Apology Du Jour

I look away for five minutes and Rex Ryan is off giving the finger. Am I the only one who laughed? Of course, it was inappropriate, but there's no way Ryan meant it as anything other than a spur-of-the-moment joking response.

All I have to say is...can't we all just get along?

In any event, it has provoked the obligatory apology from him and statement from GM Mike Tannenbaum, which both follow:

Statement from New York Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan

“It was stupid and inappropriate. I wouldn’t accept that type of behavior from one of the coaches or players and it’s unacceptable from me. I apologize to the Jets organization, the National Football League and NFL fans everywhere.”

Statement from New York Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum

“Rex showed extremely poor judgment and his conduct was inappropriate. He knows he was wrong, has apologized and we have accepted his apology. Any other actions regarding this incident will be addressed internally by the organization.”

Not Jetting Anywhere....

The name of this blog today is NotJettingAroundAnywhere. I know you don't care, but I'm really bored, so I'm going to tell you about what's going on. I've been sitting in the Indianapolis Airport since 8am in the attempt to get on my 9:25am flight back to NYC. Still here and it's now 1:25pm.

Apparently the winds in NY are so bad that LaGuardia has been completely shut down. Although I wouldn't know first hand. I believe what I'm being told.

In the meantime, as a result, the New York Jets press corps is scattered throughout the Midwest and East Coast. I'm happily ensconced at Gate B23 with Tom Rock and Bob Glauber of Newsday. Glauber is actually an interloper as he is supposed to be on a flight to Philly that is going out of Gate B10. Except that flight's not going anywhere either.

Jenny Vrentas of the Star-Ledger is at Gate B9, but she's afraid to go too far away from her gate, lest something exciting happen, like a departure.

Judy Battista of the Times is somewhere in another terminal entirely. We are communicating via Twitter.

The Jets cleaned out their lockers this morning. Couldn't tell you what happened. Rex Ryan is giving his end-of-year press conference at 4pm. Clearly, I won't be there either.

It's Over

In the first half it looked like the Jets might just have figured it out. The second half proved that wrong. And at the end of the day, Peyton Manning is simply someone with a talent on a whole other level.

With the loss of RB Shonn Greene and CB Donald Strickland, and a hobbled Bart Scott things shifted against the Jets. There was also the matter of the pass rush that seemed to disappear.

The locker room was a very quiet place. A lot of the players were having trouble focusing on how good of a season it was, but acknowledged that they probably would be able to down the road. The most intriguing comment came from Braylon Edwards who said the team came out with a different attitude in the second half than they did in the first. I asked him what specifically he meant by that and he deferred, saying he didn't want to speak for anyone else.

Unfortunately, Thomas Jones was yet again, a total no-show. He was not in the locker room at all this entire week leading up to the game and was not there after the game today either. Otherwise I would certainly have liked to have brought you his thoughts.

Mark Sanchez was disappointed but also trying to look at the positives, what the team accomplished this year and looking ahead to next season.

Punter Steve Weatherford was in the most upbeat mood. He said "I'm a glass half full guy. Plus, everybody in this room is incredibly blessed."

More later. In the meantime check out the Rapid Reports and a story on the pass rush that will be up on CBSSports.com shortly.

Welcome to Indy!

May I first and foremost give a hearty thank you to the most well-behaved Jets fans I have been around. AirTran Flight #891 out of LaGuardia yesterday - 150 seats, at least 130 of which were filled with Jets fans wearing all sorts of team regalia. Not one J E T S chant (until deplaning). It was the cherry on the sundae since not only did the flight take off on time, we landed almost 30 minutes early. Yes. 30 minutes. EARLY. I plan to fly to Indianapolis on a regular basis now. (And this made up for the 35 minutes I spent standing on the TSA line in my socks.)

Thanks to Tom Rock of Newsday who was on my flight and drove me to the door of my hotel in his spiffy red PT Cruiser rental.

