Rex Ryan: I'm better than people give me credit for

Rex Ryan knows he's living on borrowed time this season.  It's either an extended run into the playoffs or the unemployment line for the head coach of the New York Jets.

With a depleted roster and another unstable quarterback situation, the cards are stacked high against Ryan still being with the Jets on New Year's Day.  Still, the blustery coach was defiant as ever —and just a tad defensive — when he was interviewed by Newsday, minutes after the team concluded its final minicamp Thursday afternoon in New Jersey.

"I'm a hell of a lot better football coach than I'm given credit for," Ryan said.

"I don't care," he added with a smile. "I don't need the credit. But I can tell you one thing, when it's said and done, they'll look back and say, 'Oh man, this dude can coach his butt off.' And you know what? It's true. And I'll let the people that know best talk on my behalf about the kind of coach I am.

"I don't have to brag, even though statistically, I can brag about anything I've ever done defensively."

First on Ryan's new agenda, he needs to figure out how to get his team back to where they were early in his Jets career when he coached them to two straight AFC Championship games.

Ryan repeatedly has said he's going back to basics in Year 5 — taking a hands-on approach again with the defense and stay out of the offensive meeting room after a disastrous season with offensive coordinator Tony Sparano last year.

"I will not be there," he stressed. 

That's not to say Ryan won't be giving his opinions to new coordinator Marty Mornhinweg's West Coast offense.

"Don't think for a second that I don't know what we're doing," Ryan said. " . . . Marty knows what I want. We're on the same page."

The Jets have yet to decide who will run it — incumbent Mark Sanchez or rookie Geno Smith -- and there still are questions about the health of their receivers. After the offense finished 30th overall under Sparano last season, Ryan knows it must improve dramatically.

Ryan also tossed aside the assumption he was devoted to the ground-and-pound game.

"When you really look at it, ground and pound was one year," he said. "That was what it was. It was the first year. But we talked about it forever, but that's not the case."

When all is said and done, Ryan still believes his era at the helm of the Jets — no matter how long — will be remembered fondly by Gang Green fans.

"They'll say, 'He's a hell of a football coach, and you know what? He had more passion than anybody who's ever coached here before.' Eventually that's what's going to be said about me," Ryan said.

"And hopefully it's not for another 15 years."

Jets owner fires GM Tannenbaum, keeps coach Rex

Black Monday got off to a quick start today after the New York Jets announced that they had fired general manager Mike Tannenbaum in a not totally unexpected move. Offensive coordinator Tony Sparano is reportedly the next member of the Jets staff who will fall off the team's fiscal cliff.

Owner Woody Johnson said Rex Ryan would remain the head coach.

Johnson, who didn't make the trip to Buffalo to see his wretched team end its season with a 28-9 loss to the Bills, released the following statement Monday morning:

“Our 2012 season was a disappointment to all of us. My goal every year as owner is to build a team that wins consistently. This year, we failed to achieve that goal,” Johnson’s statement read. “This morning, I informed Mike Tannenbaum that he will not return for the 2013 season. Mike devoted 15 years of service to the Jets, and I want to thank him for his hard work and dedication. Although he helped guide us to two consecutive AFC Championship games, we are not where we want to be, and a new General Manager will be critical to getting this team back on the right track.”

"Rex Ryan will remain the head coach of our football team," the owner added.  "I believe that he has the passion, the talent, and the drive to successfully lead out team for greater success going forward."

Johnson said the team will start a search for a new GM through the services of Korn/Ferry International, the same search firm that conducted the NFL commissioner search in 2006. 

"Our process with Korn/Ferry will be led by Jed Hughes, who heads their sports practice and who previously led the general manager search for the Seattle Seahawks, among others," said Johnson.  "When we have updates on this process, we will provide them to our fans and the media."

The owner apologized for the Jets' recent poor play — which resembled 16 episodes of The Three Stooges slapstick rather than an NFL season .

"Like all Jets fans, I am disappointed with this year's results," he said.  "However, I am confident that this change will best position our team for greater success going forward."

