'Fire John Idzik' billboard has new suggestion for Jets owner (PHOTO)

There is a new twist to the "Fire John Idzik" billboards which have been popping up around MetLife Stadium. The newest sign on Route 3, the main thoroughfare right outside the stadium where the Jets play, not only calls for owner Woody Johnson to clean house and fire Idzik — the Jets embattled general manager — it also suggests Johnson (and Jets fans) would be better off if he sold the franchise.

The latest billboard appeared one day after the Jets embarrassing 38-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills Monday night in Detroit, reports NJ.com.

The signage is a result of the work being done by firejohnidzik.com. The site is run by disgruntled Jets fans and refers to "The Florham Park Circus" and pleads for the Jets to "Clean House."

So it looks like they're going to need longer banners on those planes that fly over Jets games.

Woody Johnson emails Jets season ticket holders: 'Rex has more passion than anyone I have ever met.'

The New York Jets 20-7 victory over the Miami Dolphins Sunday did more than end the Fish's playoff hopes and extend Rex Ryan's future in New York, it inspired Woody Johnson to sit at keyboard and screen to wax poetic.

Shortly after the inspirational victory, and after Johnson told a choked up Ryan and Jets players in the locker room that Ryan would be back next season, the owner emailed season ticket holders a letter reiterating his belief in his head coach. Here's the full letter obtained by the N.Y. Daily News:

"Our 2013 season ended earlier today with a victory over the Dolphins. It’s no secret that when this season started many people outside the Jets organization had low expectations for our team. But not us – we set out this year, and every year, with the high expectations of winning games and making Jets Nation proud.

I am writing to you, a valued Jets Partner, today to address 2014 and beyond.

Obviously, one of the first steps in moving forward is making a decision about our Head Coach. I hired Rex Ryan in January of 2009 for many reasons, but one of his strengths really stands out. Rex has more passion than anyone I have ever met. Passion for the Jets. Passion for teaching and motivating his players and coaches. Passion for winning. Like any NFL Head Coach, he’s had ups and downs, but Rex has been a tremendous leader of this football team.

That is why, after today’s game, I informed the team of our carefully-considered decision: Rex Ryan will continue as Head Coach of the New York Jets.

We won three of our last four games, but we're obviously not satisfied with our overall up-and-down 2013 performance. There were many moments, including today, when we showed real signs of progress and reasons for optimism, with a young, talented, competitive, and resilient team. But there were also too many games where we couldn’t sustain that progress. The reality is that we’re not yet the complete and consistent team that you demand and deserve.

We're confident that, with the leadership of General Manager John Idzik, working closely with Rex, we will enter 2014 with great opportunities to improve. We have the resources in place to continue to build our team, including more draft picks and roster flexibility than in previous years. In short, we’re on the right path. We are going to continue to move forward together, always looking to be better and stronger, building on our successes and learning from our failures.

We are focused on fielding a consistently competitive team with the sole mission of winning. We have our work cut out for us, but I know that we have the grit and determination to get the job done. We’ll continue to set high expectations and then work hard to exceed them. And I promise you that not one person in this organization will rest until we meet our ultimate goal of fielding a championship team.

Thank you for your intense loyalty and unyielding support for the Jets."

Now, about that contract extension...

Jets owner praises Rex Ryan, won't discuss future with team

Woody Johnson admitted he is 'happy' with the job Rex Ryan has done with the Jets surprising 4-and-3 start, but the owner still refuses to make any commitment on Ryan's future with the club past this season.

“I will make a statement after the season,” Johnson said Thursday. “I never make any comments regarding contracts during the season.”

Last week's dramatic victory over the Patriots showed that Ryan can still coach but, maybe more noticeable was his back-and-forth with Bill Belichick this week over The Push which showed that Ryan still has the fire in his trimmed-down belly.

“We’re happy with Rex,” Johnson said. “Coaches have to be good teachers and good leaders and I think he’s both.”

