Rex Ryan Says Geno Smith Is No Diva With Jets

Geno Smith is in image repair mode right now, and part of that is showing football people that he is a hard worker and a leader.

Smith had his first minicamp practice as the Jets quarterback yesterday, and wanted to let people he was working hard. Geno seems to have a fan in Jets head coach Rex Ryan.

Smith was asked about reports regarding Smith being a diva, and according to Pro Football Talk, Rex Ryan sees no diva with the Jets.

“Maybe I don’t know what diva behavior looks like, but he certainly didn’t do it here,” Ryan said after Smith had his first rookie minicamp practice today. “He’s a football player that you can tell loved the game, very knowledgeable about his system. I never saw that at all.”

Tavon Austin: “Rex Ryan Has A Plan For Me”

West Virginia wide receiver Tavon Austin is the talk of the NFL Draft, and I can only wonder if he’d be the #1 pick if he was a bit taller.

Austin still is coveted, and one place draft experts see him going is to the Jets at #9 if he’s still on the board. 

Austin while in New York participating in an NFL 60 event, admitted that Jets head coach Rex Ryan “has a plan for how to use him” according to the Star Ledger.

Rob Ryan keeps up family tradition of oversell, under-deliver

Rob Ryan was fired by the Dallas Cowboys after a second consecutive 8-8 season, and after another year of his defense being incapable of holding onto a lead when handed to them. Of course, he considers himself a scapegoat and is (genuinely, I believe) shocked that Jerry Jones gave him the boot, according to Dan Hanzus of ESPN:

“Oh yeah, look, I was a little shocked,” Ryan told ESPNDallas.com after watching a Dallas Mavericks-Golden State Warriors game on Saturday night. “I knew they had to do something after an 8-8 season. They choose me to be the guy, sure.”

Translation: Jerry Jones was looking for a scapegoat and I was his choice.
“Better coaches than me have been fired,” Ryan said. “Just not many.”

Shortly after being fired, while on vacation with his wife, Ryan boasted he would have a job in “five minutes.” Now, we get this }not many coaches better than me” line.

Last week, Ryan was offered the St. Louis Rams job. Apparently, however, Jeff Fisher sobered up just in time to realize what a colossal mistake adding the flamboyant, over-cusser to his staff would be and withdrew the proposal, leaving Ryan still unemployed.

Report: Rex Ryan Doesn’t Want To Trade Revis

Well yesterday we reported the Jets were exploring or looking at scenarios involving the trading of Darrelle Revis.    This morning Pro Football Talk via a source is reporting that Rex Ryan would prefer to Keep Revis.

Per a league source, Ryan doesn’t want to trade Revis.  And that’s hardly a surprise.  Ryan has raved about Revis for years, and Ryan played a key role in breaking the impasse that led to the four-year contract that suddenly has Johnson reportedly “pessimistic” about keeping Revis in 2014 and beyond.
Without Revis, Ryan will make a lame duck look like Sthuper Duck.  Without Revis, Ryan will be far less likely to put together the kind of season that allows him to keep his job.  Without Revis, Woody Johnson might as well just fire Ryan now.

Rex Ryan Says His Guaranteed Salary Won’t Dictate If Sanchez Starts

Jets head coach Rex Ryan returned from his celebrated vacation to face the New York media and answer questions about his future and that of the team.

Ryan was asked about quarterback Mark Sanchez and his guaranteed $8.5 million dollar salary.  Ryan gave Sanchez no vote of confidence, and according to the New York Daily News, let it be known that Sanchez’s salary will not dictate whether or not he starts.

“Money, the financial part of it….will not have any of the considerations for it,” Ryan said. “We’ll play the player that fits what we do best. What we believes gives us the best chance.”
“We have to get an offensive coordinator in place, then we’ll address it from there,” Ryan said. “Obviously, the situation, whoever the offensive coordinator is, his system, there’s going to be a lot of things that go into it.”

Pete Carroll Still says Mark Sanchez should have Stayed at USC

The New York Jets are taking on the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday, and an interesting subplot to the game is the reunion of Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and his former college coach Pete Carroll.
If you remember, Sanchez left USC while he still had another year of eligibility and Carroll let it be known that he thought his quarterback was making a mistake. Saying that another year of college would have benefited the young signal caller.

Sanchez left anyway and was taken with the fifth overall pick in the 2009 draft by the New York Jets. While he did lead the team to two AFC Championships in his first two seasons, he has struggled since. Perhaps proving Carroll’s point.

Jets coach Rex Ryan had some interesting comments about Carroll’s stance on Sanchez.