Rex Ryan's first game vs. Jets is all about him
Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan gives a press conference after an NFL training session at the Grove Hotel in Chandler's Cross, England, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015. Credit: AP / Matt Dunham
Rex Ryan has an odd way of showing that this game is not all about him.
The former Jets coach, who brought his shtick to Buffalo after Woody Johnson showed him the door last Dec. 29, has insisted several times this week that this game is only about his team.
Funny, but the run-up to Thursday night's game against the Jets, Ryan's first trip to MetLife Stadium since being fired, has been all about Rex. Just the way he likes it. Just the way he acts, in spite of what he says.
On Tuesday, he met Bills reporters while wearing a Clemson helmet. (His son Seth plays for the No. 1 Tigers.) It was reminiscent of when he put on a wig and a Browns cap in 2010. He was imitating his twin, Rob, then Cleveland's defensive coordinator, and said he was placing a bounty on him.
Ryan reiterated all week that his Jets' time, especially the last two years with general manager John Idzik, was "really behind me right now. That's where my focus is. I don't want to dwell on what happened in the past."
But in the next breath, he said he'd share his true feelings after the game. Translation: He's still chapped about how it ended with the Jets.
Of course, he appointed the guy who punched out Geno Smith in training camp as a captain for the game, because . . . well, because that's just the way Ryan does things. Forget that it looks terrible to reward a player who broke Smith's jaw, ostensibly over a $600 plane ticket that Smith says he didn't owe him for. Forget the lack of common decency shown by making IK Enemkpali, a backup with two tackles, an honorary captain.
Not many Jets, and certainly not Todd Bowles, spoke to Ryan's decision, but safety Calvin Pryor was right when he called the move "disrespectful." And Pryor is a friend of Enemkpali's.
This game is all about Rex, and so is his team. Just like the Jets, who reveled in his refreshingly humorous and candid demeanor in the early days, riding the wave to two AFC title games before his roster -- and his act -- began to wear thin.
Ryan dialed it back after a while, realizing in 2012 that his incessant guarantees about going to the Super Bowl were putting needless pressure on his players. And once Idzik replaced Mike Tannenbaum, Ryan made it even less about himself.
We realize now that he was just faking it. The "mature" behavior stemmed from wanting to keep his job. The way he's acting in Buffalo, where owner Terry Pegula has given him carte blanche, makes it obvious he hasn't changed at all.
That's fine in the near term, because a lot of his team's mistakes can be ignored or softened with a few cracks and some attaboys. Seventeen penalties against the Giants? Ah, no worries, Ryan's message went. He actually liked the way his Bills played in a 24-10 home loss. Lousy first half against the lowly Jaguars in a 34-31 defeat in London? Hey, how'd ya like the way we came back in the second half?
His act still works in Buffalo, just as it did early on with the Jets. Winning made it all the more entertaining, and Ryan had the New York area eating it up. But as he found out in the end with the 4-12 Jets, that kind of approach doesn't last. That's why disciplinarians such as Bill Belichick and Tom Coughlin offer a much more solid foundation in a league that demands precision.
Ryan's players really do adore playing for him; they did with the Jets, and were loyal until the end. But even his biggest defenders eventually realized he had let things slip, especially after going through a much more demanding training camp with Bowles.
The Jets' coach is old school demanding, and that really is built for the long haul. It doesn't guarantee Bowles will be a long-term success here, but it does increase his chances. He's a smart football man, a no-nonsense leader whose players trust him and play hard for him.
Bowles is the anti-Rex with the media. His job is to put his players in the best position to win, not to rattle off one-liners.
With Bowles, it really is about the team.
With Rex, it's all about Rex.
Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”
