did, you wouldn’t expect that to happen.  The guys who played in our defensive line, (Ogemdi Nwagbuo) and some of those young guys that stepped up and made great contributions.  We’ll add and they’ll be back on our team as we go.”

When you look at the video on Nate Keading’s misses, did he rush them?
“That’s certainly not my area of expertise and I was just talking to Steve Crosby who coaches our special teams.  He felt (Kaeding) rushed the first one and pulled it left. If you relate it to golf, what happens is you overcompensate.  He was going to make sure he didn’t pull it.  Again, that’s a conversation I had with Cros and I haven’t seen Nate yet.”

What happened at the line of scrimmage on the 53-yard touchdown run?
“Ultimately, I thought Eric just made a bad decision trying to tackle him high.  If he goes down and gets him at the knees, he had a chance.  Cromartie could have squeezed it down better.  We were in a zone dog and once the ball goes away, they try to get out of it and got cut off.”

Can you comment more on Cromartie’s effort on that play?
“I haven’t seen it on the game tape.  I saw it in person.  He’s got contain and he’s trying to squeeze it.  He could have gone after it and got it.”

Did your team seem tight yesterday?
“That’s always so hard to determine.  I don’t think it’s tight.  I think we got into that deal where we pressed a little bit and we tried to do more than what we’ve been doing.  The great example is the clip on Malcom Floyd on Vincent’s play.  It’s a block that doesn’t need to be made.  I don’t think the guy is going to make the tackle and one of the rules, and it’s mentioned every time it happens on the practice field, one of the basic rules for any receiver downfield is never turn and block back.  Never turn and block back when a guy catches a short ball underneath because your chances of clipping go way up.  Turn and go get a safety. Then if the receiver beats a linebacker or beats underneath coverage, you may get the block that springs him.  Malcom ran the deep route over where Vincent was and when the ball was caught, instead of turning and getting the safety, obviously he turned back and blocked the linebacker in the back.  I’m not going to go through ever play, but that ball is down on the 15 yard line.  You can say the guy would have made the tackle or not.  In my opinion, he wouldn’t have.”

You didn’t sense any tightness before the game?
“Absolutely not.  I thought our practices Wednesday and Thursday were outstanding.  I thought we had a very good practice and there was some looseness to our Friday practice, which there always is, but it was very precise.  We went through a practice with relatively no mental errors and certainly nothing significant and I thought our guys were excited to go.  They were.  I would attribute it to starting to press a little bit and trying to do a little bit more than you normally do.” 

Do you think some of that pressing has to do with the Jets trying to take you out of your comfort zone?
“I’ll go back to what I said.  The Jets are an outstanding football team.  They run the ball extremely well.  They’ve got two outstanding backs, an outstanding offensive line.  Defensively, they were first in most significant defensive categories.  They’re first in third down defense, which was a factor in the game.  They were first in pass defense, which I thought we made a number of big plays on them and made plays that people haven’t been able to make on them.  We just had a tough time finishing drives.”

Did they take you out of your comfort zone?
“I don’t know about comfort zones.  They do things that you have to handle.  I said it last Wednesday: there’s going to be two or three times they get guys free or they make you throw a sight adjust.  There are times we’re going to match them up and block them. That’s give and take during a game, but that’s part of the game.  I thought there were three or four plays in the passing game that we have been making that would have been significant plays up the field and we just didn’t come up with the ball.” 

Do you think there are major changes needed in the running game or run defense?
“If I alluded to stay the course, that’s not my intention.  We did a lot of things this year during the offseason to improve our football team, whether it be personnel, whether it be coaching staff, whether it be things in our system.  Those are things there’s no question that we’re going to do again and we’re going to get better.  We’ve got players that can get better.  There are two or three guys that I’m going to point to, if Antonio Gates can have his career best year at 29 then a guy that’s played two years at the age of 25 certainly has room to improve.  The thing I like best about what Dean (Spanos) and A.J. (Smith) do and what we do as a group is we don’t rush into something right now.  If we’ll let a little time pass and then look at our football team, there are going to be areas we look at and say we have to get better.  We need to run the ball better.”

What was the biggest challenge Philip had reading their defense?
“There’s about four plays, there are two third downs where they just knocked the ball away.  There are three or four plays we just missed and I do believe we made a bunch of plays that gave us chances.  The biggest thing with what they do, they’re multiple on defense.  They use multiple coverages, they’ve got very good players in the secondary and a guy who I believe is the best corner in the league.  Then with their nickel fronts and their blitz schemes, they come from all over.  So you have to communicate throughout and I think that’s why we had a couple false starts early.  You have to communicate throughout the first part of the play.  You have to set the protection. You have to move people around in terms of where they’re going.  I though up front our guys were outstanding in handling that.  If we make three or four of those plays, I think we’d look at it and say we got done what we wanted to get done in the passing game.”

What can you do differently next time you face a game of this magnitude?
“I can’t say enough about what our staff did this year in preparing for all of our games.  I thought the coaching staff did a great job of getting our guys prepared for this game.  We were matched up against a very good team and they played awfully well.”

Would you consider this season a success?
“We all want to go to the Super Bowl and we want to go win a Super Bowl.  That’s what’s going to determine it as a success.  From a standpoint of the ultimate goal, I’m disappointed like everyone else is.  From a standpoint of what this group accomplished…I’m not going to do it but I could stand here and name 10 or 12 guys that had their best year ever.  I could name 20 guys that weren’t expected to play that contributed to what we’re doing and allowed us to win 11 straight games and go 7-1 on the road and do all those things.  For those guys, growing as football players, that’s a success.  If you continue to grow, then the ultimate success of going and winning a Super Bowl, that’s what we want to do and that’s how I think we’ll determine our success.”

Any thoughts on the possibility of Sunday being LaDainian Tomlinson’s last game as a Charger?
“I’ve seen that and heard that and that’s to early for me to speculate or have a comment on it.”

There are reports that Vincent Jackson was pulled over for speeding before the game.  Was that a concern for the team and what would it have meant if he hadn’t played?
“It wouldn’t have been good if he hadn’t played. He’s a big part of what we do.  Vincent as I understand was pulled over.  He did come to the game with Philip.  Philip was here.  At 9:30 in the morning, I was driving down Murphy Canyon Road.  You know this hill, it’s easy if you’re not paying attention to go faster than you need to.  There was a woman pulled over at 9:30, the radar and all that.  I thought at that point, ‘That’s an interesting place to have a radar gun out on a Sunday morning at 9:30.’  Vincent was pulled over later and was at the stadium.  I made a point Saturday night of telling our guys that there would be a lot of traffic and leave early.  We had no problems.  When I walked in the locker room after walking the field like I do, Vincent was dressed and getting ready and it was well over two hours before the game, which is normal.  I didn’t find out about it until later.”

Is there an issue with Vincent Jackson you should be concerned about?
“I don’t have a concern about Vincent in general.”

Did the Jets benefit from how much man defense they played in the second half?
“They played a mix of man throughout the game.  There were some plays where they jumped into man and they did a good job with it.  There were some plays where they jumped into man and made a couple big plays against it.  They’re an extremely multiple defense in the coverage game and when you have guys like they have in the secondary, the talented corners they have…Lito Shepherd, when they got him was a big deal and he was an outstanding player in Philadelphia.  He’s not talked about a lot because of Revis, but they have outstanding cover guys.  When you have that type of players, you have flexibility to mix it up and I think they made a couple plays, particularly on third downs where we came up a little short where normally we would convert that.  Man coverage generally helps you in that.”

What it harder to get separation for your receivers than it had been?
“I don’t think so.  I think our guys did a good job when they were manned up.  I think in games where we’ve completed those balls and made plays, it’s not like they were running wide open with no one on them.  We’ve made the same plays.  In man coverage you usually have a guy pretty close to you or on your back.”

Is it easy for you to rationalize that 31 teams are disappointed, or do you take it as another year where you didn’t accomplish your goal?
“I don’t rationalize it that way.  That’s kind of a cliché type thing.  I think A.J. says it best, we want to get in the tournament and we want to get in it in a yearly basis.  We want to get in it and get it done.  The disappointing thing, we were one of eight and there are going to be six teams that are very disappointed and aren’t in the Super Bowl.  When you get into that point where you’re one of eight, you know that you’re two games away from it.  That’s a disappointing thing for me.”

Have Ron Rivera or Rob Chudzinski been approached regarding interviews for other jobs?
“All I can tell you is on both of those deals, we have not been contacted.  I read the different reports that you do and I’ve seen both of them.  Until we’re contacted and someone asks us for permission, there’s nothing to those reports.” 

Was yesterday the most disappointing loss of your coaching career because of expectations?
“I’m not a guy that bases things on expectations because I know what the New York Jets are.  I know what they’re capable of doing.  I know what their defense is like.  I know what their running game is, but I expected us to win the game and that makes it obviously disappointing.” 

RB LaDainian Tomlinson

Did you find yourself reflecting on the game more?
“Absolutely I focused on the game. It’s kind of hard not to with the opportunities that we had in front of us.”

Did you think players tried too hard or tried to do more than they could?
“I think that was definitely in some cases they hurt us and obviously you can look at that because we did some of the things we didn’t do all year. I don’t know the last time we had that many penalties and so obviously that had something to do with it.”

What do you take away from this game?
“To be honest with you, I’m not sure. It’s heartbreaking to lose like this and I don’t think there really is anything you can take out of it to be honest with you. You just take the feeling with you of how you felt losing that game and take it to the offseason to fuel you to train and get ready for the next season and try to give it another shot.”

Was this game too big?
“No I don’t think it’s too big at all. Sometimes it takes a little longer and you go back to that Indy team that kind of went thru a similar thing that we went thru where they were getting to the playoffs and they were losing and would have a good record in the regular season but could never get to the big dance, and eventually they did. This is the type of team that can get there with the guys we have in the locker room and the leadership we have, it can be done.”

