Report: Jets player rips front office for quitting

Rex Ryan has had better days. (Getty Images)

Players haven't yet quit on Jets coach Rex Ryan, despite the 2-10 record and three months of truly awful football. But one veteran told Metro's Kristian Dyer this week that the organization's decision to start quarterback Geno Smith over Michael Vick was evidence that management “packed it in, waived the white flag, whatever you want to call it.”

The veteran player clarified his remarks a day later: “I wasn't trying to say that we've quit, that any of the players quit. I don't think any of us have quit in this [locker] room. But it seems like those above us, they've quit on this season. You can't do that. Players need to make a living, get stuff on tape, play for that next year.

"But it seems like that isn't important, that winning this year isn't a big deal to them anymore. Like they're already looking at 2015 and beyond. Maybe they felt that way earlier this year and stuff but I don't know.”

The player isn't alone in his thinking. A month ago, fans flew a "Fire John Idzik" banner over the team's practice. Idzik, the second-year general manager, has been criticized for not giving coach Rex Ryan the players to compete on a weekly basis, which explains the 2-10 record, one that included an eight-game losing streak.

And while Ryan will almost certainly be fired at the end of the month, he said it's unfair to blame Idzik for the team's struggles.

“The fans, I will never, ever say that the fans don't have a right to do whatever they want,” Ryan said in November. “They absolutely do. They have a right to their opinions and everything else. Do they have the right to buy a billboard? Absolutely. They have a right for everything. I just think when you look at the big picture, this isn't about one man falling short. That's not it. We're 1-8 collectively. We don't like it. Trust me, we don't like it. And so that's kind of how I feel. I don't understand this part of it. I really don't."

Fair enough, but following the Jets latest inexplicable loss -- this time on Monday night to the Dolphins -- Ryan not only called the team's record "a joke," he admitted what most of us already figured: "It's definitely embarrassing to me. I feel like I've let my owner down. I've let our fan base down."

But here's why we're convinced Ryan won't be out of work long, and he'll likely be successful at his next NFL stop. Through it all, he still has the support of his players.

“Man, let me tell you something, Rex still has our hearts in his hands man," the veteran player told Metro. "He still gets us fired up, he gets it. You can tell that he's doing his best to put us in the best spot to win, but it feels like he's fighting that battle alone.

“You see him here, late night. I heard he's here until the early morning hours. Sometimes you're here at this facility early for whatever and you see him in the hallway like 'The Walking Dead' or something. He's still putting his all into this team. I don't think anyone in here is going to quit on him or the fans. We're going to fight and do things the right way here as much as we can to the bitter end, no matter what the world says.”

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Titans WR Justin Hunter to miss rest of season with spleen injury



Wide receiver Justin Hunter of the Tennessee Titans is expected to be placed on season-ending injured reserve due to a lacerated spleen he suffered in the Titans' 45-21 drubbing at the hands of the Houston Texans on Sunday. Hunter finishes his 2014 season with 28 catches for 498 yards and three touchdowns.Wide receiver duties for the Titans will fall mainly to Kendall Wright and Nate Washington.



It's a disappointing end to a disappointing season for the second-year receiver. Hunter has shown flashes of brilliance that support why many experts pegged his as a potential breakout sleeper this year. Unfortunately, those flashes were too infrequent for him to be considered legitimate in fantasy land.Hunter will likely enter 2015 off of the radar, but his talent, youth (23 years old) and size (6-foot-4) will likely make him a sleeper candidate yet again. He could be a great pick as a third-year breakout next season.