The NY Jets will host former head coach Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football this week. Ryan named IK Enmkpali a captain for this game just months after he broke Jets quarterback Geno Smith’s jaw in the Jets’ locker room.
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Making matters worse for the Jets is the absence of right guard Willie Colon, who was put on season-ending injured reserve Wednesday with a knee injury. Buffalo is going to play a good game on both sides of the football and will come up with a win against their division rival. Incognito was suspended for his role in a bullying scandal while with the Dolphins. Smith said he is not surprised by Ryan’s decision. “But that’s not what we do”.
If the Jets expect to win, they’ll need a big game from featured back Chris Ivory, who is averaging fewer than 25 rushing yards in the last three games.
As it always is with Rex Ryan, the Bills want to “ground and pound”. You know how I do the captains.
While the Jets have taken on a quieter, workman-like approach to talking under first-year head coach Todd Bowles, Ryan is doing nothing of the sort. While the Seahawks have the third-ranked rushing offence, Pro Bowl back Marshawn Lynch has battled injuries this season and has just one 100-yard game.
Enemkpali said he didn’t see the move coming when informed by reporters following practice.
“No nerves”, he said. In the same article, Enemkpali was quoted as answering “Next question” when asked about the August incident, offering no insight about how he feels about going up against Smith and his former teammates after the punching incident.
Sure, Rex. This is only the team that fired him after a six-year stretch that started with consecutive trips to the AFC title game and ended with a 4-12 season that had the franchise in disarray. The Patriots, rebounding from their Super Bowl loss after a ideal regular season, lost Tom Brady on the opening day.
Once again, the Jets are playing an opponent they should beat.
The Bills aren’t bad.
It should be a fascinating game with the Bills getting healthier and the Jets dealing with a rash of injuries. “It’s going to be a tough ball game”. “It’s going to be an exciting game, a whatever-type game, but not for the reasons that you may be thinking”, Ryan said. “It has nothing to do with me or anybody else. That’s the reality of it”.
Ryan’s attempt to ramp up the animosity against the Patriots ultimately backfired and despite a bit of a spat this week with Jets defensive back Calvin Pryor, Ryan has take a slightly different approach in a bid to deflect pressure away from his players as they attempt to build on last weekend’s solid win over the Dolphins.
The Jets are also really banged up in their defensive backfield, and that could burn them against Sammy Watkins and LeSean McCoy. It should be interesting to say the least.
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So what about the Monday nighter against New England.