In your opinion what does this team need heading into the offseason?
“I don’t know. I can’t tell you. I’m sure the front office is going to evaluate everything and they’re going to do what this team needs to have done to get over the hump.”

How do you approach this offseason personally?
“Like any other: knowing that I’m going to play football next year. I’m going to get ready to train my butt off and get ready for another season.”

Why did you compare the Jets to the Chargers of 2006?
“The question was the difference between the ’06 team and this team and I simply said that this team was more explosive and had so many more weapons than the ’06 team. The ’06 team was comparable to the Jets team yesterday: pretty much one dimensional - not into throwing the ball a lot - and playing good defense. So that was my answer to the question.”

Did you ever allow yourself to think this was the year?
“I felt like that. At the bottom of my heart, I really felt like this was the year.”

Of the four teams left, who do you think is going to be in the Super Bowl?
“I think it’s going to be a heck of a game with the Saints and Minnesota. I think the Saints have a little bit of an advantage because they’re playing at home in the dome which can be tough and they feed off that crowd. Their offense can score on anybody, so I give the Saints the edge there. In the AFC game, I think the Colts will pull it out. I think they’re going to force (Mark) Sanchez to throw the ball a little bit more and force him to beat them. I don’t think the Jets will be able to run the ball as successfully as they have. I think they’ll (Indianapolis will) be able to move the thru the air. Philip (Rivers) had almost 300 yards passing so we moved the ball thru the air on them.”

Do you still follow the career of Drew Brees?
“No question. Absolutely. He’s my buddy so I’m not going against him.”

Have you gone to a Super Bowl?
“Yes, coming into my rookie year, I went to the Super Bowl in Tampa between Baltimore and the Giants. That was the first and only Super Bowl that I’ve gone to.”

Will you go if Drew and the Saints go?
“Only if he invites me to sit in the box (laughter).

Looking back on the season and last night, how do you assess the team’s struggles on the ground this year?
“I’ve talked about it all year long. A lot of times, the running game is about getting in a rhythm and doing it and coming off and hitting people and when we needed to run the ball, we did. When we had the opportunities to close out games like Dallas, we did run the football so obviously it was something that was secondary to our offense. But I thought we did a fairly good job when we needed to do it.”

How much more football do you feel like you have left in you?
“I feel like I’ve got a lot of football left. Physically I feel like I can hold up to the pounding still. Obviously I know I had the least carries in my career, but other than the ankle injury early in the year I was pretty healthy all year long.”

Are you looking most forward to the arrival of your first child this offseason?
“I am. I am really excited about that. Just all the preparation that goes into getting ready for the baby. It’s exciting and now I get to really be involved day-in and day-out so obviously I’m excited about that.”

Would you like to be here (in San Diego) next year?
“Well I’m under contract here so that tells me that I’m going to be here.”

Do you anticipate having to renegotiate your contract like you did in 2009?
“I don’t anticipate it.”

ILB Stephen Cooper

Do you feel any different the day after the game?
“It’s just a big letdown. After the game I was real disappointed but after sleeping on it and waking up today, the Jets were a real good team and you have to give them credit. When it’s playoff time, you’ve got to step up and show up to work and we didn’t do that.”

Does it hurt any less today?
“No, it’s going to hurt for a while because the opportunity was there for us to go win a Super Bowl. We had the guys intact, we had the coaching staff intact and we’re just disappointed to sit home and watch somebody else play for a Super Bowl when we thought it was going to be ours.”

Was this the team’s best shot to win a Super Bowl?
“No, we’ve still got 17 (Philip Rivers) at quarterback. We’ve still got a lot of guys coming back. We know a lot of contracts are up and some guys are going to be restricted (free agents) but I expect we’ll have a lot of the same faces back here next year and we’re going to keep pushing for the Super Bowl. That’s our goal and that’s my goal as an individual, to try to get that ring, because when you put on this uniform, at the end of the day you want to win a Super Bowl. It doesn’t matter about the money, it doesn’t matter about the individual accolades, it’s about going out there and winning a football game, and that’s the Super Bowl.”

What does this team need in the offseason to get better?
“I don’t really think any big moves need to be made. It’s just guys coming back and being healthy. Hopefully we get big number 76 (Jamal Williams) back at nose to tighten our ship and that’s just the biggest thing, to be healthy coming into next season.”

Do you see what Philip Rivers is going thru now as similar to what Peyton Manning went thru early in his career?
“No, Philip and Peyton are two different quarterbacks. They go about their business very differently. I’m not in the locker room with Peyton but I am in there with Philip and I know he’s the first one to get here and the last one to go home and he wants to win just as much as anybody wants to win. And it’s sad to see us lose in the fashion we did because as a team we really thought we were going to win this game. And to come up losing, it hurts, but what else can you do.”

Last night you were pretty pointed in your comments after the game, do you feel any less so today?
“No. We win or lose as a team. No individual wins or loses games. You can’t do that with 11 guys on the field. Philip didn’t play his best game; Nate (Kaeding) didn’t kick his best game, and as a defense we didn’t play our best game and we had opportunities too. We were winning 7-0 and we could’ve gone out there and not given up any points and won the game in that fashion, but we didn’t do that so you can’t point the finger at anybody.”

Every loss (stinks), but the way it went, does that make it (stink) more?
“No, because we were in the game the whole time. We always had opportunities but we played into the way the Jets wanted the game to go. That’s the whole thing. We tried to get momentum and we got momentum. We get a turnover and then we gave momentum back. It was just a push-and-shove grudge match the whole game and they pushed a lot harder than we did.”

Did the Jets want it more?
“Yeah. You could see they grinded out four quarters of football. They forced turnovers, They got after our quarterback. And they kept running the ball and they wore us out in the fourth quarter and it showed.”

How does that happen in the playoffs?
“I don’t think it comes down to who wants it more, but the way the game went and thru the four quarters, they played the way the Jets wanted the game to go. I know I wanted it just as much as anybody. I play until I see 0:00 on the board, no matter if I see if we’re up by 17 or down by 34 I’m going to play to the whistle and I know my teammates would also.”

Can you watch the AFC Championship game thinking that was the game you should’ve been in?
“Oh I’m definitely going to watch. I love football. I’m a fan of football and I love watching it, even when the offense is on the field, I’m always up on the sideline with Billy Volek trying to find out what play we’re running just to see what’s going to happen. You’ve got two good teams playing next week in the Jets and the Colts. You’ve got Peyton Manning versus a great Jets defense so it’s going to be a good matchup.”

Who are you rooting for now?
“It doesn’t really matter who wins. It isn’t us so whoever goes and gets it, they deserve it and more power to them.”

Do you like the Jets or the Colts?
“It’s going to be tough. With Peyton Manning back there at quarterback it’s hard to go against them, but Rex Ryan has his guys believing and they’re playing great team football so you really never know. It’s going to be a toss-up, more so a pick’em.”

Do you call this season a success or a failure?
“It’s definitely a success from where we came from and all the injuries we had early on. We bounced back with guys up and down all year. I know in the linebacker room we had a lot of guys starting this year that we different faces but everyone responded. It’s disappointing that we didn’t get thru this playoff run but we’ve got a lot to look forward to during the offseason and this upcoming season.”

This team went from 8-8 to 13-3, can this team repeat its success next year?
“We definitely can. The type of players we have on offense that can put up points, they’re going to always put up points. We played against a good defense yesterday and we had to respond as a defense ourselves, that’s why it’s a team game. As long as we have these guys back healthy and we keep pushing and have the same goals then we should be fine.”

TE Antonio Gates

Thoughts on the game:
“You know it’s over with. The Jets won. My hat goes off to the Jets. They came in and they played their kind of style of football and they were able to come away with the victory.”

Do you consider this a lost opportunity considering how many guys had great years?
“It’s devastating knowing guys, myself included, to me I had the best year so far in my career and guys just stepping into the zone. Vincent Jackson, Philip Rivers, I can go on and on and name guys…our offensive line with Marcus McNeil and Kris Dielman. But those are all individual accomplishments which we talked about earlier in the season. You set individual accomplishments and you set goals for a team. The team goal was to win a Super Bowl, but we just quite couldn’t get that done this year.”

Would you describe the uncharacteristic play is the same kind of problems that hit you when you played New England a few years ago…is this a maturity issue?
“Personally, I just think we went out and we just didn’t play our best game. It happens. That’s the nature of the business. You just are not immune to absolutely nothing as a human being. When you watch the film, you look at several things that are happening in the game and you just can’t believe they were actually happening. I remember there was a point in the game where it felt like it was a dream with some of the penalties we were committing. It felt like that in the New England game and the Jets game in ’06…it felt like it was happening to you kind of like a déjà vu feeling. It was just unfortunate that we weren’t able to take care of our business and move forward.”

Do you feel like the window of opportunity is closing on the big game?
“I feel like you learn from everything you go through. If you put yourself back in that position, what would you do over again? Would you make any changes? We’ve been talking about our ’06 season and we’ve been talking about our 14-2 season and now, we have something else to talk about. We got another situation to add to it. It’s hard for me to say. It’s hard for me to say at this point because I’m still devastated.  It’s over, but I keep replaying things I could’ve done different in the game. It won’t change the outcome of the game. The game is over and done with. I must say I enjoyed playing with these guys. I enjoy playing for the San Diego Chargers; to let them down, to let our fans down that means the most to us.”

