NFL

Jets coach says ‘anything goes’ in rival rants

Rex Ryan can take it. A day after Patriots receiver Wes Welker openly mocked the Jets coach’s reported foot fetish, Ryan said everything is fair game heading into Sunday’s playoff showdown in Foxborough, Mass.

“I think this is a huge rivalry-type game and anything goes. I can take it,” Ryan said yesterday. “I’m not going to discuss it, but I can take it.”

Thursday while talking to the media, Welker made 11 references to feet or toes. Asked if he had seen or heard about Welker’s cracks, Antonio Cromartie laughed.

“No, I haven’t,” Cromartie said. “But you’re like the fifth guy that came up to me and said something about it.”

COMPLETE JETS COVERAGE

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In addition to Drew Coleman
(knee) and Brad Smith
(groin), safety James Ihedigbo
(knee/ankle) also is questionable. But Ihedigbo is expected to play.

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Ryan said the Jets will defer and put their defense on the field to start the game tomorrow if they win the coin toss.

“We’re going to defer like we always do,” he said, before cracking, “The one time we didn’t, you guys convinced me and we went three-and-out. . . . You know what? I just think this is who we are. We’re not afraid to play defense. We’ll kick it off to them and see what happens.”

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Ryan, on Reggie Jackson
‘s comments on 1050 ESPN Radio in which Mr. October asked why Ryan and Cromartie were criticizing Tom Brady
: “That’s his opinion. We’re always going to be who we are. . . . We could use Reggie’s bat this week. If he wants to help us out, I’d be happy.”

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Jets tight end Dustin Keller
pointed out quarterback Mark Sanchez
is a bit more composed after bad plays this season than the quarterback was last year.

“I think the biggest thing would be his demeanor in the huddle. I think last year if he threw an interception and his head would kind of drop, he’d let it affect the next play,” Keller said. “But I think now this time around, he lets things go a lot easier. That’s what you want to see out of your quarterback. Just the same guy every single play, always keeping his composure.”

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Brandon Spikes
received what amounted to a ringing endorsement from Bill Belichick
when the Patriots coach said the rookie linebacker had “gotten a little better.”

Spikes, a second-round pick and key contributor before he missed the final four games of the regular season due to an NFL drug suspension, had been criticized by Belichick for his rustiness early in the week. But Belichick lightened up yesterday, offering a more encouraging assessment.

“There was a period of time there where he really didn’t do anything at all, at least football-related,” Belichick said of the suspension. “There’s no way to simulate that other than to actually get out there and do it. I think those are the kinds of things that, the more you do it, the more it comes back.”

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Unlike the Jets, the Patriots are expected to essentially be at full strength tomorrow. Backup nose tackle Myron Pryor
(back) missed practice for the third day in a row and is listed as doubtful, but he is the extent of the New England players unlikely to play.

Linebacker Tully Banta-Cain
(groin), receiver Deion Branch
(knee), defensive ends Jermaine Cunningham
(calf) and Eric Moore
(hamstring), tight end Aaron Hernandez
(hip) and right tackle Sebastian Vollmer
(shin) were listed as questionable but are expected to play.