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

Sparano on Tebow's pre-game package: 15 shades of plays

Ever wonder how much the New York Jets actually intend to use Tim Tebow as they prepare for a team each week?  A lot of Jets fans would like to know if there is even really a game plan for the rarely used quarterback.

The Tim Tebow package consists of about 15 plays said Tony Sparano — shedding a little light on what goes into the secretive world of how the Jets prepare the Wildcat quarterback.  Just how much Tebow is actually used in a game depends on the situation, said the offensive coordinator.

"I keep them separated (from other plays) so I know when he's out there," Sparano said Thursday.  "That's been helpful to me to know here's his package and that's what we're practicing during the week.

"Sometimes that package is a little bit bigger and sometimes it's a shade smaller," he added.

Tebow has mostly languished on the sidelines while Mark Sanchez calls the signals.  Tebow has touched the ball on barely 10% of the team's offensive snaps so far this season.

Sparano said the number of Tebow appearances are often dictated by the flow and scenario of the game.  For example, against Miami when the Jets were trailing and needed to work quickly against the clock and get off as many plays as possible.  "That's not a place to shuffling people in and out at that point," explained Sparano.

"I think I have a pretty good feel on how to use him and how to use him best," Sparano said before the bye week.

With the Jets (3-5) offense struggling and their playoff hopes on life support, Sparano might want to check and see if this week's package might be ticking.

Pennington brings Wildcat expertise to Jets camp

It looks like the New York Jets are serious about making this Wildcat offense a working reality.  The day after the team held a top secret practice to work on the offensive scheme, they brought in Chad Pennington to help bolster the belief that the Tim Tebow formation can work.

If anyone can bridge the gap between the Jets and the Wildcat— it's Pennington.

The former Jets quarterback played for Jets offensive coordinator Tony Sparano from 2008-10 when the Miami Dolphins brought the freaky scheme back into the NFL.  Sparano was the Dolphins head coach during those years.

On Tuesday, Pennington sounded like a true believer in the two-quarterback system with Tebow and Mark Sanchez as equal parts.

"It's truly about finding an edge as a team," he said.  "Whether or not you use the Wildcat, a team has to prepare for it week in and week out . . . It can become an X factor."

Ever since the Jets traded for Tebow, people have been wondering if adding another quarterback to take Wildcat snaps will affect Sanchez's mojo.

Justin Tuck won't be phoning Rex Ryan to call off Wildcat

The New York Jets went to great lengths in an attempt to keep Tim Tebow's Wildcat practice under wraps on Monday but, if you ask the New York Giants players, they're making a big deal over nothing.

Last week it was reported that Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis called Jets head coach Rex Ryan and asked him not to run the Wildcat against his defense— for whatever reason.

The Giants, on the other hand, don't think the radical offensive scheme is something to sweat about and won't be using up any of their phone minutes calling the Jets asking them to call off the worst kept secret since that Stewart/Pattinson thing.

The Giants first team defense isn't planning on facing much of Tebow or the Wildcat when the two teams square off in Saturday night's exhibition game at MetLife Stadium but they are a little curious about facing the gimmicky scheme.

"You definitely have to prepare for (Tebow) because he's a dynamic player," said Giants defensive end Justin Tuck.  "But there aren't too many things you can do out of the Wildcat.  It's pretty simple when you think about it."

Not in Ryan's eyes.  The Wildcat's biggest cheerleader thinks the Tebow factor adds a whole new dimension to offensive coach Tony Sparano's game plan and causes opposing teams to spend time preparing for it in practice.

The Giants know that the dual-threat Tebow can be troublesome but not enough that they have to spend that much time figuring it out or preparing for it.

"I'm just eager to play the next game," said Tuck.  "Fortunately for us it involves Tebow.  I think I might not even get the opportunity to play against him"

Tuck said the Giants would probably prepare for Tebow a little differently if this was a regular season game— just a little.

"(You're) not talking hours and hours of extra work for a scheme that some NFL people believe defenses figured out how to defend several years ago, said Tuck.