The Jets meet the playoff-caliber Bengals and Saints the next two games leading into their bye week, so Johnson will probably have a clear picture where the team is headed by then. But, however successful, there will still be seven games left to self-destruct after that.

Ryan insists he isn't looking that far ahead but appreciates his boss' support after last year's Butt Fumble of a season.

“I like the fact that my boss said some nice things about me,” he said. “I said it before, it’s not about me. Right now, it means nothing to me other than the fact that he had some nice comments to say. My situation is the Cincinnati Bengals. That’s where my attention is.”

Ryan’s contract, at about $3 million per year, runs through 2014. Teams generally don’t let coaches go into the last year of their deals — they either get fired or extended. 

Is Johnson anticipating an extension of Ryan's contract?

"I don’t make any statements like that," he said. "The only thing I’ll say is I’m happy with him. I think he’s a great teacher, a good teacher, maybe a great teacher, and a good leader... That's what we hired him to be. We're happy with that."

Jets owner Woody Johnson does 'penalty' pushups at practice

On Monday, New York Jets coach Rex Ryan reinstituted the policy of the entire team doing 10 push-ups every time a penalty is committed in practice with the offending player standing and watching. And that included everyone who was there — no matter what your title.

The coach stuck to his guns and even members of the organization standing on the sidelines felt the wrath of Rex, including team owner Woody Johnson, team president Neil Glat and general manager John Idzik — who all got down and did 10.

Ryan brought back his 2010 push-up policy after the Jets were flagged 20 times in their 27-20 win over the Bills last Sunday. 

According to Ryan, the team did 30 push-ups — 10 for each for three infractions. The Jets lead the league with 34 penalties.

“We’re 32nd in the league, probably closer to 33rd if that was possible,” Ryan said. “It’s just not us. That is not who we are. We’re trying to fix it and we will fix it.”

Rex Ryan implements push-up punishment to decrease Jets penalties

After Sunday’s 27-20 win over Buffalo — in which the Jets committed a franchise-record 20 penalties — coach Rex Ryan is implementing a form of public shaming during practices to help reduce the team's momentum-killing infractions. Ryan won't be slapping a scarlet "P" on anyone's chest, but whenever a player commits a penalty, anybody and everybody observing practice must drop down for 10 push-ups — while the offending player watches.

"I do not want our team associated with penalties," the Jets coach said Monday, a day after his team pulled off the win despite having the flag thrown at them  20 times. "That's not who we are."

But it is and, at that penalty rate, the practice push-ups might give Ryan's players the best delts and traps in the league.

After the first three games, the Jets lead the league in penalties with 34, thanks to four calls apiece Sunday on left guard Vladimir Ducasse and cornerback Kyle Wilson. Ryan believes he has  "a good plan" to eliminate those penalties with the same push-up tactic he employed in 2010. When a penalty flag is thrown in practice, everyone hits the ground — except the guilty party. Even team owner Woody Johnson will drop and do ten.

"Hey, Woody knocks those things out pretty good," Ryan. "I’m the one that struggles. I’ve got the strings for arms. I want the player to stand up. He doesn’t do them. And I want him to notice who he’s affecting. He’s affecting all of us.  After you’ve done a few of those, you’re like, 'Really? You got a penalty again?' They’ll get on each other. There’s a little bit of accountability, especially if you look over and the owner is knocking them out. We don’t want to look like Jack LaLanne or somebody either."

Looking like the late health guru might not be so bad Rex.

Jets owner blames Sanchez for getting hurt because 'you got to protect yourself'

You would think that Woody Johnson might have learned by now how to pick and choose what to say and when to say it.  For Gang Green sakes, even Rex Ryan has turned down the rhetoric and now keeps his words to a minimum —maybe too much so.

Either way, on Wednesday, the Jets owner spoke with such cringe worthy carelessness that it revealed just how much the Jets have distanced themselves from Mark Sanchez.