Also, a big shout out to my seatmates, Bill and his 11-year-old son Peter from Pelham, NY. They are Colts fans. Bill is an Indy native and like father like son. Bill and I had a nice chat, while the very well-behaved and polite Peter played some games on Dad's iPhone. Like winning the lottery.

Next up, I met a friend I hadn't seen in none-of-your-business years at a fun restaurant called Scotty's - Ted Karras, now the head football coach at Marian University. They hired him in 2006 to build the program from scratch and the team has already had two winning seasons. He was accompanied by his defensive coordinator Marty Mathis. We had a blast. Nothing like connecting with old friends and I'll now be following Marian closely.

Then it was on to dinner with my CBS cohort Clark Judge and writer Ron Borges. They tricked me into ordering a hamburger the size of a hubcap. I have a photo of the bun, unfortunately the hook up for my camera is at home. Keep checking back. By the way, Clark ordered a salad. This did not deter me from ordering an equally large piece of chocolate cake, which was the soul mate I have been waiting my whole life for.

Now it's almost game time. My gut still says Jets win. We'll know for sure in a few hours.

Woody Johnson Reflects on 2009

Speaking to the media for the first time since the Jets entered the playoff race and the death of his eldest daughter, 30-year-old Casey the very next day, Jets owner Robert Wood (Woody) Johnson IV said simply, “This has been a brutal couple of weeks for me.”

However, Johnson is working hard to balance his personal loss with the stratospheric rise of his football team. Knowing there is nothing he can do to change what happened with Casey; Johnson has divided his focus into two worlds – personal and professional. Yet all of those disparate emotions came to a head when Coach Rex Ryan handed Johnson a game ball in the locker room following the Jets win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wildcard game.

“When I got that ball, that was too many things that hit me at once,” Johnson said shaking his head.

Johnson decided to attend the game because he felt that if he expected his players to play after some of their own personal losses (which several have experienced this season), he should expect the same thing of himself.

Now as things continues to move forward at hectic pace, Johnson reflected on the road that has brought the team to this point and almost all of it begins and ends with Rex Ryan. From the moment Ryan arrived for his first interview – 30 minutes late and coming off a loss in the AFC Championship game to the Pittsburgh Steelers - the team knew it had its man.

“When Rex came into the room, it was obvious to us that this was a guy that deserved a shot,” Johnson recalled. “[With his family history] he’s been a coach longer than his years.”
Immediately the entire culture and atmosphere of the team changed as everyone embraced their new head coach’s buoyant and open personality, as well as his leadership abilities. Ryan’s assertion in his opening press conference that the team would be meeting the President of the United States because they would win a Super Bowl with him at the helm was met internally with excitement and awe.

In this new era of openness, Johnson has found himself mingling with fans in the post-game parking lot getting their feedback, most of which he said is positive – at least to his face. He has enjoyed these interactions, getting what he called the “flavor of what’s going on out there.”

“We’ve finally got the light that we work for our fans and we want to tell you everything,” he said. “Our foibles, our successes, the fans deserve all of that.”

The one bit of unpleasantness that has hung over the organization this year is the matter of the PSLs, better known as Personal Seat Licenses. This has put fans in the position of having to buy not just tickets, but the seats themselves; in essence, buying the right to buy the tickets.
Johnson said he understands some of the opposition, but on the other hand points out that fans can now own these seats for the life of the stadium and that the price is “reflected in what the stadium cost.” He also indicated that the team has seen a surge in purchases starting in December.

With the biggest game in a decade looming on the horizon, and a possible Super Bowl appearance so close they can almost touch it, Johnson is anticipating big things. “In 1998, I was watching [the AFC Championship game],” he said, and then paused. “I think we’ll come closer this year.”

And where has Johnson put that very meaningful game ball? It is in the possession of his three-and-a-half year old son, who may be young, but according to his father, already seems to understand the meaning behind it and treats it with loving care.

Woody Johnson Reflects on 2009

Speaking to the media for the first time since the Jets entered the playoff race and the death of his eldest daughter, 30-year-old Casey one day later, Jets owner Robert Wood (Woody) Johnson IV said simply, “This has been a brutal couple of weeks for me.”

