Jets' Ryan On Welker Benching: 'That's Pretty Cool'
BOSTON (CBS) - With Patriots head coach Bill Belichick the only coach absent from the coaches breakfast at the NFL Owner's meetings Tuesday morning, Boston writers had to seek another target.
Enter Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan.
Never afraid to talk with the press, Ryan at one point had more Boston media around him than New York. So it would be hard not to ask about Ryan about his thoughts on Patriots Wide Receiver Wes Welker's "feet" press conference during the playoffs. Welker made 11 subtle "foot" references while addressing the media about the Jets, and was benched for the first drive of the Patriots-Jets AFC Playoff game that weekend.
Here is what Ryan told ESPNNewYork.com:
"First off, I was happy," Ryan said, laughing, Tuesday morning at the NFL coaches breakfast, which is part of the annual owners meeting. "I was, like, 'Cool! Welker's not there!' Yeah, I would bench him, too. I would bench him for the whole game. Bench him next year."
"It never surprised me," Ryan said. "It's not the Patriot way of doing things. So [Belichick] was upset about that. At the time, I was, like, that's pretty cool. It was kind of neat."
Ryan said the move was done out of respect by Belichick, and added that Welker is close with Jets' Defensive Coordinator and volunteer assistant coach Mike Smith. Along with Ryan, they exchange "trash texts" before matchups, but it was the fact Welker made his foot comments public that upset his coach.
