He is careful now — very, VERY careful — about using the second-person plural.
“We are serious about running the ball more,” Rex Ryan said yesterday.
“We decided to call a run, see if we could bust one,” Ryan said about the decision, just before halftime Sunday in Pittsburgh, to play it safe trailing 13-10, with two timeouts and 58 seconds and probably 35 yards separating the Jets and a field-goal try.
“Right now we think Mark gives us the best chance to be successful in that particular situation against that particular opponent,” Ryan said, about his decision to limit Tim Tebow’s presence in Sunday’s 27-10 loss to the Steelers, about removing him after two positive plays and one negative that set up a second-and-16.
“Those are things that we’ll always look at. But I believe Tim can pass and, you know, we’ll make the decision on when a guy’s out there, when he’s not out there or whatever.”
We. We. We. We. This is clearly what Ryan wants to project in this new year, a new persona to go with a new physique, a defined spirit of shared offensive cooperation. It is perfect that the Jets will be visiting Miami this week because that was where the Jets’ dirty little open secret of the past few years — that Rex, a defensive savant at heart, barely cared about the other side of the ball — was put on full public display.
Remember? That was New Year’s Day, one final indignity for an offensive mess of a season, when Santonio Holmes’ disenchantment finally reached a boiling point and he was finally taken to the woodshed.
But not by Ryan.
“I looked out there and was wondering why he wasn’t out there,” Ryan said of Holmes that day. “I did not bench Santonio.”
No, he hadn’t. Brian Schottenheimer had, one final spasm of authority before professional divorce court a few weeks later, one final sliver of evidence that for all the time Ryan had spent insisting he was engaged in every facet of the team’s operations, maybe he wasn’t quite as interested in the offense.
Ryan understands people are watching now. It didn’t help at all when Mark Sanchez, early Sunday evening, was explaining why the Jets had eschewed the opportunity to grab a field goal just before the half — a half, it should be remembered, that was actually an efficient one for the offense, which had two scores in its first three possessions.
Down 13-10, the Jets had a first-and-10 at their own 31 with 57 seconds on the clock and two timeouts at their disposal.
“There was discussion about it, but ultimately it was Coach [Tony] Sparano’s call and he wanted to run out the clock,” Sanchez said. “We were getting the ball in the third quarter, so I’ll defer to Coach Sparano.”
You’ll notice Sanchez didn’t say “them.” And this isn’t to say Sparano’s call was wrong, either: Eli Manning threw a pick-six in a similar spot earlier in the day, and it isn’t as if the Jets have expressed unconditional confidence in Sanchez and his decision-making just yet. That might well have been the right decision.
But it should’ve been the head coach’s decision.
Ryan insisted it was a joint call. We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on that, for now, same as we will when it comes to Tebow (which means he’s as much on the clock as Sparano, then, for failing to utilize their secret weapon in a game that not only screamed for his specialized skillsets, but also against a team that Tebow has had some memorable success against).
But it is still so obvious where Ryan’s heart really lies. An innocent question yesterday about the Jets’ defense, which traditionally starts the season ablaze but in this season’s first two games has already allowed 55 points, quickly and briefly lured out Old Rex — brash, brazen, cock-of-the-walk, polar opposite of the more measured New Rex.
“Bet against us,” he said, defiantly. “I know where [the defense] will end up.”
Us. There’s never been a doubt about Rex’s affinity for the defense, and his wish to be a part of it all. He says it’s getting better on the other side of the line of scrimmage, too.
We’ll take him at his word. Soon enough, we’ll need to take him at his deed.