Ryan on taunt: Braylon is 'smarter than that'
Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards was penalized for taunting the Patriots' Darius Butler after making a touchdown catch in the second quarter Sunday. (Sept. 19, 2010) Credit: AP
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - Braylon Edwards thought he was being cute, swaying his body side to side and dipping his shoulders in the left corner of the end zone.
He ran his hand along the top of his helmet as he danced, all while following New England cornerback Darius Butler with his eyes. Edwards already had burned Butler with his speed and athleticism, catching a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Mark Sanchez to tie the score at 7 in the second quarter. Now, the receiver was embarrassing him.
But Edwards' antics weren't appreciated by the officials or his coach.
"I brought it up today in a meeting. Basically I told him, 'You played a great game and we would have given you a game ball, but we didn't because of those things,' " Rex Ryan said Monday.
Edwards was flagged for a 15-yard taunting penalty on the play, which forced the Jets to kick off from their own 15, and the wide receiver was almost flagged again in the third after completing a two-point conversion by catching the ball over Butler to put the Jets ahead 21-14.
Edwards seemed to taunt the Patriots cornerback again, but no flags were thrown. Frustrated by the play, Butler took a swipe at Edwards' helmet but came up short.
"I love the way he played," Ryan said of Edwards. "He was really into it, but you're killing us because you can't put the team in that kind of jeopardy . . . We're kicking from the 15, so that really put our defense in a bad situation."
In hindsight, the coach said he wished he had spoken to Edwards after the penalty. "I appreciate how passionate he is and all that kind of stuff, but you don't want to be selfish. As great as he is, and nobody's a bigger fan of Braylon's than I am, that's something I probably should have addressed right when it happened," Ryan said. "But I was too worried about trying to get them stopped. But that's something that needed to be addressed and we didn't address it."
It was Edwards' defining moment as a Jet since his trade from Cleveland last October. He had five catches for 45 yards, including the touchdown and two-point conversion, in Sunday's 28-14 victory over the Patriots.
But his breakout game was marred. "He's smarter than that," Ryan said. "He knows better than that. It's not the first time he's ever been in the end zone, either. He knows."
