Ryan sniffs at critics, reiterates Jets will win Super Bowl

CORTLAND, N.Y. - The Jets' Super Bowl Express is shifting into overdrive. Already.

Proving yet again they're intoxicated with Super Bowl chatter, the Jets kept their brash championship talk going Friday, another sign that they're not shying away from the hype that's engulfed this team.

Rex Ryan signed ESPN's bus with the words "Soon to be Champs" before it rolled out of town Thursday, and he made it clear he truly does believe he'll be shaking Roger Goodell's hand when the commissioner presents him with the Lombardi Trophy.

And by "soon," he doesn't mean years from now. He's talking about Super Bowl XLV Feb. 6 at Cowboys Stadium.

"That's what I'm saying," Ryan said after the Jets' morning practice Friday. "That's our mentality, that's our goal. And I've got confidence to put it up there. I don't have to put, 'Go, so-and-so.' Yeah, whatever. 'Cause to me, I believe we'll do it. So why wouldn't we say it, why wouldn't we go for it?"

Ryan said he's not at all worried about the skeptics.

"I don't care if people don't like it," he said. " 'Ah, just shut up and win something.' I've won a lot more than that person writing it, I can promise you that. And I've been there. My family has been to a bunch of these things and I know how to get there. And the first step is, if you don't believe it yourself, your team darn sure won't.

"And again, I'm not apologizing," he added. "I just know what's going to happen. My crystal ball, I'm seeing a Super Bowl trophy in there. I could be wrong, but that's what I see. But every time I go to work, that's what I look at. So we'll see what happens. I'm not embarrassed to say that I believe it will happen. So the great thing is we get to prove it soon, that's the beauty of it."

Even usually reserved Matt Slauson got into the act. The second-year player is immersed in a battle with rookie Vladimir Ducasse for the starting spot at left guard, and he's as confident about the Jets' postseason chances as he is about eventually winning the position battle.

"We're going to win the Super Bowl," Slauson told Newsday. "If Rex goes out on a limb, we'll go out on a limb."