According to the N.Y. Daily News, the Jets owner stood on the corner of 57th St. and Fifth Ave. and delivered a bizarre take on Ryan's ill-advised decision to put in Sanchez in the fourth quarter of the third preseason game against the Giants less than two weeks ago. After being thrown to the wolves, Sanchez suffered a shoulder injury which led to the Jets’ announcement that Geno Smith will be the Week 1 starter against the Buccaneers on Sunday.

"I don’t have any regrets," Johnson said. "He’s an experienced guy. I wish he hadn’t gotten hurt, but you got to protect yourself, too."

Say what?! To suggest that Sanchez, who rolled out of the pocket behind a third-string offensive line before getting leveled, could have protected himself better on the play was naive. It just goes to show Johnson’s complete lack of understanding of the game and, mostly, his desire to move on from the organization’s one-time starter and new whipping boy.

The organization’s recent handling of Sanchez over the past couple of weeks has been disturbing — to say the least

And where does the outspoken Ryan stand on Johnson's embarrassing remarks about his former No.1 draft pick and favorite tattoo design?

"It’s 100% injury rate in the league," Ryan said. "It’s unfortunate that it happened. But these things do happen. And we’ve moved on."

Not exactly a ringing endorsement from the suddenly neutered head coach.

"He’s a very, very good quarterback," Johnson said. "Franchise quarterback is something . . . I think you can debate the term."

Seven hours after Johnson’s inane remarks — and two hours after Ryan tiptoed around questions about them — the owner delivered a seemingly forced clarification after a team spokesman got wind of his boss' remarks.

"I may have said or I’ve been accused of saying that Sanchez’s injury was his fault," Johnson said. "That was not my intent at all. Of course, it wasn’t his fault. He was trying to make a play."

So glad he cleared things up.

Jets owner nearly paralyzed while wizzing off a bridge, book claims

New York Jets owner Woody Johnson was nearly paralyzed for life after drunkenly falling off a bridge while urinating during his wild college days, a new book claims.

“Crazy Rich: Power, Scandal and Tragedy Inside the Johnson & Johnson Dynasty,” comes out next month, and the author reveals that Woody Johnson’s “low-key and mild-mannered persona” was preceded by wilder times, reports Page Six of The New York Post.

The upcoming St. Martin’s title on the heirs to the vast Johnson & Johnson fortune reveals the stories behind the family’s unimaginable wealth, as well as scandals and misfortunes.

In his days as a student at the University of Arizona, Johnson — born Robert Wood Johnson IV — was known as “Band-Aid” because of his family’s business or “B.J.,” for Bob Johnson.

Once when Woody and his pals — known as “the money boys, the party guys” — were driving to a party in Phoenix in 1968, the night ended in drunken disaster.

“Oh, my God, who knows what we had, but yes, we were drinking alcohol,” recalls Johnson’s then-girlfriend Diane Vonderahe. “We pulled off one of the off-ramps because we all had to go to the bathroom, and it was pitch-black outside.”

Recalling what happened next she added, “Even all these years later, it kind of gives me the creeps . . . because it’s not a very happy story. My heart’s still beating. I was in total panic.”

The author, Jerry Oppenheimer, writes that the future Jets owner “had been drinking, was urinating . . . and took a step or two backward.”

“It was like an 18-foot drop, and B.J. just stepped off of it,” Vonderahe recalled.

Johnson “had broken his back and was virtually paralyzed,” the book reports. “He underwent surgery and was in intensive care for three or four months.”

A witness to the dramatic incident, Debbie Sceli Peacock, added, “They told him he would never walk again.” But Johnson was eventually released from the hospital and recuperated with “intense rehabilitation.”

While the Jets Big Kahuna may not be such a whizz with the team lately, back in the day old B.J. was ... well you get it.

A Jets rep had no comment.

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 to Geno Smith: 'Welcome to the competition'

New York Jets owner Woody Johnson had a few words for Geno Smith Tuesday preparing him for what lies ahead in Jetsland.