"I don't know what it was, (but) we've had pretty much great success against teams that run the Wildcat," he said.  "I think most coaches do a great job of devising a plan against it."

It doesn't sound like Tuck will be picking up the phone anytime soon.

Tebow completes first pass in a Jets' uniform and it's a floater

Tim Tebow made his well-publicized debut in a New York Jets uniform— only it was on a special teams punt.  The highly anticipated appearance of Tebow behind center didn't happen until 14:01 of the second quarter after starter Mark Sanchez had already marked his territory.

Tebow's first set of downs as quarterback for the Jets— in an exhibition game against the Cincinnati Bengals— didn't look much different from where he left off with his old team the Denver Broncos— a sprinkling of free-flying passes and stampeding runs through the defense.

You know what they say: The more things change, the more the QB stays the same.

The Jets' new "backup" did complete his first throw in green and white— a 12-yarder to Steven Hill.  Other high and low lights in Tebow's first game with Gang Green included a first down run, a holding call, and another 10 yard run before throwing it away on a third-and-two.  The Jets settled for a 42-yard field goal.  He later threw a bad interception in the third quarter to end his night 4/8 for 28 yards, an INT and 34 yards rushing.

The Wildcat was nowhere to be seen.

While Tebow already looked like he was in shaky mid-season form, Sanchez came out flat and finished his quarter by going four of six for 21 yards. He was sacked twice and scrambled on one play.  Later, Sanchez joked he was using "his inner Tebow" on that run.

Rex Ryan said he was happy with Tebow's game.  At half time, the head coach said that opposing defenses were going to have to "go after him" to keep him from making plays.

Tony Sparano, the Jets offensive coordinator, said he was going to keep the offense "vanilla" for the first game.  Tebow added a little Rocky Road as usual.

Revis has Sanchez's back but sees locker room divide ahead

New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez picked up a key ally yesterday after the team's best player, Darrelle Revis, threw his weight behind the beleaguered incumbent who is vying with the popular Tim Tebow for the starting job.

"I feel very comfortable and confident with Mark," Revis told the New York Daily News.  "This is his fourth year.  I've been with him since he was a rookie.  The guy took us to two AFC Championship Games."

Revis acknowledged the potential of for a split locker room if Sanchez does not play well, according to Gary Myers of the Daily News.

The All-Pro cornerback is widely considered on of the team leaders and recently sung the praises of Tebow's leadership skills without saying anything bad about his quarterbacking skills.  Still, Revis sounded like he thinks Sanchez is the guy to lead the Jets.

"That's what we know as a team," he said.  "Mark is the leader of the offense and the starting quarterback."

Revis may have been down with Sanchez but it could be a moot point if he doesn't show up in training camp when it begins July 26.  He is still seeking a resolution to his ongoing contract talks and offered a vague answer when asked he will be in camp.

"I don't know.  That's all I'm telling you," said Revis.  "I don't know.  I don't know if I am or if I'm not.  I told you that a while back.  So I'm getting ready for this season."

In 2010, Revis held out for 35 days and missed all of training camp before signing a deal a week before the season opener.  So anything is possible.

Does the surly cornerback see a quarterback controversy brewing?

"It's already started," he said.  "This is something we're going to have to deal with for a couple of years.  We'll see how it pans out."

Asked by Myers if this controversy could spread to the already dysfunctional locker room, Revis said:

"This is what I'm going to tell you: It could cause a problem.  We're not going to sit here and say it can't.  I think our focus is just being positive about the situation and making sure these guys actually get along, which they do, and work together.  That's the only thing you can do.  We win games, everybody is getting a pat on the back.  We lose games , that's where it might cause controversy.  All in all, we're just excited for this year and hopefully those guys will win us a bunch of games."

When asked who the Jets best quarterback is, Revis, in his own un-diplomatic way said, "Me."

"I've been talking to [Tony] Sparano and he's talking about giving me a couple of plays.  He's going to let me throw a couple of balls.  I'm the best quarterback on this team."

If both Sanchez and Tebow falter in the regular season, you just might see #24 taking the snaps.

