The Patriots have always been a team without a need for bulletin board material. If a team goes out and beats New England on Sunday, it usually has nothing to do with the trash talk leading up to the game. A team coached by Bill Belichick rarely loses its focus during the verbal war that goes on prior to important games. It’s doubtful, but Rex Ryan may be finally starting to understand that.
In an interview with Michael Irvin on the NFL Network that aired Wednesday night, Ryan praised Belichick and said there is no better coach in the game of football. The Boston Herald shared the details:
“I can put my resume out there, stats, with anybody that’s ever coached in this league,” Ryan said. “That’s a fact. Defensively, that’s a fact. But I don’t need any credit; I just want to win. I want what Bill Belichick’s got. I think Bill Belichick is the best coach in this game; I don’t even think it’s close. But I’m trying there. I know one thing, and he knows: I’m going to compete with him every time we play him. If it ever comes down to just me versus him, we’re going to end up on the short end of the stick. But when it’s about us and it’s about our football team versus his football team, that’s where I have even more confidence.”
Anytime the Patriots and Jets have gotten together in recent history the biggest story has been the battle between Rex and Bill. The ironic part about Ryan’s comments is that when the Patriots were praising the Jets last season in a similar fashion Ryan and the New York players got all bent out of shape. They felt as though they were being patronized by the Patriots, so would it stand to reason that Rex is patronizing Belichick? His words sounded sincere, but at this point I wouldn’t rule anything out.