Manish Mehta of The New York Daily News spoke with Johnson at the NFL's Career Development Symposium in Philadelphia and relayed this simple message to Smith:

"Welcome to the competition," said Johnson. "It’s going to be fun."

Is that Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero" I hear someone queuing up?
 
It's only been ten days since the Jets selected Smith in the second round, but Johnson made it clear that he’s happy to have the polarizing signal caller on his team. Smith has already endured his fair share of criticism in the wake of slipping out of the first round but the best is yet to come.
 
"He was the highest rated player (left) on our board," Johnson said. “I’m extremely happy to have him…. Great body of work. He was a gifted athlete from Day One. I guess they identified him very, very early when he was a little kid as being something special.”

 
Johnson, who had a 15-minute face-to-face meeting with Smith at the NFL Combine in February, didn’t appear overly concerned about recent reports about Smith’s character and maturity, writes Mehta.
 
“We went by our evaluations,” Johnson said. “We evaluate all those traits: skills and communication, leadership… We evaluate them. He got a very high score with us. He was the next guy on our board and we drafted him.”
 
The Jets selected Smith with the 39th overall pick, but Johnson admitted that the team considered him in the first round “if we had dropped down.” Gang Green selected Dee Milliner and Sheldon Richardson with their two first-round selections.

 
Although Johnson praised Smith, he stopped short of calling him a franchise quarterback — especially with four other players vying for the starting job.
 
"I’ll let the competition go," Johnson said. "We’ll just see how it goes. I don’t want to pre-judge it because they’ve got to go in there and compete every day. We’ll see what it looks like on the field."

 Johnson didn’t shed any light on incumbent starter Mark Sanchez’s immediate future. He didn’t definitively say that Sanchez would be on the roster when training camp starts either.
 
"I expect him to compete," Johnson said. "He’s under contract."

Welcome to the Thunderdome competition.

 

Jets forcing Revis to participate in voluntary workouts

The New York Jets are once again forcing the hand of their star cornerback Darrelle Revis and, from the looks of things, this relationship is beyond repair.

The team is requiring Revis to report to voluntary workouts — that's voluntary — that begin April 15, according to ESPN.com., despite the fact they may trade him in the following days.

Revis is currently in Arizona rehabilitating his surgically repaired left knee. Revis planned on coming to New Jersey to meet with the team's doctors on April 15, but then return to Arizona to avoid being a distraction as the team tries to trade him, said sources.

The cornerback's name has been tossed around in trade talks all winter and many people around the league believe a deal will get done in the days before the NFL Draft on April 25 — barring complications of his rehabbed knee.

The Jets have been toying all off season with Revis — the best player on the team — and haven't made it clear what they plan to do with him. But this time, the Jets can force Revis' hand because he has $3 million tied up in bonuses that they can refuse to pay if he misses part of the offseason program. With that kind of money on the line, Revis will reluctantly make the trip to New Jersey next week, according to the website, and he is not happy about it.

As part of his 2010 contract, Revis has to report to offseason activities.  He has a $1 million bonus that was activated in March, but paid at a later date, and other workout bonuses to be paid in June and July.  If he doesn't report, he loses the entire $3 million. Simple as that.

The Jets declined comment. But it is pretty well known, according to sources, that owner Woody Johnson doesn't want to sign  Revis to a long-term deal.

If you think those SOS signals are coming from Revis Island — you're wrong. It's from the Jets fans.

Jets owner, GM & Rex ignore Revis' agents at NFL scouting combine

Revis Island just got a little lonelier if you believe the whispers coming out of the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis about Darrelle Revis — the New York Jets best player.

The New York Daily News is reporting that the Jets contingent — including head coach Rex Ryan, new general manager John Idzik and team owner Woody Johnson — didn't meet or contact Revis' representatives during the combine, fueling speculation that Johnson just doesn't want to pay the Pro Bowl cornerback as the team enters a rebuilding phase in 2013.

