When the Jets play the Ravens on Sunday in Baltimore, safety Ed Reed, the newest Jet, will face his former team, with whom he played 11 seasons, for the second time this season. Reed described it Wednesday as just “another football game.’’
Maybe that would not be the case if the Jets were playing the Texans, whom Reed signed with as a free agent in the offseason and was released by last week.
Reed, who criticized the Texans coaches after his last game in Houston, on Wednesday ripped into Wade Phillips, the Texans defensive coordinator, saying he’s “the reason that I’m not there’’ anymore.
Asked if the Houston defense was not a good fit for him, Reed said, “That defense is not a good fit for a lot of people who are still down there. It wasn’t just about me, and that’s what my comments were. My comments were not just about me, and obviously, that’s why I’m not there anymore — because some people felt some type of way about what I said.
“The truth is the truth … and they know I know. People might feel a certain way, like, ‘Ed did this and Ed didn’t do things on the football field,’ but you’ve got to look at the play-calling. People don’t know how the schematic part of it goes. You’ve got to put your players in a position to make plays as well from a coach’s perspective.”
Asked if he spoke to Phillips before he left, Reed said, “Yeah, Wade said something to me. He came and basically just made sure I was leaving, and honestly, of all people, he’s probably the guy, the reason that I’m not there.’’
Reed said he hopes the “Baltimore welcome will be good,’’ adding, “I spent a lot of time down in Baltimore and plan on spending a lot of time after football in Baltimore. So I would hope there’s a warm welcome.”
Asked if the Jets will be his last NFL stop, Reed said, “I don’t know. I’m going through this season playing the way I play. I always loved football, and I always had a vision in my head of how it would go for me. I know I’m still effective, and I know the quarterbacks across the league haven’t been throwing the ball my way. I hope it changes this week, [but it] probably won’t. But we’ll see.”