However, Johnson is working hard to balance his personal loss with the stratospheric rise of his football team. Knowing there is nothing he can do to change what happened with Casey; Johnson has divided his focus into two worlds – personal and professional. Yet all of those disparate emotions came to a head when Coach Rex Ryan handed Johnson a game ball in the locker room following the Jets win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wildcard game.

“When I got that ball, that was too many things that hit me at once,” Johnson said shaking his head.

Johnson decided to attend the game because he felt that if he expected his players to play after some of their own personal losses (which several have experienced this season), he should expect the same thing of himself.

Now as things continues to move forward at hectic pace, Johnson reflected on the road that has brought the team to this point and almost all of it begins and ends with Rex Ryan. From the moment Ryan arrived for his first interview – 30 minutes late and coming off a loss in the AFC Championship game to the Pittsburgh Steelers - the team knew it had its man.

“When Rex came into the room, it was obvious to us that this was a guy that deserved a shot,” Johnson recalled. “[With his family history] he’s been a coach longer than his years.”

Immediately the entire culture and atmosphere of the team changed as everyone embraced their new head coach’s buoyant and open personality, as well as his leadership abilities. Ryan’s assertion in his opening press conference that the team would be meeting the President of the United States because they would win a Super Bowl with him at the helm was met internally with excitement and awe.

In this new era of openness, Johnson has found himself mingling with fans in the post-game parking lot getting their feedback, most of which he said is positive – at least to his face. He has enjoyed these interactions, getting what he called the “flavor of what’s going on out there.”

“We’ve finally got the light that we work for our fans and we want to tell you everything,” he said. “Our foibles, our successes, the fans deserve all of that.”

The one bit of unpleasantness that has hung over the organization this year is the matter of the PSLs, better known as Personal Seat Licenses. This has put fans in the position of having to buy not just tickets, but the seats themselves; in essence, buying the right to buy the tickets.

Johnson said he understands some of the opposition, but on the other hand points out that fans can now own these seats for the life of the stadium and that the price is “reflected in what the stadium cost.” He also indicated that the team has seen a surge in purchases starting in December.

With the biggest game in a decade looming on the horizon, and a possible Super Bowl appearance so close they can almost touch it, Johnson is anticipating big things. “In 1998, I was watching [the AFC Championship game],” he said, and then paused. “I think we’ll come closer this year.”

And where has Johnson put that very meaningful game ball? It is in the possession of his three-and-a-half year old son, who may be young, but according to his father, already seems to understand the meaning behind it and treats it with loving care.

This Week's Fan Festivities

Crazy day. Media to players was a 2:1 ratio. I'll get to more details later, but in the meantime, for those of you in New York, here is information from the Jets regarding some fan festivities this week that you can partake in. I'm copying and pasting to make sure I don't leave anything out:

THURSDAY JANUARY 21

TIMES SQUARE PEP RALLY

WHAT: The City of New York will host a pep rally in Times Square for the team. Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be on hand to show New York City’s support for the Jets as they prepare for the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, January 24^th. The event will be hosted by 1050 ESPN Radio personality Michael Kay. “Win and We’re In” rally towels will be distributed courtesy of Toyota.

WHO: Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum

Former Jets Running Back, Curtis Martin

Jets Flight Crew Cheerleaders

Live music will be performed by Beluga Heights/Warner Bros. breakout pop star Jason Derulo, including his No. 1 song, “Whatcha Say.”

WHEN: Thursday, January 21, 2010 from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

WHERE: Times Square between 44^th and 45^th Streets

To gain access to the event, all attendees must enter at 42^nd and Broadway

PROHIBITED ITEMS: To ensure public safety and security, the following items will not be permitted: coolers, large backpacks, large bags, weapons, glass containers, alcohol and chairs. All attendees are subject to search and confiscated items will not be returned.