During a week when you would think Revis' reps and at least one member of the Jets brass would have rubbed elbows — they didn't even shake hands. Manish Mehta wrote:

One NFC executive told The News that there is a sentiment around the league that Johnson not only isn’t interested in making Revis the highest-paid defensive player in the league, which would mean a salary of around $16 million per year, but that the owner doesn’t want to sign the cornerback to a lucrative long-term deal at all given the dire state of the franchise.

The cap-strapped Jets do not figure to be in the playoff conversation entering the 2013 season. They aren’t likely to make a splash when free agency opens next month either, as they quietly try to rebuild with younger, cheaper players.

The Jets Big 3 did meet with representatives of Santonio Holmes, Dustin Keller, Jeff Cumberland, Austin Howard, Shonn Greene and LaRon Landry during the week but elected not to meet with Revis' guys.

The snub comes one month after reports surfaced that the Jets were shopping Revis — who is  a free agent at the end of the 2013 season — around and might even trade him.

Revis' agent, Neil Schwartz confirmed that he was in Indy for the week but would not say if he had talked with the Jets.

Idzik wouldn't reveal whether or not he had scheduled a meeting with Revis' people about the cornerback's future with the Jets or even contacted them.

The organization’s handling of the Revis situation is peculiar especially after only three years ago — when the Jets reworked his contract — the team said they wanted Revis to be a "Jet for Life."

A fruit fly's life maybe.

Tannenbaum: I was responsible for Tebow trade, Sanchez contract

Mike Tannenbaum spoke to reporters for the first time Tuesday since being fired by the New York Jets on New Year's Eve.

The former Jets general manager — who was piloting the Jets front office while the team fell into disarray — broke his silence to discuss his perceived failures on Super Bowl Radio Row in New Orleans yesterday.

Tannenbaum didn't shy away from his two biggest decisions — the Tim Tebow trade and the re-signing of Mark Sanchez.

Rival NFL executives believe Tannenbaum left a huge mess for new GM John Idzik to clean up but Tannenbaum — who hopes to find a job in the NFL again — disagreed with the scenario the media has painted of his tenure with the Jets.  He had an optimistic slant on the Jets salary-cap fiasco, Idzik's job at hand and the the team's potential.

"The future for the Jets is bright," Tannenbaum said. "There are a lot of good young players ... From a salary-cap standpoint, we had a plan in place.  John's [Idzik] a really smart guy, dealt with the cap, I'm sure he's going to take my plan and tweak it and put his own views on it, but that plan will be played out over the next few weeks."

Tannenbaum was pretty open when it came to some of his most controversial decisions.

On giving Sanchez a contract extension that guaranteed him $8.25 million next season:

“Our thinking on that was Mark is only one of five quarterbacks in the history of pro football to win 30 or more games in his first three years. In the 2011 season, he had scored 32 TDs, 26 throwing and six rushing. Like any contract we do, we thought it would be a win-win. Get cost certainty from a standpoint of we know what he’s going to cost and he gets the benefit of some security. Based on how we played this year, that’s a decision as of now that doesn’t look very good.”

On the ruinous Tebow trade, Tannebaum took sole responsibility:

 “So just going on the Tim decision, we felt like after the 2011 season we lost something with Brad Smith not being there, so we felt like bringing Tim in, he was going to be a guy who could replace Brad’s production. Obviously, it didn’t work out the way we thought it was going to, and ultimately that was my call. But we did have discussions about it, and ultimately that was my decision to make the trade.

“It’s one of those decisions where it didn’t work out the way we thought.”

Tannenbaum even chimed in on the time bomb facing Idzik right now and the rumors Tannenbaum  was trying to shop Darrelle Revis even before his ACL injury in Week 2 last season.  He said if he was still  GM, he'd be discussing the long-term merits of signing the All-Pro cornerback to a mega-deal.

