New York Jets safety Kerry Rhodes (25) and safety Jim...

New York Jets safety Kerry Rhodes (25) and safety Jim Leonhard (36) combine on a tackle of San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates (85) in the second half. (January 17, 2010) Credit: AP

The Kerry Rhodes saga continued Wednesday, when the safety said he would like to remain a Jet.

Appearing on SNY's "Wheelhouse,'' Rhodes finally shed a little light on his thoughts regarding his future with the team that fell short Sunday of advancing to its first Super Bowl in 41 years. After refusing to say whether he wanted to be back when speaking with reporters Monday, Rhodes finally opened up a bit.

"To be honest, I really do want to be here," Rhodes said. "This is where I want to be, this is New York. This is the team that gave me my first shot. I mean, a fourth-rounder. A lot of people passed up on me coming out, but they gave me the shot. They gave me the big contract here.

"But sometimes circumstances happen, so there's going to be a little bit of talk between us over the next couple of weeks. But I want to be here and the team wants me to be here. So we'll see."

Rhodes said he spoke to Rex Ryan earlier Wednesday and that the coach reiterated he wanted Rhodes to return. Ryan was noncommittal when asked about Rhodes' future with the team in his season-ending news conference Monday, briefly stating that "there's an individual thing that Kerry and I have talked about" that he wanted Rhodes to do. Ryan said it would remain private between them and was evasive about Rhodes' standing with the team.

Rhodes expects to meet with Ryan again after the coach returns from this week's Senior Bowl activities in Mobile, Ala. The two, Rhodes said, have a great relationship.

"He wants me to be here and the organization wants me to be here," Rhodes said. "So it's a little bit of me humbling myself and talking to Rex some more and seeing what happens from there."

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