Jets defensive end Quinton Coples looked good in his first start Sunday night.
But for a guy who wants to play the whole game, he didn’t seem happy about having to play in the second half.
Jets coach Rex Ryan said Coples had a bit of an attitude when the first-round pick was instructed to take the field with the second defense.
“He kind of had a woe-is-me when we took out the starters,” Ryan said, via Jane McManus of ESPNNewYork.com. “Hey look, you’re still a rookie. You have to play the whole game and then some. They ran the ball on us with our second group in there and I never like to see that.”
Coples was solid replacing an injured Mike DeVito with the ones, showing the ability to get to the quarterback. He’s flashed at times through the preseason, but Ryan wasn’t as thrilled in his assessment Sunday.
“I wasn’t as happy this game as I was previously,” Ryan said. “I thought he got winded a bit.”
Even before the draft, Coples’ ability wasn’t the question. The question was whether he had the motor to be an every down player.
It’s not going away now, even after a good performance against a good offensive line.