"I didn't have plans to trade Darrelle through this past season," he said.

At no time did Tannenbaum burn any bridges and said he even called Idzik to congratulate his replacement and has spoken with owner Woody Johnson.  He said he enjoyed working with Rex Ryan up until the very end.  The "free agent" hinted that he had entertained a few job offers but wouldn't go into detail.

'I've talked to people on teams and outside of teams," Tannenbaum said. "As of now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do."

Ahmad Rashad's friendship with Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan leading to divorce

Woody Johnson's wealthy ex-wife Sale Johnson and her new husband, former NFL star and sportscaster Ahmad Rashad, have apparently hit a rough spot in their marriage and a lot of the problem stems from him hanging around with his golf buddies Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan.

The couple, who live in a swanky enclave of Jupiter, Fla., have been fighting over her immense $100 million fortune and his friendship with golf bad boy Woods, as well as his longtime pal NBA great Jordan, a source told The New York Post.

The Post's Page Six reports, "Sale has asked him to move out.  Things appear to be very bitter. He is trying to get her banned from his country club in Florida.  And she worries about the influence of known adulterers Woods and Jordan.

"He plays golf with Tiger Woods. He's also close friends with Michael Jordan, who was living with them for over a year."

This story is sad and strange in so many ways.  But finding out Jordan was couch crashing for over a year?  That's funny.

Sale, a socialite and former model, received a $100 million divorce settlement from the New York Jets owner in 2001 and has a "watertight prenup with Ahmad," said a source. "So if they divorce, he won't be walking away with tens of millions."

Rashad, a television studio host for NBA TV Atlanta, "spends a lot of time with Jordan and buddies, golfing," the source added.

Johnson and Rashad (both 63) married in 2007.  Rashad has been married four times — most famously to "Cosby Show"star Phylicia Ayers-Allen for 16 years.

Now, with this cast of characters — the owner of a ridiculed NFL team, his socialite ex-wife and her golf-obsessed husband who hangs with his two best buds  — horn dog Tiger and cigar-chomping MJ, I smell sitcom. 

Maybe call it "Fore's Company?" Or "Caddyshacked." How about "With Friends Like These..."

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.

Jets show support for Rex Ryan in player poll

If it was up to the New York Jets players, Rex Ryan will still be standing on the team's sidelines next season — and you can put their names to it.

In an informal poll of players by Mark Cannizzaro of The New York Post,  Gang Green stands behind their head coach despite the missing the playoffs for the second season in a row.

In his "on-and-off-the-record" interviews with nearly half the players on the roster, Cannizzaro concluded that they all believe Rex must stay.

He writes:

While there is a moderate undercurrent among this cross-section of offensive players who harbor some resentment about Ryan’s devotion to his defense, believing the offensive side of the ball is sometimes neglected, we could not find a single player who flat-out wants Ryan to be fired.

To the contrary, some players said they respect Ryan more for the way he has kept the locker room from coming unglued the way it did at the end of last season when the Jets were also faced with playoff elimination.

"I feel like he's handled himself appropriately — with humility," said linebacker Bart Scott.  "Guys haven't packed it in.  You would be able to see if guys have packed it in and they haven't.  Nobody has imploded, nobody has turned on each other.  That's a reflection of the respect everyone has for him."

Ryan — who was voted the most over-rated coach in the NFL earlier in the season — has withstood a constant barrage of issues this season.

Rex Ryan to fans chanting for Tebow: Save your breath

Rex Ryan has a message for New York Jets fans who grow impatient with Mark Sanchez and start chanting, "Te-bow, Te-bow, Te-bow" at the first sign of trouble with his starting quarterback: Save your breath, Sanchez is staying in the game.

Ryan is ready to unleash the Wildcat offense against the Bills in Sunday's season opener but won't cow tow to fans screaming for Tebow as soon as Sanchez throws an interception or fumbles.

