MIAMI — Santonio Holmes will — from now until the moment his stay with the Jets ends badly (and it will eventually end badly) — be blamed for his selfish, boorish behavior that has completely contradicted his title as a team captain.
But someone must take responsibility for enabling Holmes by handing him that captaincy, a title that has rankled many of his teammates all season.
The enabler is Rex Ryan.
PHOTOS: JETS’ SEASON ENDS WITH LOSS TO DOLPHINS
Ryan giving Holmes the title of captain was like a father handing the keys and a bottle of booze to his 16-year-old son and telling him to “party on’’ with the new sports car.
Ryan, clearly trying to make the moody Holmes feel like one of his guys by naming him a captain, unwittingly poured a pint of acid into the chemistry of his team and the brew has been spoiled since.
Thanks in part to Holmes’ embarrassing behavior, yesterday’s 19-17 season-ending loss to the Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium was symptomatic of what has been plaguing the Jets all year. This team has been devoid of leadership from inside its locker room and it has been crippling.
The decision to make Holmes a captain has been Ryan’s worst coaching move since he was hired.
Yesterday it all imploded as Holmes got into an altercation with teammates in the huddle late in the game and was benched.
“It’s tough for guys to follow a captain that behaves in that manner,’’ veteran running back LaDainian Tomlinson said.
Here’s how Tomlinson saw it go down:
“There were some guys in the huddle that were unhappy with Tone’s demeanor and when you have a group of guys fighting their butts off and one guy’s demeanor, for whatever reason, is not with them you’re going to get guys to try to say something to him and tell him how they feel,’’ he said.
“It was [Holmes’] demeanor. The body language tells players everything.’’
It came to a boiling point when the Jets, trailing 19-10 as the game neared the two-minute warning, were trying to mount a comeback. That’s when a Jets player, believed to be right guard Brandon Moore, got into it with the sulking $45 million receiver.
The two had to be separated in the huddle by tight end Dustin Keller, who walked Holmes away from the fray with his arm around him.
The Jets offensive coaches (offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and receivers coach Henry Ellard) told Patrick Turner, the team’s fourth receiver, to replace Holmes.
“[Ellard] sent me in,’’ Turner said. “[Holmes’] reaction was like he didn’t want to come out, but he went out.’’
The moping Holmes then sat alone on the offensive bench with his helmet off while the Jets were driving, not even paying attention to the action.
“Is it disturbing? It’s been disturbing for a while,’’ said Moore, who’s had problems with Holmes all year for his public criticism of teammates.
Almost as disturbing as Holmes’ behavior was Ryan playing dumb after the game, saying he had no idea what went down.
“I looked out there and was wondering why he wasn’t out there and somebody told me that he was on the bench,’’ Ryan said. “I hate to comment on it because I never saw it. I did not bench Santonio.’’
Last season, while he was making big plays in the clutch to win games for the Jets, Ryan had a part in nicknaming those big moments “Tone Time’’ for Holmes.
Yesterday, “Tone Time’’ took on a new meaning. If not for the prohibitive financial investment the Jets have in Holmes, he should be cut. Holmes is not a leader of men; he’s a leader of himself.
Holmes, who was held without a catch for the first time in his 95-game career and had only one pass thrown to him, declined to discuss the altercation.
“What happened on the field is between us players, not for anyone else to know about,” he said. “It was emotions running high on the field between two guys on the same team.’’
Asked if he, as a captain, was embarrassed by his behavior, Holmes said, “It happened. First time being a captain. First time it’s ever happened.’’
It should be the last time, too, because Ryan should revoke that captain title from Holmes, effective immediately.
That’s the first move Ryan can make to restore the fractured chemistry on his team that played such a big part of its fall from the grace of consecutive AFC Championship game appearances.