SATURDAY JANUARY 23

TEAM SENDOFF AT THE ATLANTIC HEALTH JETS TRAINING CENTER

WHAT: Jets fans are invited to come create a special “runway” for the team when the team departs the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center for Indianapolis to face the Colts in the AFC Championship game on January 24^th. Fans have the opportunity to form a tunnel and send the team off with excitement, enthusiasm and well wishes. “Win and We’re In” rally towels will be distributed courtesy of Toyota.

WHO: Jets players and coaches

WHEN: Saturday, January 23 at 10:30 a.m.

WHERE: The Atlantic Health Jets Training Center

1 Jets Drive

Florham Park, NJ 07932

Getting ready for the rematch

Hello Jets fans...recovered from your delirium yet? Pace yourselves, you've still got a ways to go. The media spoke to a few of the players today and Rex gave his usual, jovial press conference, jet lag nowhere to be seen. Well, I think I heard Damien Woody yawn, but that might just have been my question.

So, how do the players feel about a rematch with the Colts? Woody referred to it as "the perfect script for us."

The game should be a barn-burner. With the way both teams are playing, I believe it will be as intense as anything we've seen this year. Let's hope anyway, it is the Championship game. You've got to believe that Peyton Manning is still stewing over being pulled during the regular season game and the Jets are absolutely chomping at the bit to prove that they can beat this team with Manning under center for all four quarters.

One minor little problem, turns out Shaun Ellis broke his hand on the first play of the game. The trainers took him into the locker room, took an x-ray and confirmed the break. However, Ellis had them put it in a cast and went right back out. He will play this week in the Championship game and then regardless of the outcome he will have surgery immediately afterward to put some screws in. If the Jets go to the Super Bowl, he will play. The whole idea of it makes me shudder, but I guess that's one of the many reasons I don't play.

Apparently the plane ride home was a rather joyous event. There was some sort of dance-off in the back that had something to do with LaDanian Tomlinson's recent video. Not entirely sure who participated in that - feverishly working the phones. However, it seems to be the younger guys. According to Shaun Ellis the older guys stayed toward the front and chatted and watched movies. Nice and sedate, befitting their status as elders.

As for all the naysayers, Ryan said today, "I'm not an I-told-you-so guy. Until after the Super Bowl."

Awaiting Jets vs. Chargers...

Tomorrow's the big day, when we'll see if the Jets have what it takes to get past the San Diego Chargers and move on to the AFC Championship game. The Jets haven't been to a Championship game since 1999 when they lost to the Denver Broncos in Denver.

The team truly believes they can and will win this game, which is the only attitude you can have if you have any hope of winning. They also know what everybody else knows - the Chargers are going to pose a huge problem across the board.

I talked to Jerricho Cotchery earlier in the week as he and Philip Rivers go back to high school. Rivers team beat Cotchery's team in the second round of the high school playoffs and Cotchery is itching for revenge. Of course, the two were incredibly successful together at NC State - in fact, Cotchery told me that Rivers was one of the reasons he chose that school because he knew he wanted to go somewhere with a great quarterback. The two have remained close friends and Cotchery says he sees the same player he always has, incredibly accurate with an amazing instinct for the game.

With Rivers, Antonio Gates, LaDanian Tomlinson, Darren Sproles and Vincent Jackson the defense has their hands full and they know it. Gates is especially hard to cover because of his size. Jackson too is a tall, big receiver. Expect to see Darrelle Revis on Jackson a lot - but not exclusively.

Field position, as always, is going to play a big role and it seems as though Steve Weatherford will be fine. Although Jay Feely ended up doing a great job, it wasn't really his idea of fun. As he said this week, "I would have been more comfortable returning punts."

Weatherford had a re-occurrence of a heart condition that developed when he was in high school and which he had a procedure for during his sophomore year of college. His heart beat was up around 175 -180 beats per minute and the doctors weren't going to let him go on the field. Even after he pulled out his IVs, he was stopped by GM Mike Tannenbaum and Rex Ryan.

Although he will need another procedure after the season, they expect him to punt this week without a problem.

Everybody else is pretty healthy. David Harris' ankle has improved, which has to be a big relief to the entire organization.

So, who's your money on?

