Underdogs?
Yes, the Jets are 2 1⁄2-point underdogs against the Bengals in Saturday’s AFC wild-card playoff game in Cincinnati.
That was news to Rex Ryan … until yesterday.
“I wasn’t aware of that,” Ryan said. “But to me, I think we should be favorites.”
But Ryan, never the shy type, wasn’t talking about just this week’s game in Cincinnati.
“I mean in the whole tournament,” Ryan said. “I think we have the best defense. I know we do. I know we have the best rushing attack. Those are two huge factors in our favor.
“I want this football team. If I had the choice to coach any team in this tournament, I would choose this one.”
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As those bold words from Ryan circulated around the building, they were met with little surprise from players and assistant coaches. They were, in fact, embraced.
“That’s how we feel,” cornerback Lito Sheppard said. “If we don’t feel like we’re the best team playing then we might as well pack it up now. We can’t worry about what other people project. We feel like we’re the best team out there right now.
“That’s the way we feel, just like Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali would talk to you all day, but if you can’t whoop him, you can’t whoop him. We definitely take that same mentality.”
Some Jets have a burr in their saddle stemming from words from the Bengals that they mailed in last week’s game, a 37-0 Jets blowout, and showed the Jets none of their “A” material because they didn’t need the game.
“Everybody’s saying that we didn’t get Cincinnati’s best effort, well they didn’t get ours, either,” defensive end Marques Douglas said defiantly. “They have to line up the same guys we played against on Sunday. Granted, [Bengals running back Cedric] Benson didn’t play, but I don’t think Benson can score 37 points for them.
“There’s been a lot of chatter coming out of Cincinnati about what they didn’t give us. I want to know this: Are we going to see twins out there or something? Because they had their starters in there for 3 1⁄2 quarters.”
Asked about Ryan’s statements, Douglas said, “He knows what he has in this locker room, and it’s sad to say that people [on the outside] don’t recognize that. When people don’t recognize us as a talent it kind of [ticks] him off. I can feel the chip that he walks around with, because we walk around with it, too.”
Safety Jim Leonhard, who like Douglas played for Ryan in Baltimore, hardly was surprised when Ryan’s words were repeated to him.
“Rex isn’t an under-the-radar kind of guy,” Leonhard said. “He has strong beliefs and he’ll let you know what he believes. It’s not arrogance or anything against any other team. It’s just that he has confidence in the group of guys he’s put together.
“If you don’t feel that way I think there’s something wrong with you. If you don’t have faith in your team that you can go to the Super Bowl and win it, you’re in the wrong business.”