Rex Ryan yesterday showed uncharacteristic agitation when asked if he decided on whether Kerry Rhodes or Eric Smith would start in the base defense at safety.
Ryan demoted Rhodes two games ago for performance reasons and started Smith against Carolina and Buffalo, though Rhodes was worked back in with the starters in the second quarter of the Bills game.
The day after the Buffalo game, Rhodes said he was told by Ryan that he had gotten his starting job back. But three days later, in a conference call with reporters, Ryan was non-committal, saying he wanted to see “how the week played out” before deciding.
Yesterday, when asked about it, Ryan snapped, “Go ahead and name the starter if you want. I don’t care. I mean, all those guys are going to play. If you’ll feel better about it, we’ll quit getting all those questions, so ahead and name the starter.
For the record, during the 30-minute period open to reporters, Smith practiced with the starters in the base defense on Monday and Rhodes was back there yesterday.
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The only player other than Mark Sanchez not to practice was OL Robert Turner (knee). Among the players who were limited were CBs Dwight Lowery (ankle), Donald Strickland (concussion) and Marquice Cole (knee), LB Larry Izzo (hamstring) and DE Shaun Ellis (knee).
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Ryan said a brace for Sanchez’ right knee is due to arrive today. Sanchez, who already wears a brace on his left knee as precautionary protection, was asked if he’ll wear braces on both knees when he returns to play, presumably next Sunday.
“I don’t know; we’ll see when the time comes what feels comfortable and what I need for protection,” he said. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Asked if there’s any doubt he’ll be ready for the Jets Dec. 20 game against the Falcons, Sanchez said, “I would say no doubt at all I’d love to be on the field. I’ll be pushing like crazy. The doctors have been ecstatic about my progress. They said usually this thing swells like a balloon and that’s where you really miss time. I’m doing a lot better than a lot of people.”
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Bucs rookie head coach Raheem Morris is familiar with the Jets, having played at Hofstra University and worked for Herman Edwards in 2001 on a defensive minority internship.
“It’s a great organization [with] great people,” Morris said yesterday. “It really opened my eyes and the doorway to the NFL for me. I was fortunate enough to be around Herman Edwards when he was there. He was very sociable with everybody in the building. He kind of let everybody be involved.
“A lot of the same people in that building are still working there. They were able to give me a lot of things, help me out and show me the way. I’ve got nothing but great memories about the New York Jets.
“I was really sad to see them leave the Hofstra campus and I was even more saddened last week when they [Hofstra] dropped our football program.”
Morris, a native of Irvington, N.J., was reticent to discuss the Hofstra football situation, saying, “As an alumnus you’re just really disappointed in the pride of the school. It’s just one thing there is really no comments, only anger. There’s really only bitterness.”