"I don't care what I hear," Ryan told the New York Daily News on Thursday.  "So it doesn't matter.  They can yell, they can do all they want.  Mark is our quarterback and that's the way it is.  Am I excited to have Tim here?  Of course.  Because  I know we brought in an outstanding football player.  I knew that from day one and that's the way it is."

Ryan has spent the whole week defending his starting quarterback.  A day after Santonio Holmes said Sanchez was "rattled" when the Jets traded for Tebow, the head coach came to Sanchez's defense and disagreed with Holmes' assertion.

"His motivation is much more than having Tim here," said Ryan.

Yesterday Ryan was back to doing what he has become accustomed to — having Sanchez's back.

"I hope fans are always supportive of us.  I understand if things aren't going well that they have every right to voice their displeasure," Ryan said.  "But there is only one guy that ultimately would make a change at quarterback."

After a poor preseason, where Sanchez failed to get the ball in the end zone, Jets fans are getting a little antsy.  The Jets have kept the Wildcat under wraps all summer and fans are anxious to see the Jets' version with Tebow at the helm.

All it will take is a couple of failed drives to fill MetLife Stadium with screams for Tebow.

Ryan is at a turning point with the Jets.  Another post-season without an appearance won't fly with team owner Woody Johnson.  The same owner who said, "You can never have too much Tebow."

Even the head coach doesn't know how well the Wildcat will work because they haven't used it in a game.

"Am I excited to see it? Sure," said Ryan.  "I'm excited because I think it's going to have a place in our offense."

"J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets" may be replaced by calls for Tebow if Sanchez has a rough start.  Let the chanting begin.

Rex Ryan: I was clueless to 'rift' in locker room

Rex Ryan says it was difficult to lose 106 pounds over the off-season but it might have been harder for the New York Jets coach to admit he also lost control of his team last year.

Besides the changed body image, Ryan now has rewired his way of thinking and has a whole new coaching philosophy to go along with it.

"I'm sitting there, talking in front of the team, selling, 'Team, team, team,' like I always are, and I did not know we had a rift in our team, " said Ryan.  "How was I not aware of it?"

The third-year head coach admitted— after the Jets season ending loss to the Miami Dolphins— he "lost the pulse" of the team.

"I was mad.  I was upset.  I was mad at myself  because you're either coaching it, or allowing it to happen, and I'm not going to do either," he said.

Ryan says he now has more open communication with bis players.  He said that communicating begins with an unnamed someone whom he calls "my little sensei"— the Japanese word for teacher.

The coach won't reveal the name of his Mr. Miyagi— at least not yet.

"After we have the season that we're going to have, I'll mention his name," said Ryan.

While it isn't the first preseason boast by Ryan, at least he toned down his act by not claiming a Super Bowl victory or dissing a cross-town team or a rival coach.

In a locker room that could blow at any time— Tebow/Sanchez, Revis holdout threats— the once boisterous Ryan sounds like he intends to become an island of tranquility.

"He's revived," said owner Woody Johnson.  "It's a different Rex in a way, because I think Rex is evolving into the job."

Before Ryan left for the Pro-Bowl in Hawaii last winter, GM Mike Tannenbaum handed Ryan a yellow business pad and gave his coach a Mr. Miyagi wax on-wax off exercise.

"Put all the problems on the left-hand side," he said.  "And all the solutions on the right."

After the the island trip, Ryan had filled pages of the yellow pad and met with Tannenbaum.

"Let's go," Ryan told the GM.  "We've got to get better, and it starts with me."

Rex Ryan-san anyone?

Tebow and Sanchez break bread with Jets owner

One night after walking the red carpet with A-listers at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala, Tim Tebow was spotted downing red meat with his O-line at a Manhattan steak house along with New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and Mark Sanchez.

Although Sanchez— the Jets starting quarterback— and Tebow, who will be competing with him for playing time this season, have publicly stated that they are "friends," the Tuesday night dinner was the first time they have ever been spotted together socially.

