Jets coach Rex Ryan illustrated how special it is to...

Jets coach Rex Ryan illustrated how special it is to win a Super Bowl ring by asking only the players who had won one to stand up. Only three Jets did. Credit: Getty Images

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - It was a simple exercise, but one that still resonates with the Jets' players months later.

During a late November team meeting, Rex Ryan asked those who have won Super Bowl rings to step forward. Only three did: Larry Izzo, Alan Faneca and Damien Woody.

It was just another way for the rookie coach to lay out a plan and a final destination for his team, and it's been on the players' minds since then. It worked flawlessly again Sunday.

"You play the game for two reasons," defensive end Shaun Ellis said. "You play to win a ring and you play for money . . . A lot of people get the money, but there are only a certain amount of people who get a ring. And that's one of the things he talked about. He was like, 'How many people in here got a ring?'

" . . . It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, man, and for us to come out and just start talking about it, it makes everyone believe in it. If you can talk about it, you can achieve it."

Leonhard shaken up, OK

Ryan said safety Jim Leonhard got hit in the face and the back of the head in the first quarter of Sunday's game but is fine.

Leonhard slammed into San Diego receiver Malcom Floyd after a reception and knocked the ball loose. Leonhard, who lost his helmet on the hit, dived on the loose ball and recovered it for the Jets. The Chargers, however, challenged the fumble call and it was reversed, ruled an incomplete pass instead.

When asked for his thoughts on the replay reversal, Ryan said: "I'm not going to comment. You trying to get me fined by the league now? . . . It was a great play by Jim Leonhard, though, I can say that. I think everybody knows the type of player he is now."

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