Rex Ryan Thinks Patriots Early Struggles Were Overblown, ‘Give Credit To The Opponent’
The sky may have been falling for four months in New England, but the view was different from New York.
Jets head coach Rex Ryan provided perspective on the Patriots’ early struggles as only he can, with candor and humor that few coaches possess.
He was particularly taken aback by the early criticism of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
“Yeah, that was hysterical, I thought,” Ryan said on a conference call with Patriots media on Tuesday. “You know what I mean? It’s like, yeah, really? Okay. I mean, come on.”
Indeed, it seems prognostications of Brady’s downfall were all too early and ill-advised. Brady began the season by completing 59.1 percent of his passes in the first four games, averaging 198 yards per game, throwing four touchdowns and two interceptions.
In the two games since then, he has completed 69.4 percent of his throws for 326 yards per game, with six touchdowns and no picks.
Patriots fans and media were quick to jump on the Patriots’ shortcomings, all while conveniently forgetting that there are 11 men lined up across from the Patriots who are also paid to stop them from scoring.
“I think sometimes you need to give credit to the opponent that you’re playing,” Ryan said. “They see a lot of different things, and I think sometimes, it’s not a focus of anybody. But they’ve played some good teams, and for whatever reason, maybe they struggled a little bit. But this is a team that’s still atop our division, like they always are it seems like, and obviously has a great deal of talent, they’ve got a great coach in Belichick, and then obviously, they’ve got the Hall of Fame quarterback. So that makes it tough.”
Where the Patriots have enjoyed their success lately, the Jets enjoyed most of their success early. They won their first game against the Oakland Raiders, and were in position to pull off a huge upset against the Green Bay Packers before they squandered a 21-3 lead in the second quarter.
At 1-5, the Jets are in must-win mode, but Ryan isn’t letting chatter over his job security get to him or distract him from the task at hand.
“No, I don’t look at that,” Ryan said. “It’s never been about me, you talk about job security late in the year, I’ve never flinched one time about it. All I do is the best job I can, and I’m confident in my abilities, I’m confident in the guys that I coach with, the people that are here, so again, I don’t think twice about it. I just know we’re going to do everything in our power to get a win. Obviously, it’s a lot easier said than done, especially traveling up to New England.
“We know we’re going to get their best shot, and they know that we’re going to give them our best shot.”
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