Mark Sanchez says he's 'thrilled to work with' Tebow

New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez put on his best happy face last night and said all the right things about his new backup— Tim Tebow.

Speaking at a paid appearance in White Plains, N.Y.— where he signed autographs and had a Q & A with fans— Sanchez put a nice spin on the quarterback controversy and said he had spent the past few days getting to know his new teammate as the Jets begin their offseason program.

"He's been as advertised, as good of a guy, if not better, than anybody said," said Sanchez.  "So, he's been a great addition so far.  I'm thrilled to work with him."

After the Jets traded for Tebow last month, there was speculation that Tebow would be used to push the underachieving Sanchez or even take over the starting job.  Head coach Rex Ryan has said Sanchez will remain the team's starter.

Starter or not, it sounds like some of Tebow's rigorous training habits are already rubbing off on the incumbent QB.

"From a competitor standpoint, he's great," said Sanchez, a third-year pro.  "He's what you want in an offseason program — working hard, competing with the guy in the weight room.  This is a big, strong guy, so it's good for me.  That's been one of my goals in the offseason— putting on a little more muscle mass.  I've been taking a beating during the season.  It's been a good transition and Tim's been great."

Sanchez also has a new offensive coordinator to contend with and poked some fun at Tony Sparano's gruff style of coaching.

"Coach Sparano is tough," said Sanchez.  "He sounds like Joe Pesci sometimes when he's installing plays.  He'll say, 'You got it?  You got it?  I'm not speaking for my health.  You got it?'  It's 'Yes sir' [from] the entire room."

Sanchez was at the Westchester Mall to meet the fans and his handlers told a New York Post reporter that he was not allowed to give any interviews.

Antonio Cromartie: No room for Tebow on Jets

Antonio Cromartie apparently isn't too keen on the New York Jets taking an interest in Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow in any capacity.  Cromartie tweeted about it after Denver signed Peyton Manning— all but ending Tebow's career with the Broncos.

The outspoken Jets cornerback used Twitter to express his feelings about pursuing Tebow.

"We don't need Tebow," Cromartie tweeted Tuesday.  "We sell out every home game let him go to Jacksonville Tampa or Miami."

Cromartie— one of the leaders of the mayhem in the Jets locker room— wasn't through trying to sway the Jets brass from bringing in the unorthodox quarterback.


"Our Wildcat offense can be run by (Jeremy) Kerley or Joe McKnight,"he tweeted.  "We have Mark_ Sanchez and just signed Drew.  Mark has taken us to 2 AFC championship game.  We need to build on the team we have right now."

Could introducing Tebow's ultra-religious character to the dysfunctional Jets locker room have something to do with Cromartie's rant.

Cromartie has a troublesome background and has fathered nine children with eight women in six states and doesn't exactly adhere to Tebow's beliefs.

The Jets cornerback does make some good points for not getting Tebow, but several people in the Jets organization have told the New York Daily News that he might be a good fit.

Many insiders believe the Jets new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano could put Tebow's abilities to good use in certain Wildcat schemes.  Sparano was the head coach for the Miami Dolphins when he began using the Wildcat offense to pump up the anemic offense.

There are a lot of pros and cons that come with bringing Tebow into the Jets family.

For one thing, Tebow's character could play a big role in bringing the fractured locker room together, but could just as well split the team in two.  The team isn't exactly a group of choirboys.

The media attention surrounding Tebow could distract the press enough to take the cameras away from oft-targeted Sanchez but, on the other side of the coin,  there is also the possibility that Tebow could wilt under the 24/7 New York media spotlight.  'Aw, shucks' only goes so far in New York— unless you win it all.

Just ask Eli Manning.

Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum hasn't commented on Tebow except to say that "Tim Tebow is a player under contract with another team."

Tannenbaum also avoided dumping any more negativity onto the tattered psyche of Sanchez— after the 'Peyton Manning to the Jets' stories and disappointing 2011 season— by saying he "feels good about" the quarterbacks on the roster, which includes Greg McElroy and Drew Stanton.

Tebow-mania and Linsanity in the same city might be a little too much anyway.