Earlier this hour, during a visit with Stan Savran of ESPN Radio in Pittsburgh, I suggested that the ability of Jets coach Rex Ryan to resist his instinct to blitz Peyton Manning could translate into an ability by Ryan to resist his instinct to run his mouth in advance of Sunday’s game against the Patriots.
Nope.
Bob Glauber of Newsday, who along with NBC’s Rodney Harrison will join me at 12:00 p.m. ET on Monday’s first-day-of-Week-Two-hooray-we-haven’t-been-canceled-. . .-yet version of ProFootballTalk Live, has been posting on his Twitter page some of the things Ryan has said in his latest press conference.
“I recognize that I’m never going to be a better coach than him,” Ryan said of Pats coach Bill Belichick. “My job is to be a better coach than him this week.”
Ryan knew back in December that a playoff rematch was looming. “I told Belichick after the game, ‘We’ll see you in Round 3,” Ryan said.
So what did Belichick say in response? “He just looked at me.”
Ryan also threw a verbal bouquet at Pats quarterback Tom Brady, who went to see the Lombardi play on Saturday night in lieu of watching the Jets-Colts game.
“Peyton Manning would have been watching our game,” Ryan said.
Ryan’s probably right, but that fact doesn’t make Brady any less lethal come Sunday.
In the end, Rex’s challenge will be to walk the line between saying things to get his team motivate and not saying things that will give the Pats extra motivation. If Rex even cares about the difference.
We’ve got a feeling that he doesn’t.