ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — It is not Eli versus Peyton in a Manning Bowl. It does not even involve family blood. But when the Bills come to MetLife Stadium to play the Jets on Sunday, little brother will be taking on big brother with quite a bit at stake.
Mike Pettine, Rex Ryan’s Mini-Me defensive coordinator the last four years, comes back with something to prove after leaving the Jets following last season amidst clouds of mystery because he made a lateral move taking the same job with the Bills.
Why would Pettine voluntarily part ways with Ryan, his best friend and mentor?
Because he was perceived as a big sieve in an organization riddled with more leaks than that cruise ship that sank off the coast of Italy last year — a perception Pettine said in an exclusive interview with The Post on Wednesday he finds “upsetting.’’
“In the fallout, a lot was made of the [leaking] thing, which bothered me,’’ Pettine told The Post. “I never addressed it publicly, because I was advised not to, but that bothered me because of lack of truth. All of a sudden everything coming out of the building was from me.
“It’s struck me as funny that now that I’ve left, information still finds its way out of the building,’’ he said sarcastically. “That bothered me personally, but you understand there’s going to be a lot of people who look for negatives and dwell on the negatives. That’s something you deal with and move on.’’
Pettine also strongly denied there was any rift with Ryan. The two, in fact, spoke so fondly of each other on Wednesday it sounded as if they were prepping for a weekend retreat together in nearby Niagara Falls.
“He and I have been texting each other since I left there and that’s picked up even more so this week with funny things back and forth,’’ Pettine said. “Rex and I will be friends for a long time. The ‘falling out’ thing was people doing the math on the circumstances [the team losing]. People tried to fill the holes and put negative things in it, and that was upsetting because that was never the case. There was never a falling out with Rex and I. We’ve never fallen out of touch and our relationship today is just as strong as it was before.’’
Pettine said “the bridge wasn’t burned in New York,’’ adding, “I could have gone back if Buffalo had not come open.’’
Like with most things in life, the truth likely lies somewhere in between the words spoken publicly.
The reality is one of new general manager John Idzik’s immediate edicts was to end the organizational leaks and tone down the noise — most notably from Ryan, who you might have noticed has lost as much bravado as body weight since Idzik’s arrival.
On Pettine’s end, it was clear he realized the only way he was going to have a chance at being a head coach was to extricate himself from Ryan’s formidable shadow, because the perception for the last four years is that the Jets’ defense is Ryan’s defense, not Pettine’s.
When asked if Pettine’s Bills defense looks “familiar,’’ Ryan said jokingly, “It looks like somebody’s borrowed our playbook.’’
Ryan then did acknowledge that there is something to the “Well, it’s Rex Ryan’s defense and [Pettine] is never going to get his due credit until he [left]’’ theory.
“Mike Pettine can stand on his own,’’ Ryan said. “He’s a tremendous football coach. It won’t be long before he’ll get his own opportunity to be a head coach. We were together for a long time. He’s somebody that I’m extremely proud of. We’re like brothers.’’
That brotherly love and rivalry delivers added juice to Sunday’s clash between the two 1-1 AFC East teams.
“I’d be a liar if I stood here and said this game didn’t mean more to me,’’ Pettine said. “When I went on vacation with Rex and we were throwing washers on the beach I wanted to beat him as bad as I want to beat him on Sunday. It makes for a good story. It’s like going against your brother … brothers that fight a lot.’’