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These Josh Thomas comments are damning. There is no way around it. People can spin it all they want, but where there is smoke there is fire . . .
I talked to Josh Thomas a couple of times during his time with the Jets.
I’m not putting him at Canton at cornerback, but he was serviceable.
I found him to be very bright, very professional.
I’m not going to be like others and say his comments today were “sour grapes.” I don’t think that is the case at all. He went from a last place team to a playoff contender.
This is a teachable moment for Rex Ryan and his defensive coaches. Well actually, “teachable moment” might be a poor choice of words.
Thomas, was released by the Jets earlier this week, and claimed by the Detroit Lions, and told the Motown media today, he wasn’t coached while in Florham Park.
“I feel like I wasn’t given the attention necessary as far as being engaged from the coach-to-player standpoint and knowing the things I need to work on,” Thomas said. “It became where I was there as a player and wanting and desiring some feedback that wasn’t given. So sometimes I may have been standing there with a [deer-in-the-headlight] look in my eyes trying to figure out what I needed to do.
“I just want to be great. I want to get better every day. I look forward to enhancing something about my game every day, and (the Jets) were just more independent there.
“So at the same time, just from the past experiences, every organization operates differently — so it could be the way that the Jets operate. I just want to be great. I want to get better every day. I look forward to enhancing something about my game every day, and [the Jets] were just more independent there.
“I just think that the system was different. It was how they operated. It’s part of being a professional, you have to figure it out on your own. Had to figure my playbook out on my own. You know, so, I just really missed what I needed to improve, really missed that feedback.”
I find this un-freaking-believable.
The Jets signed Thomas on October 13 after Dee Milliner got hurt.
When you sign a player during the season, who isn’t familiar with your system, you coach the heck out of him.
I’ve told this audience before, this coaching staff needs to improve.
There is too much cronyism.
Rex’s loyalty to the point of defiance impacts his coaching staff.
There are a few excellent coaches on this staff (Karl Dunbar is an example), but overall, this isn’t an upper tier staff.
Too much cronyism.
The defensive coordinator is an old friend of Rex.
He had an incident with a woman at a Morristown bar earlier this year. TMZ has a photo of it.
Rex said he didn’t need to look into it.
Loyalty to the point of defiance.
The secondary coach was hired after one year as a college coach. He was a high school coach before that.
There were communication issues with Dimitri Patterson.
And now communication issues with Josh Thomas.
There have been communication issues on game day as far as blown coverages.
Something is amiss here.
Don’t be so fast to dismiss Thomas’ comments. There is clearly some dysfunction at work here.
You bring in a player off the street mid-season, you need to coach his butt off.
They clearly need to make some changes around here.
To me, this Thomas story is an indictment of the current program.
December 18, 2104
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