Rex Ryan snuck back to Baltimore one Sunday in March to watch his teenage son, Seth, run a 5K. This was days after the new Jets coach had lured former Ravens Bart Scott, Jim Leonhard and Marques Douglas to join him in New York.
A television reporter spotted him on the street and said, “Hey, you’re stealing all our players.”
“No, I’m stealing my players,” Ryan responded with a smile.
The three ex-Ravens are now key cogs of Ryan’s Jets defense. He had stars left over from last season in Kris Jenkins, Darrelle Revis and Kerry Rhodes. But Ryan needed a few of “his guys” to show the way.
“It’s not only that they know the system, but they know how things are done, what the expectations are, and understanding that we don’t accept anything but that,” Ryan said. “For them, it’s critical that they have to step up there leading.”
Looking at Scott, Leonhard and Douglas, it’s clear Ryan loves the underdog. None of the three players was drafted. Scott was an undersized linebacker from Southern Illinois who did not start a game until his fourth season. Leonhard was a walk-on at Wisconsin and looks nothing like a starting safety in the NFL at 5-foot-8, 180 pounds. Douglas came out of Howard University with little chance of playing, but has been in the NFL for 10 years.
“He doesn’t care who you are or where you came from or what you look like,” Leonhard said. “If you get the job done, you get the job done. If he can trust you, he’s going to use you. Players appreciate that.”
That is what led to the migration north.
Ryan took the Jets job in late January after the Ravens lost in the AFC Championship Game. The defensive players in Baltimore set to be free agents immediately began talking about the Jets as a destination.
Scott was the first to join Ryan, taking a six-year, $48 million contract after the coach showed up on his doorstep at midnight the day free agency began. Leonhard followed a few days later, and Douglas
10 days after that.
“We have a special situation,” Scott said. “It’s almost like Rex is starting his franchise and he decided to bring us with him to start his franchise, his legacy with us. For us, that’s a tremendous honor to be part of what his story is going to be.”
The Scott signing drew the most headlines, but the signing of Leonhard and Douglas already has proved to be crucial. When the Jets began talking to the Browns about the draft-day trade that eventually would land quarterback Mark Sanchez, Browns coach and former Jets boss Eric Mangini was interested in two players who were starters for him last year — defensive end Kenyon Coleman and safety Abram Elam. The Jets agreed to ship those two to Cleveland, knowing their replacements already were in the locker room.
“It allowed us to make the trade,” Ryan said. “Would we be able to make that trade if we never had the depth [at defensive end]? Or would we ever be able to make that trade if we did not have the depth at safety? I don’t know if we would have been able to do that.”
For Douglas, it meant he would be back in the starting lineup.
“It felt like a birthday,” he said. “I felt like it was going to be my chance to run out of that tunnel again and still show the league that I can play at a high level. I’ve been starting every year since 2003 except last year. It ate at me every time I had to go out there on the second team.”
When the three players arrived here, they were shocked at the culture around the Jets holdovers. In meetings, they watched their new teammates sit silent, heads down taking notes, seemingly afraid to speak up.
“The one thing I noticed was everybody was really tight when I first got here,” Leonhard said. “I think guys are starting to relax. With Rex and his staff it’s more like the coaches are working with you. They’re not above you, talking down to you. I think the guys are really open to that now.”
The Jets’ practices are now filled with the sound of Scott talking trash and the locker room is more alive than it was last year.
The ex-Ravens have brought more than just swagger north with them, though. They also brought a knowledge of Ryan’s system. They have the three areas of the defense covered — with Douglas up front, Scott in the middle and Leonhard in the secondary.
“It’s basically like having three more coaches,” linebacker Calvin Pace said.
Three player-coaches who are Rex Ryan players from head to toe.
“This is the type of player I want to surround myself with,” Ryan said. “I can be successful because the players we bring in are passionate guys that just love to play the game. They prepare to play and when the lights come on these guys play great and they elevate other players’ games as well.”