Bill Belichick: Jets ability to present in-game adjustments provides big challenge

Bill Belichick

FOXBORO — When it comes to game-planning for the Jets, Bill Belichick said Wednesday the biggest challenge for the Patriots will be to match New York’s ability to make adjustments on the fly. Those adjustments aren’t just from series to series or half to half, but from drive to drive.

“As it always is with the Jets, the in-game adjustments will be important to see what the matchups are,” Belichick said. “They do a good job with their different personnel groups and formations. A lot of things that you work on this week that they ran against Indianapolis or Houston or San Francisco, you’re not going to see. You’re going to see something that’s a little different based on what they think you’re going to do.

“The problem with the Jets is they give you a lot of variety, and in-game adjustments are going to be important and preparation going into the game is going to be important,” he added. “We know we’re going to have to adjust, they’re not just going to lay it out there and say, ‘OK, here it is, here’s where we’re at.’ They just don’t do that.”

Belichick added that the Jets often try and build off what might look like a traditional scheme you saw them run previously — but then bring a whole new twist.

“Rex [Ryan] always does a good job of that,” Belichick said. “He does a good job of putting in a couple new things that complement each other so you see him do one thing and then you get that same look again and they’ll have something else off it. So, now they have two or three things off that that you really haven’t seen or practiced before.”

Here are a few other highlights from his Q&A with the media on Wednesday:

Rex Ryan talked about how he geared his secondary toward defending Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. They added Yeremiah Bell and LaRon Landry. Can you assess those guys and how they are different than the safeties they’ve had back there in years past?

“Well, we played against [Eric] Smith last year and he’s back there. Bell, we played against him in Miami. LaRon Landry, we haven’t seen, he didn’t play against us in Washington last year but he’s a real athletic guy, one of the fastest players probably at his position in the league. They do a good job; they always do a good job there. They’re well coached defensively, they have good players. They always give you different matchups. It’s hard to tell exactly what you’re going to get. They’ve used different combinations back there and done different things with, whether it be Smith, Landry, [Josh] Bush, Bell, whoever it happens to be. I’d include [Bart] Scott and [David] Harris in that group too. We have to be prepared for all of it but they’re all good players.”

After Shonn Greene’s performance on Sunday, is there a new emphasis for the Jets with him or is it just circumstances of that game that helped him get all that yardage?

“I think they probably tried to play all their games in a similar kind of fashion. They blocked very well, they did a good job against Indianapolis. They did a good job in their double team blocks, scheme blocks, they got him downhill several times through the line of scrimmage. He was able to knock out a couple 15, 20 yard runs, that kind of thing. Yards pile up in a hurry like that. You can’t let that happen. He’s a guy you have to stop before he gets started. Once he gets going, he’s a load there. Of course, [Joe] McKnight, he only had a few carries but he had a lot of production. [Bilal] Powell is a good back too and [Tim] Tebow who is really another running back for them when he gets in there and his plays; he can throw it too obviously but he does a good job running the ball. They have a lot of different aspects of the running game. They kind of give you that every week, some version of it. That’s what they did against Indianapolis. They just did it very well; they had a lot of success with it.”

What was the thing that impressed you the most defensively about what the Jets did against the Colts?

“They did a good job in the running game. In the passing game, they used a lot of different personnel combinations. They used nickel, dime, quarter, six, seven defensive backs; changed up the looks. They got ahead in the game so that made it a passing game and then they used a lot of their multiple defensive back, multiple blitz coverage schemes and got a couple turnovers. They were ahead in the game and they were able to get into their multiple defensive pressure pass schemes and they did a good job.”

Given the familiarity between the teams, is it possible to pull out a trump card and surprise them at this point?

“Nine foot line splits. I don’t know. I think it really comes down to execution. I’d be surprised if this game is won by a team that comes out running something that’s never been seen in the history of football before. I think this is going to be a game of execution: blocking, tackling, running, throwing, catching, defending, kicking game. A lot of the basic things; a lot of the things they do well.”

What has impressed you so far about Stephen Hill’s performance so far as a rookie?

“He made some big plays early. He’s missed a couple games. He played a little bit last week. He’s a big, fast, strong guy. He made a nice run after the catch on an underneath route against Buffalo. They hit him on the flea flicker in that game too. He’s a big, fast guy, strong, didn’t have a lot of real receiving experience in college in that offense but he certainly has good skill and looks like he’s developed into a good receiver technique-wise with good coaching and I’m sure more experience. He can run, he’s strong, he can catch. He’s good with the ball in his hands.”

Six games in, is there any significance to all four teams having the same record and does it put an extra focus on the remaining 10 games?

“Yeah, it’s a 10-game schedule now. There’s nothing anybody can do about any of the games that have happened, us or any of our opponents or anybody else. It’s just about going forward. We have to try to do a good job this week and we’ll worry about next week next week. Right now, we just have to do a good job getting ready for the Jets.”