Count Cowboys linebacker Keith Brooking among those wondering why Rex Ryan’s Jets talk so much.
“I’m not a big fan of all that chatter. Obviously you have to have confidence, you have to have a bit of a swagger in this league to be successful, but, I mean, you’ll get humbled real quick in this league talking like that,” Brooking told a Dallas radio station. “Especially, when, what have you really done in the full scheme of things? — you went to the AFC Championship game.
“I’m a show-me guy, before you go out there and talk the smack like their talkin’ it. But to each his own; everybody’s got a boat and that boat’s gotta float, I guess, so if that’s the way he wants to do it, that’s fine.”
Like everyone else who watched last week’s premiere of HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” Brooking saw (and heard) Ryan’s profanity-filled, high-expectations opening speech, in which the Jets head coach said his team would “beat the ****” out of” any team in the NFL.
“To be honest with you, I really didn’t pay much attention to ’em before because they really haven’t accomplished a whole lot in this league …,” Brooking told ESPN Radio in Dallas, according to Sports Radio Interviews.com.
“But I did see that, I’m a football fan, I love the NFL and knew that show was coming on, so I wanted to check it out and see it.
“My wife and I were sitting there and when it was during it I was like, what is up with this? I mean, honestly, I just couldn’t believe the way he was acting, when really in the full scheme of things, they haven’t accomplished a whole lot.
“And they can be really good team, I think he’s got a solid foundation there, and I’m not saying they won’t accomplish a lot of great things. But sometimes you can bite off a little more than you can chew, especially in this league. And until you have gone out there and proven it and done something, it’s best to kind of keep your mouth shut sometimes.”
Brooking said he also was surprised the Jets blitzed so often and Ryan left his starters in for the entire first half in the preseason opener against the Giants.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning was injured early in the second quarter, suffering a 3-inch gash on his head that required stitches.
“I don’t think you make an exhibition game bigger than your season and you keep your starters out there for a whole half and risk that just to make a statement,” Brooking said. “But I mean, there was a lot of chatter before that game on both sides. So, I think both teams kept their starters out there a little longer than they normally do for the second game. So I think as long as both teams are doing it, you’re fine.”
For the record, Brooking has played in the NFL since 1998, joining the Cowboys last season after spending his career with the Falcons.
Atlanta lost the Super Bowl during his rookie season, and he has won three playoff games in the 11 seasons since.
Former Colts head coach Tony Dungy this week also was critical of the Jets’ attitude under Ryan.
“They have created a persona. They felt like they were second fiddle to the Giants and they don’t want to be second fiddle, so they’ve done a lot of things that I wouldn’t necessarily do, but it’s making them feel good about themselves,” Dungy said Monday on “The Dan Patrick Show.”
“The only problem is the other 31 teams aren’t feeling good about them.”