On whether he should talk to LT about coming back to get it done or is it a decision between LT & AJ?
“One thing I’ve learned in this business over the past seven years is that you can only control what you can control. I have no control over what happens, what the situation is, what the future holds for LaDainian Tomlinson. All I know is I can cherish these past seven years that I had a chance to play with him. He knows how I feel about him. I’m quite sure he feels the same way, but he understands the business side of it. I’m quite sure that whatever happens will be the best for the San Diego Chargers and will be the best for LaDainian Tomlinson. “

Do you think there is a factor other than him that explains the difficulty you’ve had with running the ball?
“It’s hard to say. When you got a guy like LaDainian Tomlinson, who draws so much attention, you can see teams respect it. I don’t know that we weren’t able to run the ball. I just think guys were able to make plays in the passing game which gave us a different element going into the game. We didn’t have to feature the run every single game because we have so many guys that can make plays in the passing game now which is different from the past. It’s different from what he had to do back in the day when he had to carry the ball 25 to 30 times a game and when he had to have 100 receptions in a season. It’s just different now because we have so many guys that can make plays. We’re not asking him to do as much.  With that being said, he come in and he understood his role and he tried to do the best he can when the opportunity presented itself. “

Do you think the run blocking is adequate?
“I think collectively the offensive line put forth the effort. It’s difficult when you have guys coming in especially at the center position when you have guys changing at the position because to me that’s the most important position. He determines where the line goes. He determines the scheme. He determines who they pick up in the protection.  Give or take they still are fairly young, but to me they played tremendously. They did all they could do and that’s all you can ask when you play in this game and understand this league.”

You had your best season this past year. What is your focus going to be this offseason?
“Just working to putting myself back in that position that I was in this year to be competing for a Super Bowl Championship. Obviously, this year hurts so much because you put so much into it. Coming back off the injury, coming back from trying to be 100% and now I have a different focus going into next year trying to get back into this position and dealing with success, dealing with getting into the postseason and when you win the AFC West Division what would you do differently? That will be my goal. That will be something I will set aside.”

How much thought have you put into how different this roster is going to look this coming year?
“It’s different every year. It’s always change. It’s not something we worry about. It’s always going to happen. I told the guys Kris Wilson and Brandon Manumaleuna that I appreciated playing with them this year. I’m aware that both of their contracts are up. It’s so much change that probably is going to happen, but it would be beautiful that everyone comes back and we still would have a chance to do it. If not, I understand the business side of it. What I can do is prepare myself to play as well as I can play to try to help this team win a championship.”

OLB Shawne Merriman

Guys are packing up stuff and cleaning out their lockers. What’s that like?
“It’s tough. You know and the end of every year you have to do it. You just don’t expect it has to be done so soon. It’s not the fact that we’re all doing it. We have to do it. The way we’re doing it and the feeling doing it is not so good. You get a chance to see a lot of the guys for the last time until we all have to start back up again.”

There are some guys who won’t be here next year. Is that the tough part of the NFL?
“Yes, because you realize it’s a business and that’s the way it goes. But at the same time, you kind of grow a certain bond, a relationship with a lot of the guys, and to know that relationship could be coming to an end, you know, it’s tough. It’s like you’re losing a family member and they’re not going to be around you anymore.”

Do you expect to be here next year?
“I don’t know. I really don’t know. Nothing has really been set in stone just yet. Like I said before, I love our fans and I love my teammates. I love being here, but it’s not up to me. I’m more disappointed about the way that our season has ended that I haven’t really paid too much thought about it.”

Were you able to give it your best coming off the knee injury?
“I just watched the film just now, right before I came out here and I thought we played as tough as you can possibly play. We gave up two or three big plays in the game. But outside of that, I felt that we played as tough as you can possibly play a football game. Especially a team like that, who comes in known as the tougher team or the more physical team. I thought we played them pretty well.”

When you first played this season, were you able to give it everything, as much as you wanted to?
“Outside of being a little banged up, you know, with the foot and the groin at one point. You have to think a year ago I was contemplating whether I was ever going to play football again. Whenever you have a fully reconstructed knee surgery, you wonder a lot of things, some things you never even think about. But playing a full season without having a problem with my knee not one time kind of got those thoughts gone out of my head. And the way that I finished the season, I couldn’t be happier. Of course if we would have kept winning, but personally, I couldn’t happier with where I’m at right now.”

Do you guys feel like you beat yourselves more with the penalties and the little mistakes that you haven’t made all season?
“Absolutely. It was some of the most uncharacteristic things you could possibly do. And at bad timing. We had bad timing all the way around. Some missed field goals, offside penalties, personal fouls, things we’re not accustomed to doing and it happened. Certain situations we have to learn to keep our composure. That’s when the maturity and experience has to kick in at some point.”

That’s basically the same thing people were saying after the New England game in 2006.
“In ’06, yeah.”

Is there still a maturity problem here?
“It’s tough to say because you have guys who haven’t had a penalty like that the whole entire year and it happens one time in a bad situation. And that’s the deciding factor? If it were a thing where a guy had personal fouls all through year or offside penalties or whatever it is, and it happened in this game, then you can say, ‘okay well, he has pattern of doing that.’ But when guys get personal fouls and do some things that are uncharacteristic, you really can’t call it a maturity problem. It’s more of a composure problem that we need to get better.”

Have you addressed that?
“In certain situations just watch when it happens. Pay attention to your surroundings and watch what other teams are going to try and do to you and inflict certain penalties. We have to be the better team with that.”

Does emotion and being caught up in the moment of the desperation of winning create those penalties?
“Yeah, I think so. Whenever you get in a situation like that, you kind of get desperate. You want to be the guy that makes the big play and turn the game around, and does something spectacular to win the game. Sometimes that’s not always good. You have to go out there and do just what those battle lines and those arrows say to do.  It doesn’t always happen like that.”

Stephen Cooper said the Jets wanted it more. Do you agree with that?
“I can’t say that. After watching the film, at least from our side of the ball, I didn’t get a chance to watch the offense yet; I think we just really shot ourselves in the foot. We give them credit. They (the Jets) accomplished what they wanted to accomplish and that’s get a “W.” They played us hard. They played us tough. With one or two made field goals and a couple of penalties taken away, I don’t know if I could say the same thing about the end result of that game.”

How long will it take to stick with you?
“I don’t know. I have a bunch of things to think about. I feel like I’m in a good place right now, and whatever happens with our future, with my future, I couldn’t be happier…personally I bounced back from a lot of things and was able to still be disruptive and effective (on the field), and be a part of that locker room like no other. I’m really pleased about a bunch of things right now.”

When Philip Rivers went through the knee thing, he said it was about 18 months before it got to the point where he couldn’t feel it. Do you think there is maybe more upside there when you come back?
“Oh, yeah. Absolutely. There’s no way physically possible, and I argue with the doctors a lot because they told me that, and I told them they were wrong, and they went to school for all those years for nothing. But, with just the facts alone, it’s almost impossible to come back within 14 or 15 months and be 100 percent. Close to the end of the season, I started feeling everything was completely back and everything felt normal. I didn’t feel like just a cinder block out there running or anything like that. It was more that I felt like myself again, toward the end of the year. Like I said, I couldn’t be more happy about that.”

Do you expect major changes? Minor changes?
“I don’t know. I have no idea. It’s one of the, I guess more clueless situations I have ever in my whole entire life. It seems I always had an answer for things. Some way; somehow. In this case, I don’t. You don’t know who’s going to be here. I don’t know if I’m going to be here. You don’t know what’s going to happen. You can just be happy that guys came out healthy, and guys get a chance to still play football again, and the possibility of us all being on the field at the same time is still there. Outside of that, I’m just happy being in the situation we’re in.”

How do you deal with the fact that you’re future is, as you say, ‘out of your hands?’
“Well, it’s been like that. This is the NFL. It’s been like that for a while, especially the last few years regarding my situation. I’ve just been the person, the player I’ve always been. When I’m healthy, I go out there and lay it on the line. I thought that I played a pretty good game myself in this last game until I watched the film, and I thought collectively, as a whole, including myself that we played one of the hardest games you could possibly play. I know one day, somebody is going to tell me which helmet I’m putting on and how I can go out there and strap it up again, and I’ll be happy with that.”

As there ever been another team in the back of your mind…?
“Not really. I’ve always been happy with where I’ve been. And I’ll continue to be happy for now. Whatever situation is made, I’ll be happy with because I know it’s best for everybody. Like I said, I couldn’t be happier with how things ended up. Like I said, just twelve months ago I was really contemplating on whether I was going to be able to get on the field and be myself again, period. And now that I put that to rest mentally, I can move forward in whatever else is about to happen.”

When negotiating a new contract, is that strictly business or are you at a point in your career where you want be with a team that has a chance for a championship?
“I want to win. I want to win. And I always said it; I don’t think there’s an amount of money that can have me in a non-winning environment. It’s tough for me because I’ve won my whole entire life. I don’t know how to lose. And actually being around winners is what I base my life about. I’ve always been around guys that want to win. So that’s going to be a huge deciding factor in anything that goes forth. I just want to be in a situation to win games and put a ring on my finger. I watched all these guys that played 10 or 12 plus years in the National Football League, like Lorenzo Neal and some other guys who never got a chance to win. Never got a chance to be a champion. It’s horrible because that’s ultimately what you play this game for. And the money is going to come. No doubt about it. You go out there and you do what you’re supposed to do and you keep making plays and being disruptive and being dominant, those things are going to come. At the end of the day you’ll have that and won’t be a champion, and then somebody else out here will be able to call themselves a champion and you’ll never be able to call yourself a champion.”

QB Philip Rivers

Did the Jets do anything you didn’t expect them to?
“They really didn’t. They don’t, they just play good defense. From a scheme standpoint there’s really nothing that was surprising or had anybody confused out there. Just watching the game here twice already, we moved the football, it just didn’t show up on the scoreboard and that’s what’s ultimately matters. Some penalties hurt us and there were a couple third downs, a third-and-four early in the first quarter comes to mind, the third-and-four late, right before the field goal try in the fourth quarter. Some of those we just didn’t convert and in a large part it’s due to their defense making plays and ours not. It is a really good defense, you can’t take anything away from them. We moved the football and did some things to give ourselves a chance but we just didn’t do it and put enough points up on the board,”

What do the Jets do to teams?
“They cover you and there’s not a lot of separation for the most part. However many yards we threw for really doesn’t matter but we had some completions and guys running open, we just didn’t. There were two scoring opportunities we missed and then we turned the ball over backed up, we had 10 penalties, that’s why we didn’t have enough points on the board. We did some things uncharacteristic of ourselves that hurt us. The Jets certainly had something to do with that. They’re playing in the championship game. They earned it. We didn’t play our best. Had we played our best I think we would’ve won the game but we didn’t and we fell three points short.”