I wonder if there was a scramble for the shaker every time one of the other Jets players asked either of them to "pass the salt."

The competing quarterbacks dined for three hours with the owner, his brother Christopher Johnson and several teammates including offensive linemen Nick Mangold, Brandon Moore along with D'Brickshaw Ferguson and David Harris at the Meatpacking District hotspot Abe & Arthur's.

Witnesses claimed things between the two QB's seemed "pretty harmonious."

It was the first time Tebow and Sanchez both dined with the team owner.

Rex Ryan against Jets return to 'Hard Knocks'

HBO has approached the New York Jets hoping that ratings-maker Tim Tebow's new team will once again be featured on the reality series but the network has run into brick wall named Rex Ryan.

Sources have told Fox Sports that owner Woody Johnson has made it clear he wants to see his team back on the HBO show.  Now, the out-spoken head coach has come out and said he is against the project.

Never mind the MetLife blimp, are those pigs I see flying over MetLife Stadium?

Ryan, according to sources, doesn't want a carnival-like atmosphere surrounding his players after last season's locker room dysfunction and late-season collapse.  Now along comes Tebow and a quarterback controversy— Ringling Brothers has nothing on this group.

Ryan's foul mouth and his band of outsiders made the first training camp documentary a big hit and Johnson seems to like the notoriety.

It looks like Johnson believes all the attention the cable show brings is a wild cat victory for the Jets— who still play little brother to the New York Giants in the Meadowlands.  They started to get headlines by trading for Tebow and a return to "Hard Knocks" might wipe some more of the sheen off of the Giants' Lombardi Trophy this summer.

HBO originally wanted Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos to be on the show, but they declined.

If Ryan gets his way, HBO has interest in featuring both the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens to focus on the the team's tough-as-nails coaches, brothers Jim and Jim Harbaugh.

Woody Johnson: Jets considering a 'Hard Knocks 2'

Could the New York Jets be bringing Tebow-mania to HBO's "Hard Knocks" this summer?  If you heard team owner Woody Johnson correctly today— he didn't rule out the possibility.

Johnson, appearing at the opening of the NFL's new mid-town Manhattan pop-up store, said he heard rumors that the network was interested in having the Jets back on the documentary-type TV series for the second time in three years.

The rumors began getting louder— not  surprisingly— after the Jets traded for media sensation Tim Tebow.

"Ive heard that, but we have yet to receive a formal invitation," said Johnson about the speculation.  "When we do, we will take a look at it."

Did the cable network actually have informal discussions with the Jets?

"Yeah but... nothing... ," Johnson said, clearing the situation up a little.  "It's a formal invitation that we can respond to, not an informal [one]."

Johnson mentioned that the last time the team participated in the show, the  Jets reached the AFC Championship Game and brought "tremendous value."

The Jets became a nationwide phenomenon and made Rex Ryan— and his potty mouth— a household name.

This sequel would have some new cast members, but the real star would be Tebow.

Would the Jets consider being followed by cameras throughout training camp again— after all of the team's locker room issues and general dysfunction?

"It's something we would take a look  at with Mike(Tannenbaum), and the coach, and the (director of media relations) Bruce (Speight), and I and others that we think would add value to that discussion, to see whether it is something we want to do."

Jets tight end Dustin Keller, who was greeting fans at the store, said being on the show in 2010 was "pretty easy" for the players.  He joked that, if anything, the cameras made him work harder.

"We would be good for Hard Knocks, especially with Rex's personality, the Tebow trade— I definitely see how we would be appealing," said Keller.  "With everything that's going on right now, there couldn't be any more exposure. If it's something that could be good for the team, why not do it?"

Asked about a report that said suggested  the Jets plan to limit Tebow's outside appearances, Johnson said Tebow will be managed the same as the other 52 players on the team.

Hard Knocks 2 may not get the Jets to another championship game but it will give the Jets another jolt of the publicity Johnson seems to crave.