Who are you taking in a fight: Robert Saleh or Rex Ryan? Either way, it’s Jet-on-Jet warfare, and Saleh seems fairly keen on the action.
This all started when Rex Ryan said on the DiPietro and Rothenburg Podcast that no one should compare Saleh to him, and he tore into the defense of the current Jets head coach and former 49ers defensive coordinator.
“I look at it as this defense is abysmal,” Ryan said. “Bart [Scott] was telling that to me, ‘Oh no, their defense is playing hard.’ I’m like what? No they don’t. This is a horrendous defense. Now they’re going to use, ‘Well now we didn’t have our safety.’ So what? Everybody has a million injuries, let alone an above average safety you’re missing. I remember playing without five corners. It never looked like this. We were fifth in the league in defense that year.”
He continued, and took aim specifically at Saleh.
“This guy was supposed to be a defensive guru,” Ryan said. “I heard everything and I take it personal on this one. Everything I’ve heard about was, well this guy’s a lot like myself, but without the bad part. Yeah, well some of the bad part you need because this team doesn’t play with any damn heart. That’s the thing that’s disappointing to me. Don’t ever compare this guy to me, this Robert Saleh to me.”
To Ryan’s credit, the Jets are allowing the most yards per game in the NFL, at 417.1 per game. They allow the second-most passing yards per game, at 283.2 yards per game, and the fourth-most rushing yards per game, at 133.9 yards per game. And to top things off, the Jets allow 32.9 points per game, the most in the NFL.
Here’s some quick analysis of those numbers; that’s not very good, especially from a team with a defensive head coach.
Saleh, though, responded in kind to Ryan.
“I’m not surprised by him. He’s always got something to say,” Saleh said on the Michael Kay Show. “I’ve never met Rex. I’ve never had a conversation with Rex. I don’t even know him, except for people who know him throughout the league. Obviously, if it’s that personal for him, he knows where to find me.”
Given that Saleh’s pregame routine is running through a stadium, rain or shine, he might have the edge on Ryan here.