Rex Ryan is a very loyal man.
He loves his players.
Those are two positive characteristics.
To a point, that is.
Former Jets defensive lineman Trevor Pryce describes Ryan as “loyal to the point of defiance.”
Sometimes Ryan sticks with struggling players too long, almost as if the coach thinks he can make them play better, by his strong belief in them.
“[Ryan] seemed to think he could overcome the randomness with conviction, as though wanting something badly enough could will it into being,” wrote author Nick Dawidoff, who was embedded with the Jets in 2011.
“Sometimes with Rex it’s blind love,” long-time Ryan friend Sam Pittman told Dawidoff. “But that is who he is. Part of it makes him great, part of it gives him flaws.”
In a season that Rex needs to win, after missing the playoffs three years in a row, he needs to check his “loyalty to the point of defiance,” at the door.
Play the best players at all times.
Bill Belichick does.
Don’t worry about hurting feelings.
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