CRAZY TALK: After saying the Jets wanted to knock Reggie Bush out of Sunday’s game, Aaron Maybin became the target of several angry Dolphins yesterday. (CSM/Landov)
If the Jets-Dolphins game on Sunday is half as entertaining as the trash talk flying back and forth between the two teams, it will be one to remember.
The war of words continued yesterday with Dolphins center Mike Pouncey firing back at Jets linebacker Aaron Maybin.
“He’s a joke,” Pouncey told reporters in South Florida.
This comes a day after the Jets, including head coach Rex Ryan, and Dolphins running back Reggie Bush went back and forth. Maybin told ESPN.com the Jets “want to knock [Bush] out of the game, but we’re out to do it legally.”
Pouncey took offense to that and then called Maybin out about his limited playing time this year.
“He won’t even play enough to hurt Reggie,” Pouncey said. “I don’t even want to talk about talk about him. He’s a joke.”
When asked if he would say anything to Maybin, he said: “I guess if I’m on punt block, I’ll say something to him.”
Maybin has played just 23 percent of the Jets’ defensive snaps this year and does not have a sack.
When he is on the field Sunday, Maybin may want to watch his back.
“You can tell Aaron Maybin that we’ll be after him on Sunday,” Pouncey said on ESPN Radio.
Maybin did not want to respond to what Pouncey said. He denied using the phrase “knock him out.”
“There was no trash talk coming from this side,” Maybin said. “Basically, I’ll say the same thing I said yesterday: We have to stop the run and that means eliminating Reggie Bush. However people want to take that out of context that’s fine, but I’m not going to get into it.”
The Jets plucked Maybin, a 2009 first-round pick of the Bills, off the scrap heap last season and he had six sacks, but he has not had the same impact this year.
“Hearing that from a guy that was just known last year as one of the biggest busts in NFL history to open up his mouth and say he’s going to hurt our starting running back, no we’re not going have that,” Pouncey said.
The trash talk started Wednesday when Ryan said Bush should apologize for saying “what goes around comes around” last month in regard to the season-ending knee injury suffered by Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis against the Dolphins. Bush felt the Jets intentionally injured his knee in the Sept. 23 game after Ryan said that week the Jets would give Bush some “hot sauce.”
On Wednesday, Bush questioned Ryan’s apology, and Jets safety LaRon Landry entered the fray.
“Every time he sees me, he will remember that hit,” Landry said referring to the Week 3 hit that injured Bush. “If I’m in the box or I’m going downhill, he’ll remember that hit.”
Pouncey seemed to be fine with Landry talking trash because of how much he plays.
“I can respect LaRon Landry and what he said, he’s a starter,” Pouncey said. “But for Aaron Maybin to open his mouth, I just don’t understand it.”
All of this adds up to a spicy storyline Sunday and possibly a chippy game.
“Reggie knows we’ve got his back,” Dolphins lineman Richie Incognito said. “It’s going to be a brawl.”
— Additional reporting by Justin Terranova