Jets should tell Darrelle Revis to ‘take it or leave it’ Posted by Anthony Stalter (08/10/2010 @ 3:45 pm) This Darrelle Revis situation has become like a bad movie that I just can’t stop talking about. I want to stop, honestly I do. But I can’t. I just can’t. I’m sick with it. So now I’m just going to give into it. God help us. Earlier today, head coach Rex Ryan essentially told the media that the Jets would be just fine without Revis. “Don’t feel sorry for us,” the Jets’ coach said. “We have everything we need here on defense.” “We have a great collection of individual talent,” Ryan said. “These guys will play great as a team. That’s what we’ll do. Obviously, Revis is a tremendous player. Ray Lewis, a tremendous player. Ed Reed, tremendous player. Kris Jenkins, too. But it’s about the unit, and we’ve been selling that from the day we walked on here. “We can get it done,” Ryan continued. “We’re not afraid of anybody.”
Good attitude. Maybe the Jets’ front office should share in Ryan’s sediment and give Revis an ultimatum: Either accept the latest offer or sit out the entire year. I’ve gone back and forth on this topic over the last couple of weeks, but I keep coming back to the same mindset: Revis is wrong, the Jets are right. The Jets shouldn’t have to pay for Al Davis’ mistake (and it was a mistake) with the Nnamadi Asomugha contract. Revis has every right to feel entitled to make more than Asomugha, but the Jets have every right to tell him to take what they’re offering or shove off. Read the rest of this entry » Rex Ryan sees Super Bowl for Jets in his “crystal ball” Posted by Anthony Stalter (08/06/2010 @ 4:30 pm) Rex Ryan is really hyping this Jets-Super Bowl talk this offseason. From ESPN.com: Asked Friday why he signed Adam Schefter’s training camp bus, “Soon to be champs,” the Jets coach said why not? That’s his belief and he doesn’t mind repeating himself. “The first step is, if you don’t believe it yourself your team darn sure won’t,” Ryan said. “Again I’m not apologizing I just know what’s going to happen. My crystal ball I’m seeing a Super Bowl trophy in there. I could be wrong but that’s what I see.” “That’s what I’m saying. That’s our mentality, that’s our goal and I’ve got confidence to put it up there. I believe we’ll do it so why wouldn’t we say it, why wouldn’t we go for it?”
I like Rex Ryan, although I can also see how he rubs some people the wrong way. He’s brash and confident and many people don’t like that, but one thing you have to give him credit for is that he doesn’t back down from saying what he believes. That said, he better hope that his best defender gets into camp and that his second year quarterback progresses or else the Jets will be watching the Super Bowl at home again this year. That’s not meant to be a knock on them or Ryan, but the reality is that this team needs Darrelle Revis and won’t take the next step until Mark Sanchez can win a game or two on his own. Remember, Ryan isn’t talking putting together a winning season or winning another playoff game or two. He’s talking about the Super Bowl and the Jets won’t get there without Revis and unless they can take the training wheels off Sanchez’s game. Ryan to take a pass on Thomas? Posted by Anthony Stalter (05/04/2010 @ 6:45 pm)  As the Baltimore Sun points out, based on his recent comments, it appears as though Rex Ryan and the Jets aren’t interested in free agent linebacker Adalius Thomas. “I think with [Thomas] we’ll end up first in the league in defense, and without him we’ll end up first in the league in defense,” Ryan said. “If we get him, great. [But] I’m not worried about him, he’s not on our team.”
As I wrote last week, I believe the Packers would be a great fit for Thomas. GM Ted Thompson ignored the Packers’ need for a left outside linebacker in last month’s draft and while Brad Jones is a capable starter, Dom Capers’ defense would be better suited having two pass-rushers on the outside. (Clay Matthews is already a fixture on the right side after an outstanding rookie campaign.) That said, Thompson is a no-frills kind of guy, so I imagine that if he were interested that Thomas would have already been up to Green Bay for a visit. As of now, the only teams that have shown interest in the free agent are the Jets and the 49ers, who went hard after Thomas in 2007 before he signed with the Patriots. With OTAs ready to kick off, I wouldn’t be surprised if Thomas were signed soon. He has lost a step over the past two years, but teams are always in the market for pass-rushers. Photo from fOTOGLIF
Does anyone want to coach the Bills? Posted by Anthony Stalter (01/13/2010 @ 3:20 pm)  According to ESPN.com, Jets’ offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has declined the opportunity to interview with the Bills for their vacant head coaching position. Schottenheimer has remarked throughout the season how much he enjoys working with new Jets coach Rex Ryan and rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez, and how truly content he is with his current job as the offensive coordinator of the league’s top-ranked running attack. “I realize we’re probably only going to have him for as long as we’re in this tournament,” Ryan said, “but we’re enjoying it right now.” “I’d love to be a head coach, but I say that with an asterisk,” Schottenheimer said Sunday after the Jets beat the Bengals in the wild-card round of the playoffs. “That’s my dream, but I want to be a head coach when the time is right, when the situation is right. I don’t want to just take a job to take a job.
Three things: 1) Who calls the NFL playoffs a “tournament?” Come on, Rex. 2) Good for Schottenheimer for waiting for the right opportunity to become a head coach. He realizes that if he fails, his chances of becoming a head coach for another team dwindle. 3) Does anyone want the Bills job? It’s one thing if Bill Cowher rejects you, but quite another when Brian Schottenheimer (a man who wants to become a head coach) does it. Maybe the Bills should have given Perry Fewell more consideration before firing him. At least his team played hard for him after he took over for Dick Jauron.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
Rex Ryan: ‘I’m not intimidated by Bill Belichick.’ Posted by Anthony Stalter (08/19/2009 @ 7:00 am) 
Jets head coach Rex Ryan isn’t afraid to speak his mind and apparently isn’t afraid to take a couple swipes at a rival head coach who has three Super Bowl wins on his resume either. From 670 The Score: Ryan said during a radio interview a few months ago that he didn’t come to New York “to kiss Bill Belichick’s rings.” He explained Tuesday what he meant, and might have provided more bulletin board material. “When I said that about Belichick, I’m just letting him know I’m not intimidated by him,” Ryan said. “He’s got the same position I have. We’re both head coaches in this league. He just happens to have a hell of a lot more Super Bowl wins. I don’t have a win. I understand that, but we’re not going to tiptoe our way through this thing. “You don’t line up and beat a Bill Belichick-coached team by tiptoeing in there.”
Comments like these are exactly why Jets players have come to love and respect their new head coach. It’s hard not to want to play for a guy who isn’t afraid to speak his mind and let the proverbial bullies of the AFC East know that he and his team won’t be intimated. That said, Ryan has yet to win a game, while Belichick has compiled 153 victories, three Super Bowl titles and is a two-time AP NFL Coach of the Year winner (2003, 2007). While Ryan’s attitude is brash and refreshing, he probably should be a bit more diplomatic in what he says in his first year. Belichick has a way of humbling fellow head coaches and while he’ll never play the quote game with Ryan through the media, I’m sure he has taken stock of what Ryan has said. |
