PDA

View Full Version : Rex Ryan: Jets Ready To Play



SteelCrazy
01-21-2011, 06:09 PM
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Rex Ryan and the New York Jets might as well have exchanged Valentine's Day cards this week with the Pittsburgh Steelers, considering how much praise they've expressed for one another.

Ryan warned everyone Friday, however, not to think that the Jets are any less motivated because they aren't preparing for the AFC Championship Game with splashy quotes.

And then he threw out a splashy quote.

"They've had six Super Bowl trophies," Ryan said of the Steelers organization. "If they want to put them on the field, we will play them, too."

He added: "I can assure you we are going to play well and I can assure you that team [Pittsburgh] is going to get everything we have just like always. We know what's at stake. We want the [AFC championship] T-shirt, we want the hat and we want the trophy. So I don't know what else I need to say."

Prior to beating the Colts in the AFC wild-card game, Ryan said beating Peyton Manning was personal. Before last week's win over the Patriots, Ryan made it all about him versus New England coach Bill Belichick. And Antonio Cromartie used profanity to describe his dislike for Tom Brady.

This week, the Jets have been polite and humble, and it might have some worried that they are out of character. Certainly, the NFL frowns on all of the trash talk. But Ryan said the lack of talking hasn't taken anything away from his team, which he says is dialed in and ready to play for the conference championship for the second straight year.

Ryan believes his team is better-equipped this year in the AFC title game than last year, when Manning and the Colts won in Indianapolis.

"I feel great because I think we are bringing in a better football team," Ryan said. "I think we are bringing in a team that can run the ball and throw the ball, where I think last year we were a little more one-dimensional [with the run]."

"I feel confident with this group," he added. "Having the experience of last year and the games on top of it also gives me a sense of that we are really prepared for this game."

Despite all of the nice things they have said about the Steelers, the Jets are eager to erase last year's memory of falling one step short of the Super Bowl.

"I think the fact that we had confetti dropped on our head with some other team's color on it is a motivator for us," Ryan said. "We want it to be green and white. We are doing everything in our power to see that that happens. Obviously Pittsburgh is going to have a lot to say about it, but I can tell you this: We are showing up."

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/ ... NHeadlines (http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/news/story?id=6045760&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines)