Boone: Ihedigbo relishes being guy nobody wants to face

James Ihedigbo's rugged style of play can be summed up rather easily in Rex Ryan's vernacular.

"He's a tough --," Ryan said.

The man they call "Dig" as a play off his last name (pronounced ee-HEAD-ee-boe) is someone who just loves to mix it up, salivating at any opportunity to throw his body around and make a play. The safety/cornerback never backs down from a challenge on the field.

It doesn't matter the opponent's size - or if he wears the same jersey, as we saw in training camp last year. During some one-on-one tackling drills, Ihedigbo went at it hard with bruising running back Thomas Jones, the 5-10, 212-pound brick of granite.

"It's the way the game is supposed to be played," said Ihedigbo, who loves pinballing his chiseled, 6-1, 214-pound frame around. "It's a ruthless game, it's a violent game. It's a fast and physical game. I take the approach every game on game days to be that guy that nobody wants to play against, to make them have that attitude of, 'Oh, I have to block this guy? This guy is covering me? I have to go against this guy every single play?'

"That's the backbone of the kind of player I am."

Ihedigbo, 26, is a fiery guy, often taking on the task of revving up his teammates before games. He's full of emotion, leading him to do things like post "Leaving Buffalo whooped them bums great team win let's go JETS . . . Men on a mission!!!!" on Twitter after the Jets beat the Bills, 38-14, on Oct. 3.

But the fourth-year pro and integral member of the Jets' special teams and defense overcame huge odds just to get this far. He walked on at UMass and wound up a three-year starter, serving as a captain during his senior season. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Jets on May 15, 2008, finally making the active roster that October.

That's why there's typically a little extra pop in Ihedigbo's hits, a byproduct of the underdog mentality sewn into his fabric, something that usually bubbles over against one team in particular: the Patriots.

"When we play against New England," he said, "growing up in Massachusetts, I take that as a chip on my shoulder as, 'You guys passed up on me. I'm going to come out and prove every time we play you guys, it's the worst mistake you ever made.' "

Ihedigbo has four tackles and a sack in the Jets' first six games. He flourished on special teams last season with a team-leading 26 tackles, and also posted six tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble on defense. He really came on at the end of the season, and had 10 special-teams tackles and six others on defense in the Jets' three playoff games.

He sees anywhere from 10-20 snaps per game on defense, and plays dime back, safety and linebacker. His versatility allowed the Jets to include Abram Elam in the Mark Sanchez trade.

"I was glad he was here," Ryan said. "It made some of the other guys expendable that you had - Elam - that went to Cleveland. It's because we had great confidence."

"He definitely does a lot of the dirty work," safety Eric Smith said. "It's things that don't go noticed by someone who's watching the game. But when we watch the film, we notice all the stuff he does that opens up things for other guys."

And that's OK with Ihedigbo.

"I accept and embrace my role on this team, and I know it's going to continue to expand and rise," he said. "The kind of attributes that I bring to the team and what I do very well, the sky's the limit. It's only going up from here on out. I'll just continue to grind and do my role in helping this team be successful."