Rex Ryan didn’t mince words when discussing Ashton Jeanty’s bulletin board material for the Jets.
During a “Sunday NFL Countdown” segment Sunday, Ryan torched the Raiders’ running back and called him “soft as Charmin” after Jeanty called out the Jets — the team Ryan used to coach — for having a couple of players who “don’t really want to tackle.”
“I’m going right up to him [before the game] and I say, ‘I heard what you said, and I want you to know something, alright,’” Ryan said during the segment. “‘We are not gonna try to take you out of the game. I want him to know that we are not gonna try to take him out of the game. Why? Because you are horrible. You’re about the worst draft pick in the last 20 years, I think, as a running back. You stink. You’re averaging 3.1 yards per carry. Guess what? Today, you get your ass kicked, and you know who else does? Your teammates. It’s on you, my friend.”
When another analyst remarked as the segment ended that there was going to be a fight before the Jets and Raiders played at MetLife Stadium, Ryan continued to call out Jeanty and said, “If we had a fight, there’d be a non-hitter, and that’d be him.”
Ryan had a far more direct response to Jeanty’s jab than the current Jets did, as several players declined to send a jab back at Jeanty, who has rushed for 328 yards and a touchdown in his second NFL season, despite acknowledging that they’d heard him claim.
Head coach Aaron Glenn added that “we have to play on Sunday, so that’s the reaction.”
The Jets entered the weekend ranked 24th in rushing defense this season, allowing an average of 128.1 yards per game, and Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon II rushed for 156 yards — while forcing 10 missed tackles — during Miami’s win over the Jets in Week 7.
“It’s bulletin board material, nothing other than that,” linebacker Demario Davis told reporters. “I’m big on the game is played inside the white lines. Simple as that.”
Both the Jets and the Raiders entered Sunday’s game in need of a win to fix the trajectory of their spiraling seasons, with Las Vegas falling in four consecutive contests after a 3-0 start and Gang Green sitting at 2-5.
