Jerricho Cotchery: “For me, it was just a nightmare. A nightmare in the daytime…”

Jerricho Cotchery: “For me, it was just a nightmare. A nightmare in the daytime…”
by Michael Bean

Dropped passes, penalties, turnovers, a general lack of execution on offense. It wasn’t a good day for Jerricho Cotchery and the New York Jets offense. Coming out of their bye week, the Jets were blanked 9-0 by the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, dropping their record to 5-2 in the process. Cotchery, a veteran who’s been around the block a time or two, struggled in particular, dropping passes, and losing out on an individual battle for the ball that led to a Packers interception. After looking very solid in their previous five contests, the Jets laid their second egg of the season offensively (the first being in Week 1 against the Ravens).

Cotchery joined WFAN in New York to talk about the disappointing performance by the Jets collectively and him individually, the play that resulted in a Packers interception where he and Tramon Williams were fighting for the ball, the Packers seemingly ‘wanting it’ more than the Jets, how the team’s early mistakes didn’t play a role in their struggles later in the game, how the team wasn’t complacent necessarily coming out of their bye week, finding a way to get all the Jets’ bevy of playmakers the ball, the team’s two sluggish offensive performances that have sandwiched their more efficient games, and getting back on track the next two weeks against the Lions and Browns.

On the disappointing performance by the Jets collectively and him individually:

“For me, it was just a nightmare. A nightmare in the daytime man pretty much for me. It was a very frustrating game for me. You make a play, then you don’t make a play; you make a play, then you don’t make a play; then in the fourth quarter, you can’t make a play to save your life. Just very disappointing, very disappointed in my performance but you’ve just got to get back off the mat and make sure that doesn’t happen for next week. And next week, just come out, just come out ready to play.:

On the interception by Tramon Williams:

“Well we had a slant route called, and I was running the slant, the guy he jumped inside on the slant. We both went for the ball, and as I was trying to rip the ball away from him, as we hit the ground, once we hit the ground I relaxed a little bit and he ended up grabbing the ball away from me. At that point in time, he just took it away.”

On the Packers seemingly wanting it more than the Jets:

“Whatever the case was, I guess that’s what it was. That’s a harsh reality to face, you know, but they ended up getting the victory, so obviously they did. I can only speak for myself, but I have to play better. I have to play better, and I will in the future.”

On if the mishaps early in the game lingered and contributed to similar mistakes later in the game:

“No, no. I know how to bounce back from a play. They were just doing a great job of attacking the ball. I’ve got to put the ball away fast. The drop by the sidelines, there’s just no excuse for that. There’s no excuse for any of them, but they did a great job of attacking the ball, and I’ve got to do a better job of putting the ball away. That’s part of ball security too, you know, just making sure you catch the ball and see it all the way into the tuck. And I didn’t do a great job of that at all.”

On if he thinks Mark Sanchez might be struggling with trying to get all his playmakers the ball and make them happy now that Santonio Holmes is back in the fold:

“I don’t know, that would be a great question for Mark. That’s something that Mark can only answer for himself. We have a lot of things as far as offensively that are designed to get guys involved throughout the game, but that would be a great question for Mark. I don’t know what it’s like to have guys around you trying to make sure they’re happy or not. I don’t know if that’s the case for him. I’m just trying to go out and do my job, and I didn’t do my job on Sunday.”
On if he felt like the Jets were a bit complacent coming out of their bye week:

“No, not with this team. That’s not going to happen with this team. Maybe in the past, but not with this team, it didn’t happen. What it all came down to was we had plays to make at the end, we had plays to make throughout the course of the game, but we didn’t do so. Speaking definitely for myself. We’ve just got to get out of our own way. We had a lot of penalties, we had turnovers, and we had dropped passes. So those things aren’t going to help you win the game.”