The next time, what would you do differently from a game-planning standpoint?
“Not a whole lot. We weren’t really able to get the run going like we thought we’d be able to. We thought we’d be able to get it going a little better than that but from a how we would attack standpoint, there were some things we had up. When you have different combination routes up, you don’t always pick the right side, there’s some things where you throw here and it’s just incomplete. You look at the other side, you may have had something. That’s every game, you over-analyze it but it ends up being the last game of the year because you don’t get to move on.”

What can you take from this game?
“Much like you would in any loss: you didn’t make enough plays to win. The thing about playing football and the thing that makes it tough when you do lose is it sticks with you a little longer and we won 11 in a row and that’s hard to do. Nobody in our locker room is excited or thrilled about that because the 12th one we didn’t win because of the way we came to play. It’ll be a long offseason and we’ll gear up to go at it again.”

How do you move forward off this defeat?
“You just try to play better. Stats, trying to compare different teams and years, it’s really meaningless. Did you play enough to win the game or not and we didn’t. You want to play better to win. You’d like to be at the top each and every year and do the things you want to do every game and never lose. It’s never happened and it’s not going to happen and it’s unrealistic to think that will happen, but as competitors, as players, you gear back up and go at it again next year. You try like crazy to fight and claw to be the last team standing but we haven’t done it in the six years I’ve been here and we’ll try it again in year seven.”

What will you be doing this offseason?
“Most of it will be spent in San Diego. We spend pretty much most of the year out here. We get back to Alabama for a little bit. One thing off the field that this will be the first year that I’m really involved in is starting the Rivers of Hope Foundation that we’re going to call “River of Hope.” The specific focus will be out soon but it’s geared toward foster-care and helping those children and parents that are looking to adopt. That’s one thing off the field. I’ll spend a lot of time with family and then it won’t be long before the football begins back up again. It’s tough. I hate losing as much as anybody. I know we all feel this loss and hurt in this locker room and in this building. As an organization and as I know the fans do. The only thing that helps, and it doesn’t get better over night. In fact it’ll probably get worse these next two weeks until nobody’s playing and you can feel better, but we’ll gear back up and be back at it.”

Do you expect significant changes this offseason?
“I don’t know. You’ve got to kind of really let the dust settle first and here in the next month or so the plan will be seen and where everything is headed and I would imagine one thing that’s been steady around here has been a core group of players and obviously people are added and you lose some each and every year, but there’s been a consistency and continuity here with a core group of players. Unfortunately it hasn’t been done and we haven’t gotten to the top in six years, but we do have a great group of guys and one that does have the makeup to do it. You don’t look for any sympathy but you look at past teams in other places. You don’t a lot of them or right in a row, and obviously it’s never been done here but you look at some of the teams and how long it took them to get there and that’s no consolation but you gear up and get ready to go again.”

Head Coach Norv Turner

Opening Statement:

“You know you do everything this team has done to get to this point and you know it’s well-documented the number of guys who have contributed to the team. The things that we had to do to get to this point and then you get in this game, what you like to have happen is to play your best game. You like to be playing your best game in January in games like this. Certainly, we weren’t, for whatever reasons. We did not do that today … the things that we’ve done that have given us a chance to win the games in the end (we did not do). First of all we’ve been one of the least penalized teams in the league and obviously we had numerous penalties that slowed us down and a couple of penalties that took away chances to get way down in there, particularly on the Vincent Jackson play all the way down in there. We obviously didn’t play our best game. It’s disappointing.”

How much was it the Jets dictating how they want to play?

“The Jets are a good team. They’re first in the league in third down defense and they’re going to create some different looks. But those are not things we’ve done with a couple of the times we’re trying to get the right protection and have had false starts. As I said the Vincent Jackson play, we haven’t made those kinds of mistakes. I don’t know if that’s based on what the Jets did or we had a critical error there.”

Did nerves factor into this game?

“Well, you’re excited to play and our guys were anxious and excited, but I don’t think nerves are what that is. We’ve talked a lot in the past, to win these types of games is you have to do what you have to do. You can’t try to do more then what you do. We had two or three balls that I thought could’ve been caught and guys are trying to run before they caught it. Those types of plays, you have to maintain the discipline. “

How do you explain the uncharacteristic personal fouls?

“No question. That’s how I describe it uncharacteristic. Obviously, it’s disappointing.”

How much of it was the pass defense or rush defense?

“The passing game I don’t think was an issue. They’re very good up front. They did a good job against us. We weren’t able to get anything going in the running game. That’s what ultimately makes it difficult and we missed opportunities obviously as we know. We missed a couple field goals we normally make and a couple times down in there we had penalties that took us out.”

Have you talked to Nate?

“I talked to him on the sideline.”

How hard is it for you to see him?

“I’m not going to put it all on Nate. We’ve had a lot of guys that have had career years that have plays that they would like to have the outcome different.”

Have you ever been a part of a team that played so well for an extended time and then it all comes crashing down?

“I don’t think it all came crashing down. Again, these games as I said during the week everyone wants to know they’re eight teams in it and they’re all good football teams. These games come down to a few plays and there some great effort out there. Defensively I thought we did an awful lot of good things. We made mistakes that we normally don’t and we didn’t do enough good things.”

Could that have been from frustration?

“As the game went on, I don’t know that you can answer that question or analyze that or express what caused that. It happened.”

On Philip Rivers second interception:

“He was throwing the ball to Vincent. We put Vincent in motion to get the press off and obviously we’re backed up and trying to get out of there. He said when he threw the ball he thought he had a chance and I think it just got a little away from him. Vincent was a little tighter than he expected.”

Do you think you stayed with the run too long?

“No, I don’t because that’s the type of game. No, I don’t. It was a three point game and we were ahead. There were things we like with an offensive line. With this group, if you turn it into just a pass every down it gets tough. There’s a good period of time where we were ahead in the game and there’s a couple drives where you look at it and you say maybe we should’ve taken a shot with a run there and given ourselves a chance.”

On the Sproles package working so well in the 4^th quarter:
“It’s the same thing we all know. It’s a 10-point game and it’s a totally different defense. That’s part of the deal. It gives you chance to get back in it.”

Why the onside kick at the end?

“That’s the one you have to make a call on and that’s always a tough call. We’ve been successful. We got a very good kick. We got big tall guys that have a chance to get it. Either way we were going to have to stop them. Obviously, if we kick it deep they have three downs to get it. If you kick it deep, their play selection might be a little different.”

Down 10 in the 4^th quarter, did you think to go for touchdown first and the field goal second?

“Well, we were there and three gives you a chance. As I’ve said about Nate many times, we get in that range and I expect him to make the kick. He expects too.”

How pleased were you with the defense?

“We played hard. We did some great things in terms of defending them.”

Of all things, you would not have expected the mental breakdowns?

“No question because when you go through a season and as I said you’re in the top five in fewest penalties, your in the top five in fewest penalty yards, that’s one of the things we know got us to this point. That’s something we don’t take lightly. We expressed and talked about it a great deal this week: understanding the things that gave us a chance to win those close games we were in and obviously some other games that weren’t so close.”

Did you ever think to go to the hurry-up offense quicker?

“Again, we got to it. The game was a 10-7 game. The hurry-up is good and it’s three and out and it’s not good. We were in a fine rhythm in terms of I think giving ourselves a chance. We were doing some things that were giving us a chance. You spread this group out and they give you a lot of protection problems. During that stretch that you’re talking about, we had three or four plays that we normally catch or complete that we didn’t come up with.”

What happened early in the game with the time out?
“We had two things where one of them we had a head set malfunction and the play got in there late and it was confusing. It was a third down and instead of trying to get half way into a protection we thought that would help us get it. The second time we sent in the wrong formation.”

Do you feel especially disappointed for a guy like LT?

“I think we know I feel and you feel about LT. It’s difficult for everyone in that locker room, but I know how he looked forward to this opportunity. It’s real hard.”

Any idea why you started so slow, Nick Hardwick snapping the ball over Philip’s head?

“As I said, when you go back and look at it there’s going to be 10 things like that. We haven’t had a bad snap on shotgun this year. I asked what happened and he says it got away from him.”

What is the difference in the first half with dominating them to the second half?

“That’s the way games go and obviously we had two turnovers at the lead of the second half. That was a crazy play to Vincent. Again, there are plays we made. Our guys are unbelievable. Malcom has both hands on the ball two different times and doesn’t come down with it. Vincent has a chance to catch a ball and it bounces off his leg and ends up being an interception. Those plays are what you’re talking about. That changes if you’re in the second half if that happens.”

San Diego Chargers Quarterback Philip Rivers

It seemed like everything that could go wrong went wrong, any idea why?

“You want to play your best game when you get to this point and we obviously didn’t do it.  It’s disappointing because you want to make enough plays and play well enough to win the game.  We fell three points short but fought like crazy to try to overcome some of those mistakes, but we just didn’t get it done.”

Did you lose sharpness over the bye week?

“That’s what everyone is going to say because it’s the easy thing to write about but we just didn’t play well enough to win.  They outplayed us.”

They kept sending a guy off the right side, why didn’t you put someone in the backfield to stop that?

“Sometimes they bring more-than you have.  You can’t block them all.  They’re bringing more guys than you have to block.  Protection-wise we did a great job picking up the blitz.  When they’re bringing more than you have, you have to throw it hot.  I thought we made some of those adjustments pretty well and the one I can remember was the sack fumble and we regained possession.”

Were you going for Vincent Jackson on Leonhard’s interception?

“Yes, he was coming in on a dig and I just threw it a little too soon and brought him in a little too far.  It was just not a smart play.”

Do you think today was uncharacteristic of this team?

“Well there’s no doubt.  We did some things we haven’t done in these last 11, games.  Some things we did do in these last 11, but we were able to overcome them.  When you’re able to overcome them, people forget about them and when you can’t, they cost you a playoff game.  It’s unfortunate.”