Up next: San Diego

The Jets put on a pretty convincing show on Sunday. Any questions? Well, a few, but the fact is, the team is looking good no matter how you slice it.

Next up, the San Diego Chargers. As much of a challenge as the Bengals may have presented (and several players told me privately that Cincinnati really was not as good as advertised...) the Chargers are a whole different story.

Philip Rivers is scary good. Here's what safety Jim Leonhard said about him today. "He's extremely accurate. The biggest thing with them is they'll spread the ball all over the place. He has a lot of big-time targets that he can distribute the ball to. He's an equal-opportunity quarterback. He's willing to throw to anyone. It doesn't matter, whoever is open, that's where the ball is going. It's really hard to get keyed in on him."

Jerricho Cotchery and Rivers are good friends from their days together at NC State and Cotchery laughed today that he still owes Rivers one for knocking his team out of the playoffs back when they were both in high school.

The most important factor for this team right now may be Rex Ryan. His players speak of how much his confidence and his support has meant to them all season and especially now. The fact that Ryan actually mapped out a schedule for them up through not just the Super Bowl, but a Super Bowl parade made them all sit up and take a second look.

It's one of those things where it's like a proud parent," said Nick Mangold. "(When you have) a parent who believes in you and wants the best for you, you want to go to school to get the good grades, to make them even prouder. You want to go out there and be the best."

Tomorrow is the first open locker room since the win on Sunday. I'm anticipating three media people for every player. Oughta be piles of fun. I'll let you know.

Game Day Odds and Ends

Couple of quick notes before this thing gets going. Ryan Fowler is inactive, which means they were not comfortable with him playing so soon after his head injury last weekend. David Harris is playing with the ankle sprain and his backup is now Kenwin Cummings who has only been on the active roster since early November.

Bengals running back Larry Johnson is also inactive so expect to see a lot of Cedric Benson.

Windchill is currently 12 degrees in Cincinnati. Practically Spring time compared to last week's four degrees.

Jets Wildcard Week - Day Four

Day three got away from me. Oh well. A few random things first. D'Brickashaw Ferguson was named the Jets Walter Payton Man of the Year. Ferguson does a ton of work with his foundation helping students and the community in and around the area of Long Island where he grew up.

Jets have signed four players to future contracts including TJ Conley who, if I remember correctly, was punter number 1 during the punter merry-go-round during training camp last summer.

Now onto the business at hand. David Harris was limited in practice today, but he did practice after not participating on either Tuesday or Wednesday. According to Rex Ryan he had started jogging on it yesterday so clearly there's progress.

The sticky part of the problem here is that Harris has a high ankle sprain, which takes a while to heal. If you don't let it heal, it will nag for ages. So, the Jets are in the position of needing Harris badly this week - but also can't afford to set him back should they win and need him in more playoff games.

Ryan Fowler (Harris' backup who had a head injury) was back full today. I would bet he will see some significant time, along with Kenwin Cummings even if Harris does start.

Everybody else is relatively healthy. Punter Steve Weatherford's hamstring is healing, although that's another injury which if it doesn't heal well, oh boy. Jets fans should hope he doesn't have to punt a lot.

The mood in the locker room is relatively calm they know that if they didn't see everything from the Bengals last week, they sure will this week - not the least of which will be RB Cedric Benson.

Additionally, defensive coordinator Mike Pettine said this week that some of the Bengals players didn't even know that they were going to play until later in the day on Sunday so that would throw off somoeone's preparation. Pretty sure they all know who's up for this one.

Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer shared yesterday that he would consider turning down a head coaching job to stay with the Jets because of how happy he is now with the organization.

Jets Wildcard Week - Day Two

Day two of Wildcard Week. 50 media people in a press room that comfortably holds 25. Good times. (Oh, and two dead mice, but at least they were outside).

All is rolling along right now at the Jets facility. Players happy and excited. Coaches happy, excited and exhausted. PR staff working on fumes.

