Jets Q&A: Smith thrilled by first NFL TD toss

Any thoughts from Brad Smith on his first NFL touchdown pass Sunday?

"It was kind of unreal," said the wide receiver, who had family from nearby Youngstown, Ohio, attending the game. "I didn't actually see it get into his hands. But after he threw his hands up, it was a great feeling to get a touchdown pass in the NFL. It was an awesome feeling, really."

What was the play call on Smith's TD throw?

The versatile playmaker could've run the ball, but he believed Dustin Keller would get open and he'd be able to hit him. "It was just a run-pass option, just kind of get on the edge and force them to either play up or play back," Smith said. "If they played back, I was going to run it. If they played up, I was going to throw it. Dustin did a great job of stepping back from the defense and giving me a lane to throw."

How did Trevor Pryce look in his first game with Jets?

Pryce played only about three snaps in the first half, but the defensive end was thrust into more duty in the second half when Shaun Ellis came up gimpy early in the third quarter. Pryce played roughly 15 to 20 snaps overall, getting one quarterback hit. He's familiar with most of the defense but still had a few problems knowing where to line up.

"It was kind of like a fire drill," Pryce said. "What do I do? 'Come here. Do that. Stand this way.' I'm like, 'I can't trick anybody right now. Just tell me where to go.' Some of the stuff is memory from Baltimore when Rex [Ryan] was there, but the difference is sometimes the same defense will be something different. So that's part of the appeal of it. So it will come very easily. It's like riding a bike. They didn't call the ones I knew automatically. I was like, 'I know this one, this one, this one and this one.' They didn't call any of them."

What did Ryan see out of Pryce, his most recent pickup?

"We saw the pressure that he can give you," he said. "This guy is a tremendous pass-rusher, a premier inside rusher in the game, and that's what he's going to bring us. In fact, he had just one day of practice. He just showed up and his buddies were putting him in place, so that was great to see. Just wait. This guy is a tremendous football player. If you want to block him one on one, he's going to beat you."

How is Ellis doing?

The defensive end said he felt his knee "kind of give out on me" when he pulled down Ryan Fitzpatrick for a third-quarter sack. Ellis did not leave the sideline, though, and said he thought about trying to get back in the game. He'll be evaluated again Monday. "If it was a tight game, I would've tried to come back," he said. "It's a good pass-rush opportunity too, with the score like it was. I just thought it would be smarter to rest."

Joe McKnight finally was active. What was his role?

The rookie running back's time came mostly on special teams. He was a rusher on the punt-return squad and also was part of the kickoff and punt teams. He ran the ball four times for 12 yards.

"It felt good, I felt good," McKnight said, "just to get in there and get my first little run in. I've got a lot of work to do, but it also feels good to get in an NFL game and just try to show the coaches what I can do. I don't want to take a step forward and take two steps backward. I want to keep making good progressions and just keep striving to be good."