Were the penalties disappointing?

“It is disappointing that we had that many penalties.  Some of them were unsportsman like and some other different things like delays and false starts.  I think it was 10, or even more than that so it certainly wasn’t the football we played when we won 11 in a row.”

Do you think the unsportsman like conduct was out of frustration?

“I don’t know.  It really doesn’t matter why it happened.  It happened.  That ended up not hurting us really.”

From your view did you think the interception was an incomplete pass?

“I thought it hit the ground.  If they get an interception, then I’ll take it.  It is my fault but that’s just an unlucky deal.  Vincent [Jackson] almost makes a great catch and it bounces off his leg and pops up in their hands.  I thought I saw an incomplete sign.  The ball was 100% intercepted. I was hoping if it at least got called incomplete you could use a challenge.  That was more heat of the moment and hoping it wasn’t true, but it was.”

When talking about uncharacteristic behavior, what leads to that?  Do the Jets get credit for that?

“Whoever you’re playing deserves the credit.  They won the football game.  We didn’t play as good as we could have or have in the past.  I think the reasons why don’t really change the outcome.  We just didn’t get it done.”

How difficult was their defense compared to what you have seen?

“I think they are a good defense.  You can’t take that away from them.  They only gave up an average of 14.80 points during the year.  We beat their average, we moved the ball and challenged them in ways they haven’t been before, but we just didn’t turn those into points.  We got down in there early but didn’t get points.  We had a play in the third quarter after [Quentin] Jammer’s interception, that took us down to the 15, but had a penalty.  We had some others things that kept us out of the end zone but we did some things offensively, yard-wise, but who cares about yards if you don’t have more points at the end than the other team?”

Did their defense confuse you?

“No.” 

Does the outcome of this game wipe away the season?

“There’s only one team happy at the end.  Unless you win it all, it eventually ends like this, either this week, or next week, or at the Super Bowl.  Obviously you want to be the team standing at the top, but for 31 teams it ends like this.  Some get further than others, but the feeling of the loss, defeat and disappointment is the same for all 31 of us.  We prepared the right way, practiced the right way, but just didn’t make enough plays to win the game.”

The first play after the Jets take the lead 10-7, LT runs for 1 yard, and there were significant boos.  Were the fans booing for LT or the play call?

“You have to ask them.”

Were you aware of it?

“I really don’t give it much thought.” 

San Diego Chargers Running back LaDainian Tomlinson

How tough was it to run?

“There defense was perfect. They were the number one defense for a reason and they proved it today.”

Could you imagine all these things going wrong in one game?

“Of course not. We haven’t played like this all year. Penalties and stuff, that is uncharacteristic of this team. We did it today. You can say maybe it’s a case of their defense getting us out of rhythm and having us press a little bit. Credit goes to them.”

How good was their defense?

“It was the best defense I’ve played this year. No question. Run, pass, and they are really prepared. Hats off to them.”

You want a Super Bowl ring; does that motivate you to come back next year?

 “I can’t even think about that right now. It’s very disappointing to think about the future.”

Do you want to come back?

“I can’t tell you that right now.”

Do you think you played your last game with the Chargers?

“I don’t know. I’m not sure. I’ve heard all the speculation. But, I’ll tell you what, I’ve had a heck of a time here and if it is, I’ve enjoyed the ride.”

Do you know if it’s your last year?

“I don’t know. Obviously I have a couple years left on my contract but it’s a year-to-year league. No one knows what will happen.”

You’ve said that this team was your best shot at a Super Bowl, how disappointing is it to lose your first playoff game?

“You can’t explain it because of the disappointment. You had it all thought out on how it was supposed to go and this was the best shot we had. To lose this game today, I’m at a loss for words. Of course noone expected to lose tonight.”

Was there a sense as this game was going on that it wasn’t going the way you guys wanted it to?

“No I don’t think so. We always felt like we were going to get it going and they weren’t going to be able to stop us the whole the game and at some we point we were going to put the ball in the end zone.”

Did you underestimate the Jets?

“No, not at all. There is no such thing as underestimating somebody at this point. If someone makes it to this position in the playoffs you can’t underestimate them. Like I said earlier, they had the winning formula to be here.”

Were you aware of the boos on your first down carry?

“That’s frustration on the fans part. Not being able to do much the whole game and the first play that we’re behind we try to run it up in there and we didn’t do anything.”

Do you take it personal?

“No, I don’t”

What does is say about a team that is uncharacteristic?

“Sometimes you have to give other guys credit and that’s plain and simple, not making any excuses. They kicked our buts today. They were very physical and hats off to them.”

So the better team won today?

“I wouldn’t say that. As they say, any team can win one game and they were the better team today.”

Do you still have it in you to play?

“Obviously I have the passion in me. But when this happens it takes a lot out of you, mentally and physically. It has a toll on you to lose like this.”

San Diego Chargers Kicker Nate Kaeding

On getting through a tough game after missing three field goals:

“One of these rested on my shoulders before.  Professionally, it’s a tough thing to get through but I never feel sorry for myself.  I feel sorry for my teammates, my coaches and the support staff for letting them down.  It’s going to be a tough few months but I have to get through it.  If you relish the good parts of it, you have got to be able to work through the bad part as well. I’ve been through it before, its a tough night obviously and we’ll let this rest and pick up the pieces.”

On what happened on the three missed field goals:

“I didn’t kick it between the uprights.”

On how he felt coming into today’s game:

“I felt great coming in and obviously I’ve been kicking the ball great coming in. It was just one of those things where I put some bad swings on it and the ball didn’t go in.”  

On the ups and downs of his football career:

“It’s tough, it is obviously not enjoyable.  The other side of it definitely beats this side of it but like I said, if you play this game and you can only accept when things go well, then you’re in the wrong business.  Especially in my position because you’re going to miss some and unfortunately some days like this will come and my really bad days have been untimely ones.  Its tough to deal with but you have got to deal with it, it’s part of the deal.”

On how he felt about today’s missed field goals:

“I don’t know. When you make them you put a good swing at them and when you miss them you don’t.  The ones that I missed today, I didn’t hit very well.”

On his fundamentals when he’s kicking field goals:

“You just try to replicate and do the same swing every time.”

San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates

On how he is feeling right now:

“Disappointed, frustrated at this point just knowing that there were a lot of things that we did to ourselves. We had a lot of penalties, which is uncharacteristic of the San Diego Chargers.”

On the Chargers in the second half not seeming like the same team we had seen over the last eleven games:

“When you are playing this kind of game, it’s amazing how penalties can change field position and can mean so much in a game like this. Obviously, it meant a world of difference in this game. They continued to stick with their game plan. They bust up a long run and you look up and we were trailing. That’s just how easy this game can turn around.”

On if it was the Jets or if the Chargers beat themselves today:

“To a certain extent. There were some things that were just uncharacteristic of the Chargers; all of the penalties and we had delay of game (penalties). To me, we had more penalties and unsportsmanlike conduct (penalties) in this game than we had since I can remember. That’s why it’s just important to come out and play your best football around this time of the year.”

On having a core group of players and if they felt that this year was one of their best chances to go all the way:

“I think that’s what is devastating at this point because we understand that our focus was there. The maturity level was there. We had dealt with a lot of adversity so there wasn’t anything at this point that we hadn’t seen as a unit. To come out and lay an egg in this game… words can’t really describe how I feel, how this team feels at this point.”

On having been here before and knowing how the next nine months is going to feel like and on how he is not looking forward to that:

“It’s heart-breaking. Like I’ve said in the past, it’s just that the National Football League is a game of inches, a game of taking care of the football. They did a better job than we did today.”

On how good the Jets defense is:

“They play hard. They make plays but with all due respect, we just weren’t playing up to our standards. We made some plays offensively but the key to me was just the penalties, they were killing us. We turned the ball over and that just was uncharacteristic of us, offensively. It just hurt us.”

On if the team seemed to lose focus after each penalty:

“To me it was so uncharacteristic. I couldn’t really believe it was happening at times. Penalty after penalty. I’m thinking like, ‘Man, not again,’ because that wasn’t us. That isn’t something, if the past you look at is the last eleven games, delay of game? Unsportsmanlike conduct? I can’t remember the last time we had an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. We chose the wrong game against the wrong team to not capitalize.”

On if any of the Jets defensive looks confused the offense:

“They do a lot of different things defensively. You look up and there are two down-linemen and nine guys walking around. They are a tremendous team. They play hard on both sides of the ball but make no mistake about it, this was just about the San Diego Chargers. We lost by three points and there were some things that were just… I mean I dropped some passes. It wasn’t the team I’ve been around for the last eleven weeks. With that being said, we fought hard and we went out and did what we could do and our guys played their heart out.”

San Diego Chargers linebacker Stephen Cooper

How much tougher is it considering the way you guys played tonight when you haven’t really played like that all season?

“It’s real tough. It’s very tough because this isn’t our team. We are a very disciplined team. We’ve had our penalties down all season and for some reason we had some very stupid penalties today and they showed. If you have penalties in the playoffs and you give a team like the Jets an opportunity to win, they are going to keep grinding and grinding and grinding because that is what they do.”

What was the difference between the first half and the second half?

“I think the second half we had a couple turnovers and they got the ball with good field position. They controlled their field position during the game and that’s why they won.”

San Diego Chargers safety Eric Weddle

On the game and if the way they played made it sting even more:

“It always hurts when you lose. The reality of the fact is that this is it; the season is over and you never know what is going to happen next year. The opportunity we had- we didn’t seize it for whatever reason. I don’t believe it’s the bye, I don’t believe it’s time off. We just didn’t play good enough to win so you’ve got to give credit to the Jets.”

The expectations were so high for you guys; is the disappointment just as great?

“If they weren’t as high it would still hurt just as much. The season is over. We thought we had a really good team and obviously we didn’t play good enough to win.”

