It’s only been a few days since Jets first-round pick Quinton Coples raised eyebrows by complaining about having to play with reserves in the third preseason game.
So after playing late into the fourth quarter last night, he could laugh about the comments coach Rex Ryan made after that one.
“Nah, I was prepared. I was prepared to play all four quarters,” Coples said, via Conor Orr of the Newark Star-Ledger. “I’m always prepared, regardless if I wasn’t supposed to play or people thought I wasn’t supposed to play. I was prepared to play four quarters and I let that be the coach’s decision as far as how much I play.
“He never gave me a time, if he was going to pull me he was going to pull me.”
Coples had another solid game last night, with a sack and a half and a tackle for loss, but the questions about his motor that dogged him in the pre-draft process aren’t going away.
He said he feels better about his conditioning, but wants to do more to get ready for next week against the Bills.
“I’ve been definitely conditioning better, but coming into the season opener I’m definitely going to train a lot harder,” Coples said. “Make sure I’m in better shape than I am now.”
Hey, he’s got a week. Shouldn’t be that hard to make great strides in the meantime, should it? Maybe if this had occurred to him a few months ago, Ryan wouldn’t be riding him so hard. Then again, if it wasn’t an issue before, he might not have been available when the Jets picked him.