Mark Sanchez talked today about his friendship with Carson Palmer, which goes back more than a decade to when Sanchez served as ball boy for his brother Brandon who played with Palmer on the Santa Margarita High School team. Sanchez regaled us with a few stories of Palmer as prankster, but clearly this is someone he has relied on and learned a lot from over the years and great values the relationship.

Sanchez shared that Palmer has mentored him on everything from playing the game to what to buy his linemen for Christmas.

There is also an intense spirit of competition between the two, which Sanchez described in this anecdote:

"I remember throwing these flags with Coach Johnson (high school coach) and they are made out of PVC pipe, he has them made by hand. He sticks them in the ground and you just throw at the flags and try to hit the thing. We got so competitive, we didn't want to try to hit the flags or the post we would aim for one. We would say (hit the) left one, and I would hit it and he would hit it and it would go back and forth. Now it's the same thing. He went 21 plays, let's go 22 plays, let's score. That's how competitive it is. I couldn't think of anyone else I would want to square off against. He's a great competitor and a great friend."

Meanwhile, Kerry Rhodes has been the recipient of some good-natured teasing by everyone, including Rex Ryan, for not scoring off of his fumble recovery on Sunday. So, I piled on and asked how his speed drills went today. He laughed and replied, "I thought I was a Cadillac rolling down the street, but I caught a flat tire."

On the injury front, punter Steve Weatherford's hamstring is much better. He couldn't have been more relieved at having had to punt only three times in the game. He said today that while he is still sore, there is a "100% chance" that he'll play.

Donald Strickland's quad is better, and it is looking like he will see some action this week.

Slightly scary moment at practice when James Ihedigbo lay on the ground clearly in pain. After a few minutes he got up holding his arm. Turns out he had a stinger and told me in the locker room later that he was fine.

The most sobering news of the day is that David Harris, who sprained his ankle at the end of the first half on Sunday, did not practice today and it looks like he may be day-to-day. His backup, Ryan Fowler, was limited with a head injury also sustained in the game. If neither can go, Kenwin Cummings will start. Cummings was signed off the practice squad in early November.

The fun continues tomorrow.

They're in

Last night the almost 80,000 Jets fans each received a towel, on which was printed: "WE WIN AND WE'RE IN!" Well, they won and they're in.

Game temperature never got above 20 degrees, with a windchill of four and yet almost the entire Jets squad was in short sleeves. (Rob Turner did his pregame "warmup" wearing only shorts and a sleeveless shirt.) Statement or insanity? Not sure, but they pulled it off and have now earned a rematch with the Bengals on Saturday in Cincinnati. Kickoff at 4:30pm ET on NBC.

The mood last night in the locker room was upbeat, but relatively even-keeled. The players seem to know that there's no room for major celebrations at this point. Mark Sanchez was the most buoyant of anybody in the room, bouncing around to the music playing on the iPod in his locker. By the way- Sanchez is old school when it comes to music. A lot of '80s and '90s stuff. Gotta love it, although it occasionally made it hard to hear his teammates doing interviews. I'm just saying.

Darrelle Revis was all smiles after shutting down Chad Ochocinco. He laughed when I told him that Ochocinco had promised to change his name back to Johnson if Revis shut him down.

As for Ochocinco's response when one of the Bengals beat reporters asked him after the game if he were in fact, planning to do that? "Child, please." Not entirely sure if that means yes or no.

On a more serious note, Calvin Pace, who is now in his seventh season, is overjoyed to be going to what will be his first-ever playoff game. "I'm proud. I'm proud of everybody," he said. "When things were bad, everybody stuck together. There's a lot of times we could have folded our tent. We didn't leave any doubt. We kind of stubbed our toe along the way but we got back on track. It was the best game I ever played in."

He talked about how teammates started getting together as a group around Thanksgiving, watching Monday Night Football games. It helped add to the camaraderie and team unity that they had been building since Rex Ryan arrived.

Curious about who hosts the best event? "Bart (Scott) has the best setup," Pace said laughing. "It's like being in Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch." Knowing Scott, this surprises me not at all.

As for me, I'm just glad no one set my car on fire in misguided celebration.

More to come as what promises to be an interesting week unfolds.