You have to give credit to the Jets but at the end of the day do you feel that you beat yourself out there?

“No. I don’t think that. When we lose, we didn’t play good enough to win. The Jets had a lot to do with that. You have to give credit to your opponent. Hopefully we’ll learn from it and come back strong next year.”

San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman

Were you surprised at the number of penalties?

“Yes th’at was very uncharacteristic of us. Why today? I don’t know but you can’t win like that at all, you cant win. We can’t expect to win a game in the playoffs with that many penalties. It’s just not us.”

It has to be such a shock to go from the high you guys were at before this game, to where you guys are at right now:

“It’s not a good feeling. I’ll tell you that much, especially when you come so far and you’ve done all the right things to get in the position that we were in, and to fall like this is a horrible feeling. Horrible.”

Is the suddenness of the season the worst part of it?

“It is because like I said, when you work so hard and have done all the right things to get in the position we were in and lose the way we did, it’s not like we got kicked around the field. I’m not sure exactly how many penalties we had but I’m sure that we had a lot of them.”

Very uncharacteristic of this team?

“We’re not used to doing those things at all. It’s so tough, not just to lose the game, but to lose the way we did. We have a bunch of guys in this locker room that played hard and played their hearts out and it didn’t end up the way we wanted it to. We started moving the ball and did some positive things at the end but ran out of time.”

Do you think you guys were rusty after that week off?

“I don’t think so. I think the week off helped a lot of guys get healthy including myself. We got well-rested and ready to play football. When you have a week off like that, it has nothing to do with the amount of penalties that we had today. It was uncharacteristic of us period.”

In your gut feeling, do you think that you’ll be back next year?

“Who knows. I love the game of football. I love my teammates and my fans, and whether I’m here or not, it’s not up to me. That’s the last thing that I’m thinking about. I feel terrible for these guys in the locker room who have been here and wanted to win and get a ring, and who have put in so much work and to lose the way we did, I feel bad just for those guys alone. It’s one of the toughest things that you’ll ever have to deal with.”

How stunning was it to have so many composure penalties today?

“It was one of those things that we haven’t had a problem with the whole entire season because we had a lot of discipline and not making mistakes. We did all those uncharacteristic things today that we haven’t done all season. When you lose like that, that’s what makes it hurt that much more.”

Did their running game take a toll down at the end of the game?

“I don’t think so. I think we had a wrap on them for most of the game. But when you keep giving them back the ball and keep giving them opportunities, there’s a reason why they’re in the playoffs. They are going to finally score and we missed some field goals and if you do uncharacteristic things like that, you have to expect to lose. It’s a terrible feeling.”

San Diego Chargers defensive end Luis Castillo

On what he can say about the loss:

“The one thing we can say is that everybody is going to be looking for someone to blame. We’ll have nine months for every individual to find a way to point to themselves and to find a way, one of these years, to get past one of these games.”

On what happened to the maturity of the team over the bye week to not come out on top today:

“You always play as a team. When you are at this point, at this level of the season, you’re not playing a bad team and sometimes it’s a matter of who can go out there and have things go their way and we just didn’t today.”

On if the penalties, especially the personal fouls, make the loss more gut-wrenching:

“There are so many different things whether it’s missed opportunities, whether it’s mistakes, whether it’s, obviously, the penalties and not just the personal fouls but the before-the-play-starts penalties. The dead ball penalties really hurt you and really there’s no reason for them. There’s also no explanation. It’s not like we didn’t do everything we needed to. It’s not like we didn’t prepare the way we needed to. Things just didn’t go our way.”

On some of the players in the locker room not being back next year and how much that hurts:

“Every year you just see it as, I don’t want to say a lost opportunity, but every year you see it as make-it or break-it because in this league, whether it’s injuries, whether it’s free-agency, whether it’s just the nature of our business, you don’t get many (opportunities). We’ve been fortunate enough to have a few over the years and we believe we have a core group of players on this team who are going to continue to fight, continue to be good and continue to try to get to that level that we haven’t been able to achieve yet. It’s disappointing because we did feel like we had a great chance.”

On the long touchdown run given up by the defense and what happened on that play:

“I don’t know what happened. It was most likely a missed fit, a mental mistake. To give up that type of a play, it’s not usually something where everybody was where they were supposed to be and they just got blocked. It’s usually a mental mistake and look, if it was, it’s still on the other ten guys on the field to find a way to get it corrected because in this league everyone gets beat every now and then. We all have to rally. We have to find a way to play together and it’s not on just one guy.”

San Diego Chargers long snapper David Binn

On if past playoff games had any influence on the game:

“I don’t think so, it’s a different game. I had a little bit of a feeling that we were just out of it and the Jets are a good team and they came in and they played good defense and we have to give some credit to them for maybe throwing us off a little bit. As a team, it just seemed like we just weren’t hitting on all cylinders today and that’s what happens.”

On being here for a long time and having this kind of disappointment many times and on where this one ranks:

“None of them are easy. You just try and hope you play your best game. We didn’t do that today and ended up with a loss. It’s shocking and it feels a little bit surreal right now, like the season’s over? You just have to move on and look forward to next year.”

On how uncharacteristic it felt for this team:

“It just felt a little bit off, I think. There were just some mistakes made by, it seems like, everybody on both sides of the ball, special teams, everywhere they were just a little bit off. I guess that’s all it takes to turn it into a loss.”

On how bad he feels for Nate Kaeding:

“I feel bad for him, really bad.”

TODAY’S INACTIVES
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS vs. NEW YORK JETS
Qualcomm Stadium (70,000) – San Diego, California
Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010 – 1:40 pm PST

San Diego Chargers Inactives
6                  QB               Charlie Whitehurst (3rd Quarterback)
24               CB               Dante Hughes
29               RB               Michael Bennett
57               LB                Dontarrious Thomas
58               LB                Marques Harris
77               C                  Eric Ghiaciuc
84               WR              Buster Davis
92               DE               Vaughn Martin
                                                  
Chargers Starting Lineup Changes from the Flip Card
None
 
San Diego Chargers Roster Changes from the Flip Card
None
 
New York Jets Inactives
7              QB                   Kevin O’Connell (third quarterback)
10           QB                   Erik Ainge
32           RB                   Chauncey Washington
54           LB                    Kenwin Cummings
68           G                     Matt Slauson
79           DE                   Ropati Pitoitua
87           WR                  David Clowney
94           LB                    Marques Murrell
 
New York Jets Starting Lineup Changes from the Flip Card
None
 
New York Jets Roster Changes from the Flip Card
None

Head Coach Norv Turner

On today's practice:
"We had a good practice. We have good energy and I think that comes from being fresh. As I said, we've been extremely focused all week."

How does today compare to previous Fridays?
"One of the things this team has done is practice at a really high level, a consistently high level, all season on Fridays. That's where we really fine tune what we're doing. We make it less physical. We make it more about quickness and execution and assignments. That's been something that has really helped this team play well and play well early in games. I don't think today was any different than we've practiced on Fridays."

Is this as focused of a team as you've had?
"This team is very focused. We've got guys that I think know how to prepare and have done that over the time I've been here."

Have you been monitoring the weather?
"It's kind of crazy to monitor the weather or give it a bunch of attention now. What I usually do is, about two hours before the game, go out and walk around the field and see what the weather is. Then you plan accordingly. All this speculation and spending hours talking about what it might be or might not be; we played well in all kinds of weather. We'll have a plan based on if it's windy, if it's rainy or if it's dry, whatever that might be."

What would you say is your biggest advantage against the Jets in this game?
"Like I said yesterday, when you get down to eight teams, every team is very good and every team is playing at a real high level. I'm not sure that there is an advantage for anybody. If we have an advantage it's obviously being at home. I refer back to our Cincinnati game and the way our crown reacted in that game. I thought our crowd was a big difference in that game. Through the third quarter they struggled offensively, they had a bunch of pre-snap errors, and I thought our crowd had a lot to do with that. I expect them to be as loud as they've ever been and that's obviously why you want to play at home."

Do you ever worry about your team coming out flat at the start?
"You're always concerned about that, but I don't use the word flat because that's an easy out for describing how a game went. If you don't convert on third downs; let's say you go out and you have a third and six the first series and you don't convert and you go three and out and then you have a situation where you don't convert again and turn it the other way around and the other team gets third and eight and they convert, third and six and they convert, and they put a drive together, people say they were flat. Well, maybe they didn't execute as well as you'd like, but I'm not sure flat is the right term in those cases."

Do you ever marvel at Nate Kaeding's consistency now that he's made so many in a row?
"The two things that I've learned about kickers is that you never take it for granted, and the other thing is if you have a kicker who doesn't take it for granted then he's got a heck of a chance of being as consistent as Nate is. Nate never takes a kick of granted. He goes in there and he's as focused as anyone I've been around. He's got a routine. He doesn't assume he's going to make it. He doesn't ever get bored with what his job is. That's why he's kicked at the level he's kicked."

Did you watch Neil Rackers kick last weekend for Arizona?
"I saw it on all the highlights. I saw it about 15 times, I think, on all the highlights"

What causes that? He's a very consistent kicker.
"That's why, as I said, I never assume it's an automatic. That's why I appreciate what Nate does so much."

Are you the only team that you know of to employ the skinny goal posts (on the practice field)?
"I don't know. I know Nate likes them. Just to tell you how he is, when it doesn't go through those and misses it by a foot or two feet, he doesn't ever say to himself that would have been good on the regular post. He wants to put it through those posts. That says something about him. It's easy to say it would have been good, but that's not the purpose of having those posts."

Does a wet field favor the Jets because they run the ball so much?
"I don't know. That one will be discussed at 4:45 if it's wet. Our guys have played extremely well on all kinds of surfaces. I don't think if it rains it will be a disadvantage to our football team." 

###

Head Coach Norv Turner

Any health updates?
"It's the same exact report as yesterday. I thought we made it through good today. A very good practice."

