Press Coverage

By Jay Skurski

Mike Pettine was lucky enough to have two of the best cornerbacks in football while he was the defensive coordinator of the New York Jets.

One of those players, Darrelle Revis, is rumored to be on the trading block. Mike Freeman of CBS Sports reports today that the Buffalo Bills are one of the teams rumored to be interested in Revis. Freeman, though, rules out the possibility, saying "not happening -- division rival" about the possibility of the Jets trading Revis within the AFC East. 

Pettine was asked about Revis today, but predictably couldn't give much of an answer, lest the Bills risk tampering charges.

"He is a player that is under contract to another team," Pettine said. "We are evaluating this roster, when the smoke clears from that we'll look to address any potential additions to this roster."

Revis is coming off surgery to repair a torn anterior-cruciate ligament in his left knee, which he suffered in September. He's entering the final year of his contract, and will want a lucrative contract extension. He'll also fetch a steep price in the trade market -- Freeman reports the Jets are seeking a first- and second-round draft pick.

All of those factors seem to indicate the Bills are an unlikely trading partner, but as the team showed last year when it signed Mario Williams, nothing should be completely ruled out.

Pairing Revis with Stephon Gilmore would give the Bills one of the best cornerback tandems in the NFL, something Pettine had with the Jets.

"It helps. For me, anytime you can lock down the outside and play nine against nine, I think that's to your advantage," Pettine said. "Again, those guys aren't here and we are evaluating some talented players here.

"Are we going to build the structure of the system the same way as New York? Absolutely not. This is going to be the Buffalo Bills' defense. And we're excited, like we mentioned before, in just the early evaluations of the roster, there are some talented football players here."

By Tim Graham

The New York Jets scoff at the notion Buffalo Bills receiver Stevie Johnson is something special when it comes to matching up against all-world cornerback Darrelle Revis.

When asked about Johnson's success against them, Jets coach Rex Ryan, defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, linebacker Bart Scott and Revis himself delivered a harmonious response:

Puh-lease.

In a New York Daily News story, reporter Manish Mehta explored the idea Revis had trouble covering Johnson last season. The Bills will open the season Sunday against the Jets at the Meadowlands.

"That's the position I'm in," Revis told Mehta. "The success that I've had is the reason why maybe people criticize me a different way. ... I'm not panicking over nothing. I know how to play ball. I play great ball. I'm not panicking because a guy got 70 yards."

The story focuses on Johnson's numbers versus the Jets last year: three catches for 84 yards in the first meeting and eight catches for 75 yards and the only touchdown Revis allowed all year in the rematch.

A receiver who can average 5.5 receptions, 79.5 yards and 0.5 touchdowns a game over a full season would have 88 receptions for 1,272 yards and eight touchdowns.

That's excellent versus mediocre opposition. Against an elite, shutdown cornerback, Johnson's production is remarkable.

(Note: In a previous version of this article, I mistakenly included stats from two 2010 Jets games in which Revis didn't play.)

The Jets defended Johnson better when Revis wasn't on the field. Revis missed both 2010 meetings, the first with a hamstring injury and the second to rest for the playoffs. If you factor in those two games against the Jets and cornerbacks such as Antonio Cromartie, Marquice Cole and Kyle Wilson, then Johnson's pace would drop to 76 receptions for 1,048 yards and eight touchdowns.

Johnson's stat line last season -- 76 catches, 1,004 yards, seven touchdowns -- against a mixed bag of cornerbacks was remarkably close to what he has done against the Jets the past two years. Johnson signed a lucrative contract extension in the offseason.

"Stevie Johnson's a good receiver, and he's caught some balls, but I wouldn't say he's got Darrelle Revis' number," Ryan said. "He goes up against all types: big, strong, fast, shifty. He goes against them all. And I've never walked out of a game saying, 'This player got the best of Darrelle Revis.' Never. Never felt that way. Do you realize how special this guy is? It is amazing what we ask him to do.

"That's their No. 1 receiver. If they're going to spend a ton of their time throwing [at Johnson], we'd probably say, 'If you're going to catch seven balls for 70 yards, go for it. That's fine.' That doesn't usually beat you."

That's true. But a healthy Revis hasn't allowed other star receivers to have that kind of success. He's known for practically shutting out the likes of Andre Johnson, Brandon Marshall, Dwayne Bowe, Reggie Wayne and Roddy White.

In my preseason series on the AFC East's top 25 players, I ranked Revis No. 2 behind Tom Brady and Johnson No. 17.

Head-to-head, though, back-to-back games could indicate a trend. Unless, of course, you ask the Jets.

"It's like Michael Jordan playing against Dominique Wilkins," Scott said, "and Dominique gets 20, and it's like, ‘Oh! He lit Jordan's a-- up!' Come on, man. Nobody's indestructible. A lot of times when [Revis] gives up yards, he's got the whole half of the field with no help. Everybody was doubling everybody else on the other side. It's easy for [Johnson] to get [some yards]."

But nobody else, apparently.

(Photo: James P. McCoy/Buffalo News)