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East Rutherford – So Rex told the team, before today’s game, these are his lost two games according to Jay Glazer. What is going on here?
Jay Glazer, who is friends with Rex Ryan, tweeted this morning, “”Rex Ryan told his players in team meeting last night that word on street is that he’s getting fired and asked players to fight with him these last 2 weeks.”
If Glazer reports this, you can take it to the bank.
As one long-time NFL reporter said to me recently, “Jay is never wrong (with his scoops).”
And while I’m not a big fan of his modus operandi, his track record on scoops is sterling.
So I do think Ryan said it.
Keep in mind, Ryan didn’t shoot down the story at all in his post-game. He said, “What is said in a team meeting – whether the report is accurate or not, I’m not going to tell you.”
So that is basically a confirmation. If he didn’t say, even if it was a private meeting, why would he tell us he didn’t say it?
“I think it’s true – he didn’t deny it,” said one veteran sportswriter in the press conference. “To his credit, he didn’t deny it. He was talking like a man who knew his next game was his last.”
I reached out to an NFL executive with a great feel for what is going on around the league, and asked what he was hearing about Rex?
“I think he’s gone – I think Idzik wants his own guy,” said the NFL executive.
I actually thought the more interesting part of Glazer’s report was that he said Ryan has viewed himself as a “sacrificial lamb” all season.
It’s hard to argue with that.
How did Idzik expect Ryan to have a winning season with a raw rookie starting at quarterback, backed up with a guy just as raw, and with five rookies starting?
It was almost like Idzik was having Ryan develop these young guys, having them take their lumps this year, so they will be higher on the growth curve next year (when Rex might not even be around).
That was/is unfair.
If you want Ryan to show what he can do this year for the new boss, deal him a better hand!
You could make a strong argument that Idzik set up Ryan to fail.
But I do agree with the league source that Idzik wants his own guy.
And I do think an underrated factor in the Idzik’s assessment of Rex are the Jets’ issues with pre-snap penalties, like off-sides calls.
The Jets lead the league.
In the first quarter alone today, you had a neutral zone infraction by Sheldon Richardson and an off-sides penalty on Kenrick Ellis.
This is a very bad stat for a head coach.
Pre-snap penalties are about concentration and focus.
It’s going to be interesting to see what happens.
But I think what Glazer reported is 100 percent accurate.
And you have to wonder what Rex’s motivation was to give that speech today, and not next week.
The Jets looked flat early in this game, falling behind 10-0. It looked like the motivational ploy might have backfired.
After all, if you love a coach, and he tells you he’s a goner in a couple of weeks, that is more of a downer than an upper.
I mean, he’s basically telling the players, “I’m gone, and there is nothing you can do to save my job.”
A better motivation is if they players think they can save your job, not knowing you’re a goner.
But the Jets bounced back to win the game.
We will see what happens after the season.
December 22, 2013
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