From Rex Ryan to safety Kerry Rhodes, the Jets had talked more junk this week than Fred Sanford had in his yard. Ryan said he wasn’t coming into yesterday’s tilt vs. New England to “kiss Bill Belichick’s rings,” while Rhodes wanted to “embarrass” them and “make them feel bad.”
The Jets won 16-9, then celebrated like they’d just won a playoff game. And while Bitter Bill didn’t say much — either in his look-away handshake or a terse press conference — he and his beaten Patriots could really only say one thing: Well done.
“They outplayed us and outcoached us. They just performed better than we did,” Belichick said. “We didn’t make enough plays to win. That starts with me, and it goes for everybody that was involved.”
Even Randy Moss, known to talk a little trash, had to give Gang Green its due — at least some.
“You’ve got to give credit. There’s no sugar-coating it. They beat us, and that’s it. There’s no beating around the bush. They beat us up,” said Moss, who couldn’t even take umbrage with the Jets’ trash talk. “When you’re the opposing team and you’re listening, hearing and reading these things, that’s billboard material. But at the same time, he doesn’t play. The team plays, and they backed it up. You’ve got to commend those guys.”
But not too much. Despite being held to four catches for 24 yards, Moss wasn’t ready to bestow Darrelle Revis with the shutdown corner tag the Jets standout had given himself.
“No. All week he was talking about he’s a shutdown corner; but there’s really no shutdown corners, because they have help for most of the game,” Moss said. “I probably could play corner if I had (Brandon) Meriweather over the top.”
Pats tight end Ben Watson said the Jets “deserve to be celebrating.” But his backup, Chris Baker, played seven years with Gang Green, and while he said Rhodes is allowed to talk all the smack he wants, he can’t wait for the Nov. 22 rematch in Gillette Stadium.
“We’ll be ready when they come up to Foxborough. He doesn’t have to (apologize); he can say whatever he wants. Freedom of speech. He said it, and that’s fine. It’s a good thing we play twice a year,” said Baker, noting it’s too early in the year to draw any conclusions or win any titles. “It’s Week 2. We’re 1-1 and we’re going to go back to the drawing board. We’re going to see them again, first off, and secondly it’s only Week 2.”