You established a plan of how you wanted these two weeks to play out in terms of practice. Has it gone according to how you mapped it out?
"I think the things we addressed last week were we've had some difficulties, things where we've given up plays or we haven't executed as well as we'd liked on offense or in the kicking game. I think it's showed up yesterday and today that we've addressed some issues and I think we fixed some issues. Obviously it's practice and you address them and you want it to show up in the game. I thought our practices have been outstanding."

You said yesterday's practice was as up-tempo a Wednesday practice as week one or week two. How much of that is resting?
"I believe that the physical part of it is a factor and I think that all of the guys, if you talked to them, would feel that and agree with that. It's the focus. When you're as focused as they are right now and you know what's out in front of you, what the possibilities are, then everyone is focused and everyone is focused on each other. There's more communication in practice on both days then you'd ever have in a normal Wednesday or Thursday practice."

Do you sense more attention in meetings?
"Absolutely. The biggest thing is the details of what we're doing. You don't change a lot of what you're doing on a week-to-week basis, but you have to change to gear it towards the opponent you're playing. I think our guys have done a great job of understanding the Jets and understanding the things that we have to handle."

What kind of differences do you see in preparation with a team that has this kind of playoff experience, as opposed to a younger team?
"Maturity is a big deal and it's easy to get caught up in everything that's going on around you and not zero in on the details of football. I think you get that with experience and maturity."

Is there a disadvantage in having a bye week and possibly losing momentum?
"I think it depends on your team. I believe we have a number of guys who would have struggled to play a week ago. So that part of it, there's no way that that's not a positive. We went into Indianapolis and they had had a bye two years ago and we had played a real tough game against Tennessee and we were little bit beat up, but we were healthy enough to play, so that is an issue. We have to be ready to go in a snap. I think that would indicate the stats you're talking about, that it's not as big of an advantage. I think you see the eight teams in this tournament right now, there's not much difference. The games come down to one or two plays, they come down to a missed kick, they come down to a penalty in a critical situation and a fumble, something like that. You know you have to go play your best. I don't care who you are and where you're playing and if you've had rest or not, you're going to have to go out and play a real good game. If you don't you're going to have problems."

Did you have more contact in practice this week since you didn't play last week?
"Yeah, in fact we went in pads yesterday and I got a little nervous about halfway through because it was a physical practice. We certainly want to be ready, we want to go; I don't want to leave it out here."

When you addressed the team on Sunday, did you say anything to the team to make sure they don't get too hyped up?
"Poise is a big issue and poise is probably the biggest reason we've won 11-straight games. There's going to be emotion involved; I don't think you ever downplay that. I don't know that you're going to falsely create that. The emotion is going to be there for both teams and it's going to be a big part of the game early. Our experience and our maturity and our poise are going to have to take care of us."

Have you paid attention at all to the weather report and is that going to be a factor in your game plan?
"No, I look at it. I know there's been a forecast possibly of some rain. We played Tennessee in the rain in the playoffs, the first playoff game that I was here. It doesn't get bad and the forecast doesn't look like it would be bad where it would be an issue."

You mentioned that you were a little nervous during yesterday's practice. Did you scale it back at all?
"No, I didn't. We had a good practice. You get a little cautious, and certainly as said, you don't want to get someone banged up out there and you don't want to leave it out on the practice field. Our tempo is good. We know what to do. I know it's going to be physical and I know it's going to be an emotional game."

How much of an advantage is it to pick up the Jets' blitz packages when you have players like Nick Hardwick and Philip Rivers that are pretty adept at picking those things out?
"It's a big part of it. The biggest thing you can do is minimize the third downs. That is what the Jets do such a great job at. They're so good at first and second down that you're going to have to handle third down. They're by far the best team in the league on third down defense and they've been better the last six weeks than they were the first 10. They sometime in the game are going to get somebody free, and we're just going to make sure that it doesn't turn into a big play for them. We've got to handle it because they come from so many different places so that at some point they do. When you pick them up and you get open, you have to take advantage of it. They're an outstanding cover group, they're an outstanding pressure group and you're going to have to go out and make big plays to win, to win each matchup. You're not going to slow them down, it's not like you're going to get a big play and they're going to quit coming because that's what they do."

Your offensive line has been in a state of flux all year. At the end of the year did you feel that you had your cohesiveness back?
"Absolutely, and when you look at getting Nick (Hardwick) back and with Kris (Dielman) and Marcus (McNeill) over there, we have that cohesiveness. Louis (Vasquez) has been in there almost every down, he missed a couple of games, but Louis is not your average rookie and he's been one of the reasons that we've had success and had continuity. I can't say enough about what Brandyn Dombrowski has done. I know they're going to give him some problems; people have attacked him and people have tried to confuse him and people have given him different looks and he's handled them. I have confidence he will."

How good is Philip Rivers at picking up blitzes and how important that skill is at being a good quarterback?
"It's managing the game. The difference right now in the two quarterbacks, obviously, is Philip has a lot more plays he has to manage in our offense. Mark (Sanchez) has done a great job and they're done a great job running the ball and playing defense. When you have 15 throws and of those six of them are third downs, you don't have as many plays that you have to manage. If we can get him in an uncomfortable situation and into some situations that he has to manage more things, we'll do everything that we can do take advantage of that."

Will you give the starters any more time on special teams now that you're healthy?
"We're healthy on special teams and we have a lot of starters involved in our kicking game. We have starters that are involved as backups, if we have a problem. Our special teams core is strong; they play good; they're young guys that have high energy and execute well. I'm excited for them, in terms of the opportunities that they have."

TE Antonio Gates

What is the physical difference with a week layoff?
"We fought and battled to get to this spot and it's definitely going to help us. We had some guys banged up. It just put us in the best physical position possible to go out and win a football game. I think that's what matters the most."

How do you feel personally? Can you tell that's it's been a while since you guys have taken hits?
"That's why we played the last game. We wanted to maintain that chemistry and that competitive edge that we had leading up to the postseason. If you watched that first team in our last game of the season, we came out making some throws, we missed some throws, but I think the most important thing was that we were able to compete and maintain the chemistry in a live game."

What do you expect to see from the Jets defense?
"You never really know because the Jets are not a divisional opponent. One thing I've learned since I've been playing is that the postseason presents so many different situations. Sometimes you may prepare a certain way but the game presents itself in a whole different way. I think we are definitely prepared and ready to play but at the same time we understand that in a playoff game, your ability to adapt is just as important as anything else you can do. We have some things on film that we see but we're not really for sure that things will be played exactly that way because there are so many guys that can make plays on this offense."

Have you seen them do some completely different things week to week?
"They do a lot of different things. Rex Ryan came from Baltimore and the way they pressure and the way their corners are very physical makes it a challenge. They have a lot of guys who can make plays on their defense. With that being said, we have guys that can make plays offensively so we don't want to get caught up in what they are doing defensively because we still have to worry about playing San Diego Chargers football."

Because they have such good corners, do you feel pressure to make plays in the offense?
"No because we play together as a unit. There's no situation where I feel like there's pressure on me or the team for that matter. If we continue to do the things that we've been doing since up until the postseason, then the San Diego Chargers are going to be fine. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up into the hype and everything else but our main focus is to prepare as well as we can and go out and have fun because these types of opportunities come once in a lifetime."

What's the value of playoff experience?
"If I had to sum everything up to the younger guys around here it would be that in the playoffs, every single possession is so valuable. You have to really take care of that football. I remember the last time we played the Jets and we had a chance to win the game but we missed the field goal and they came back and made it. That's just how small the margin of error is in a playoff game. But with all that being said, go out and have fun. It's a football game. Still go out and play the way you know how to play the game and go out and fly around. I guarantee you that you can walk away with your head high if you gave it your all."

Do you remember how nervous you were for your first playoff game?
"It was crazy because that was the first time the Chargers had been in a playoff game since 1994. I could just remember the energy and the focus that we had. But all of those things that we've done in the past have made us who we are today. It gave us that adversity and experience that I think makes us a different team. We're not that team from 2006 or the team from last year, we're a group of guys that have been in those games and have learned from those games."

Is it possible to be over-amped for a win or home game?
"Normally I would say so. But like I said, this team has gone through so much. We've played in big games. We've won some, we've lost some but overall we've learned from them. Now you just see the focus. I could remember my first playoff game, and about this time then, I was like 'wow this is a long season.' Now, it feels like some new. Something about the energy now feels totally different. It just speaks how we carry ourselves and our mindset about what our focus is which is to win a Super Bowl championship."

Can you remember a time that this team has ever been this healthy?
"It's been a long time. The physical part has been an issue for us in the past but now we are making sure everything is in place. Obviously preparation is still the key but the fact that we are healthy and physically ready has me anxious to see how we're going to play this week."

You brought up the missed field goal the last time you guys faced the Jets in the playoffs. Have you talked to Nate; is he looking for some redemption?
"Nate has been kicking tremendously. He was voted to the Pro Bowl this year so I'm quite sure that is something that he's learned from in the past. That's why he is the kicker he is today. I remember him missing kicks in the past, but now he's a whole new player and this is a whole new team like I said previously. We are just ready to play football and try and win a Super Bowl this year."

Defensive Coordinator Ron Rivera

What made the biggest difference in the way the team executed during the 11-game win streak?
"I think as we look back on this year, which we had a chance last week, you've got to really point out the consistency in terms of the play of the defensive line. We got some guys that we brought back, Ian Scott, Alfonso Boone, we kind of got into what we did. A few guys got healthier in terms of Luis Castillo and Jacques Cesaire and Travis Johnson, and then our young guys that we counted on to do some good things, did some really nice things. We miss O.G. (Ogemdi Nwagbuo) who played really well for us up until he had to go on I.R. But I think our young guys have really stepped up and played well. I just think it's the continuity and the way the D-line has played the last eight, nine, 10 weeks."

Did you get to know Rex Ryan at all during your playing days?
"Yes. Yes. He was one of those young guys that used to come around because his dad was the coach and I got to know Rex and visit with him on occasion when I'd see him at the different functions and events."

