Rex Ryan Has Patriots Game, Not Jets, Circled On His Calendar
BOSTON (CBS) -- Rex Ryan may have taken the podium Tuesday with a Clemson helmet on his head, but it's clear the Patriots are still on his mind.
Rex and his 4-4 Bills are getting ready for a Thursday night showdown against his former team, the New York Jets. You'd think that the always boisterous head coach would have this game circled on his calendar, given the rocky end to his tenure with Gang Green.
But the Buffalo coach told reporters that Thursday's game isn't the one with a bunch of arrows and angry doodles around it, and you can probably guess which team he's reserved his excitement for.
"Right now I haven't thought about it," Rex said of playing his former team, promising reporters he'd give them an answer after Thursday's game. "What I'm telling you is the truth. We're just trying to prepare for a game on a short week. Would it have been different if it was longer? Maybe. But at no point was I like, 'Oh, I have this one circled.'
"Everybody knows me -- I circle the Patriots. That's what I do."
Ryan's Bills won't take on the Patriots again for another 13 days, when the two teams square off on Monday Night Football at Gillette Stadium. But it appears that even before he faces his old team, Ryan is "On To New England."
"Oh baby, that one's gonna be tough," he said, then sharing a few thoughts on Tom Brady's phenomenal start to the season. "The quarterback never gets worse. What's wrong with him? You know what I mean? When you get older, you're supposed to get worse. This dude is getting better.
"Like, it's sick. It's not right," he continued. "I'm waiting for the wheels to fall off."
Rex might have to wait awhile for that to happen, with Brady tossing 22 touchdowns to just two interceptions so far in 2015. Rex already had a front row seat for Brady's 466-yard, three touchdowns performance in Buffalo, as the Patriots handed Ryan his first loss as the Bills' head coach.
We should point out that Rex talked about game-planning for the Jets for about eight minutes before being asked if this week was circled on his calendar (and three minutes about the Clemson football team). But still, it seems like it always comes back to the Patriots with Rex Ryan.
