Manning has no response to Ryan's comment

For Jets coach Rex "Captain Ahab" Ryan, Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning apparently has become his white whale now that the Colts have beaten his defense five times, including last year's AFC title game. But while Ryan called Saturday night's first-round playoff rematch "personal," Manning all but yawned when asked Tuesday on a media conference call for his reaction.

"I have not been aware of it," Manning said. "So I really don't have much of a response for you, I guess."

Manning took his time when asked if he found it strange that an opposing coach would, more or less, approach this game as a quest for revenge for the damage Manning inflicted upon Ryan's defenses, starting when he was Baltimore's coordinator.

"It's really hard for me to answer," Manning said. "You know, I don't find anything really strange anymore. You play long enough, you've got to be ready for anything. Everybody's going to be excited for this game."

As for his 5-1 mastery of Ryan, whose only win came late last season after Manning was pulled with a halftime lead, Manning said he has no explanation, and if he did, it would be irrelevant to the circumstances of these two teams after the personnel changes they've undergone.

"I know he is an excellent football coach," Manning said of Ryan. "I'm not sure who the defensive coordinator is, but it's [Ryan's] scheme.

"Every time we've played him, he's had good players, but I'm not sure he's had as good players as now. He's got excellent corners when you talk about [Antonio] Cromartie and [Darrelle] Revis outside. Those are two excellent cover corners that can play man to man and make a lot of plays."

The biggest difference in the Jets' defense from last season, Manning said, is the addition of Cromartie, safety Brodney Pool and pass rushers Jason Taylor and Trevor Pryce. But the multiple look is the same, along with the aggressive blitzing at key times.

If anything, the biggest changes since last season have been to the Colts' offense. They lost tight end Dallas Clark and slot receiver Austin Collie to injuries for the season. Rookie Blair White has moved into the slot role, and Jacob Tamme is seeing his first extensive action as the replacement for Clark.

There was a midseason stretch when the Colts lost three straight, fell to 6-6 and faced the prospect of missing the playoffs after reaching the Super Bowl, but they pulled it together to win their last four games to take the AFC South title and playoff berth.

"We feel lucky and fortunate to be in the playoffs, especially considering the season we had, kind of an up-and-down season and some of the injuries we had," Manning said. "It looked pretty bleak there for a while, so we really felt like these last four weeks have been playoff games. That's how we've treated it. In some ways, this is like a continuation of our playoff games."

Beating Ryan's defense isn't an end for Manning; it's another step toward the ultimate goal.