Where do you rank Buddy Ryan in terms of influence?
"Oh, wow. I think just having been around a guy like Buddy Ryan for a couple of years and got a chance to get to know his philosophy on things was really impressive and it's left an imprint on me in terms of the way I approach things."

What is it that makes the Jets' defense so successful and why don't more teams play it?
"The big thing is it's a philosophy thing, first and foremost. I think it's what you've got to believe in and you also have got to be willing to take those kind of risks. It is a high-risk, high-reward defense. I know when Buddy used to do it, he used to always believe in us and that was one of the big things too. When you have guys that eventually are going to be Hall of Famers like we did, it makes it a little bit easier too."

Do you feel like you and Norv Turner complement each other?
"I think so. I mean, you know, I take my lead from Coach (Turner), what he wants us to do on our side of the ball. But I really do. I love how consistent Coach is and even-keeled. It's been like that for the three years I've been here and the one thing Coach has always been is even-keeled, whether we were 2-3 or 3-5 at one point. He never waivers and I think that's important, is that the head coach under pressure keeps his composure and I think that's outstanding."

What did change that made the defense better as the year went on?
"As I said earlier, I think it was the consistent play of the defensive line. But we did a couple things schematically a little different as well from where we first started the season out because we had to suit the guys that were playing for us and the guys adapted very well."

Some offensive play callers speak about getting into a zone calling offensive plays. Do you ever get into one calling defensive plays?
"I think sometimes you can, I really do. But you've got to also call it by the flow of the game as well. You just can't pull things out of the air. I think you've got to try and match to what the situation is as well."

Does Rex have a lot of Buddy in him?
"I do. I think he does. I do think he does and that's a compliment because his dad was a heck of a football coach who I really enjoyed playing for, and just watching him, and his brother as well, Rob, they share the same type of personality."

How much do you think rest will help Shawne Merriman?
"I think the rest has been good. This is probably the first time he's done two days in a row of practice so that's been exciting for us as a defensive staff. As you game-plan, there's not that uncertainty as to whether or not he'll be out there or how long he's going to be there, so I'm pretty excited about his opportunity to be on the field."

What's your role in game-planning for Rex's defense?
"Well, that's coach's side. Defensively, we stick to what we do. As far as what our offense is going to do, that was up to coach."

But do you look at film?
"I've looked at film on him, but no. No."

You played in their defensive scheme. Would you consider it high-stress or high-fun?
"It's a lot of fun. It is. I think that's one of the things that, when people talk about what has helped us defensively is our guys are having a lot of fun as well. I think that's important. If you put your guys in position to have fun and enjoy themselves out there, it becomes a good thing. Heck, winning is fun. I think that's a big part of it as well too."

Why does it seem like defensive guys have more fun?
"Oh, I don't know. I think there's a few more personalities on the defensive side I guess."

What is it that you see in Rex that is like Buddy?
"Everything. I mean literally a chip off the old block. And as I said, that to me is a huge compliment because again Buddy was a tremendous coach and somebody I enjoyed really playing for."

What ways do you think Shawne Merriman's foot was hindering him?
"Oh, that's beyond me in terms of what the injury was."

What do you expect the Jets to do with Mark Sanchez?
"What he does is pretty big and I think that they're going to continue to do what they've done and that's try and run the football and then use their different type of passing game that they have whether it be play action or drop back. He's been an integral part of the success they've had and we look forward to it continuing that way."

Is there anything about the running game that makes it different from other teams'?
"Their commitment to it. They're committed to it and that's impressive. That's their formula. I think the way they run the ball reflects Coach Ryan's personality and that's physical and hard-nosed."

Where some teams might go away from it...
"Right. Exactly. They stick with it and I really think that's a reflection of his personality."

How much of the Wildcat do you expect to be thrown at you? Have you taken a look back at the Miami tapes?
"Well, they pretty much threw it against everybody. They used it against Cincinnati and had a little bit of success. So we spent some time watching it obviously because it's what they do offensively. So we've got an opportunity to work on certain things and certain aspects of what they do in terms of our preparation."

What's Shonn Greene's running style?
"He's a good complement to Thomas Jones. I had the fortune of being with Thomas in Chicago for a few years and really, really enjoyed watching him and having him as a guy on our team. He's an aggressive-style football player and I think the young rookie Greene is a good complement to him. I think he's a little more of a slasher as opposed to Thomas who's a downhill, physical runner. So I think they're a good complement to each other."

T Marcus McNeill

On being able to achieve cohesiveness at the offensive line:
"I think our level of play has been so hot throughout the year, regardless if it's been our backups stepping up into a starting position or our starter coming back into his role. The continuity has been there all year. Even the backups have stepped up and been here for a while so we've kind of been used to playing with him."

What does it mean to you to face a blitz-happy team?
"You've got to prepare for it. All week we've been out there early before practice trying to pick up all their different coverages and stuff. But the biggest thing is they're going to do a lot of different things. You can't really pick up on just one thing and then do something in the blitzes differently, one time here, one time there. I think we're going to pick it up pretty well. That's one of the best things we've been doing all year is picking up the blitz. I think that's been a big credit to Philip (Rivers) having the great year he's having."

Why is this team so good at picking up the blitz?
"Honestly, I think our coaching staff is so smart. Our center, our quarterback Philip ... they are here constantly. Philip's the first one in everyday; the last one to leave. He's picking up a lot of those blitz coverages and he knows where the blitz and the pressure is coming from. It's easy for him to manipulate the line the way he needs to so he can make that big throw down the field."

Have you seen a comparable defense this year?
"I think we've seen a defense like this. They're very similar to Baltimore who gave us a little trouble early on in the year. But I think we've got a good feel for what they're doing right now. We should be able to pick up a lot of blitz packages their defense has for us."

Can you tell physically that it's been 11 days since your last game? Are you that much fresher?
"Definitely that much fresher. A lot of times you get up on that Wednesday or Thursday and your body's still sore from the Sunday night game but we actually had a week off so the body feels fresh. I actually feel like my body's in Week One or Week Two right now as far as freshness. So that's going to be good for us to make a push throughout these playoffs."

Is it hard to pick up where you left off with momentum?
"I think we've been practicing at such a high level. Even on our off week our practices were very fast, very focused and I think that's what we're doing. We're men on a mission right now and our mission is to keep pushing through the playoffs."

Norv said yesterday's practice started to get a little intense:
"Yeah, we got to put the pads back on yesterday. So whenever you get a chance to hit as a football player, it's going to get a little rowdy out there. That's what we love to do. We love to compete whether it's in practice or on the football field. That's what we got out there and did: banged around a little bit, talked a little noise and really just getting ready for this Sunday."

How do you balance practicing at game speed without getting banged up?
"It's no change. Players have got to play smart. I think that's what we do. We know how to play fast. We know how to play smart. It's the speed mentality for us, being there where you need to be, being in the pits, making sure receivers are running their right routes and things like that. You make sure you're going into game tempo, but you don't do quite the finishing that you would do in the game. That's the fun part. Sometimes you get to throw somebody on their back during the game or a receiver actually gets to take off on that nine-route and catch a touchdown. That's we live for on the football field and that's what we play for on Sundays and we're good at it."

How do you balance getting amped up and remaining mentally calm to take care of your assignments?
"I think we we've been pretty good in being meticulous in what we did this year. Our schedule has been pretty much the same throughout the whole year. It kept us in a rhythm practice-wise. Even though we had the week off last week, we still kept the same schedules. It was a working week for us, a working bye week. It kept us in the same mentality. Of course you're going to get anxious when you're not playing. Of course I had the same feelings last Sunday as I do every other Sunday. I just think your body and mind is just mentally in tune to playing that way for 16 weeks. Taking a week off got us a little anxious, but I think we handled it well, took out all our anxiety out on the football field in practice and had great practices so far."

How important has it been to keep the schedule the same even though stakes are a little higher?
"I think we're playing good ball. The way we're playing, keeping that mental focus but playing with confidence, a certain level of swagger and also having fun out there. Whenever you see us out there having fun it's going to be a lot of trouble."

Are the playoffs different?
"The playoffs are always different. Right now I feel like we're practicing at game tempo, right now. That's big because I don't think anybody else practices as hard as we do. I love practicing as hard as we do."

Is there an argument for playing a game instead of having a bye in the first round of the playoffs?
"There's always an argument about everything. Some people want to go with it, roll, keep on the momentum and things like that. Other teams need to rest. We've had problems in the past with injuries and stuff like that so I think we did a good job of letting our players rest so we can make that push in the playoffs that we haven't been able to do in the past."

Does going against number 97 in practice get you extra motivated?
"They (equipment department) keep the numbers up from the Jets and all the teams we play throughout the whole year. Calvin Pace is a great outside linebacker so I'm going to have my hands full this weekend, but should be able to handle it."

DT Ian Scott

When you're preparing to face a team that's as committed to the run as the Jets, does that get a defensive lineman going a little bit?
"I get up for every game the same. It's a playoff game. The only difference is we know ahead of time what their plan is going to be. It's not going to be a surprise on Sunday when they come out and try to run the ball because that's what they do well and that's what they're committed to doing. There's not a lot of uncertainty. You pretty much know what you're going to get from them and it comes down to are you going to be able to stop them or not."

What makes their rushing offense so good?
"Everybody works together and they don't get frustrated with it. Part of it is their defense plays well so they haven't had to play with many big deficits. That gives them time to stay committed to the run even if they're not getting a lot early. They've been able to take advantage of opportunities when they get them. Not everybody is going to be where they're supposed to be on every play. They're committed to keeping at it until they make the big plays. They try to maintain possession and play good defense. If you don't get after them early, it could be trouble."

How have you seen your run defense get better throughout the season?
"It's everybody working together. Obviously that's something that we needed to focus on. If you allow teams to be two-dimensional, it's hard to stop. We've tried to be disciplined, everybody fitting where they're supposed to. We're making sure we tackle well and get everybody to the football. I think all those things are going to be very important for us this week if we want to win."

###