Press Coverage

By Tim Graham

INDIANAPOLIS -- Rex Ryan dialed back his usual bluster.

Rarely afraid to playfully hurl trash talk about is friends, the New York Jets head coach was diplomatic Thursday when discussing new Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Mike Pettine.

Pettine turned down an in-season offer to extend his contract with the Jets and eventually became Bills head coach Doug Marrone's defensive coordinator.

At the NFL scouting combine in Lucas Oil Stadium, I asked Ryan how his old pal can impact the Bills' defense. Pettine left the Baltimore Ravens with Ryan to join the Jets in 2009.

Continue reading "Rex Ryan respectful when speaking of Mike Pettine, Bills" »

By Tim Graham

When Rex Ryan left the Baltimore Ravens to become head coach of the New York Jets in 2009 and Mike Pettine came along as defensive coordinator, a significant part of their master plan was to sign former Raven defenders who could communicate the system to their new teammates.

The top two targets were linebacker Bart Scott and safety Jim Leonhard, who speak the same language Ryan and Pettine do. Scott and Leonhard made the on-field calls and explained the adjustments.

The Jets' defense thrived right away.

A similar transition could be in the works for the Buffalo Bills. A few weeks after hiring Pettine to be their defensive coordinator, the Bills today released linebacker Nick Barnett and safety George Wilson.

Continue reading "Why it's important Bills clear room for some of Mike Pettine's Jets" »

By Tim Graham

NEW ORLEANS -- Where did Rex Ryan stop and Mike Pettine begin with the New York Jets' defense?

"I've been asked that before," former Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum told me in the Super Bowl XLVII media center. "I think Mike's his own guy, and he'll do a good job.

"Where one started and one ended, it could've been by the game, by the quarter. It depended on the game and the situation. But Mike's really good."

Continue reading "Mike Pettine left Rex Ryan and joined Bills to be his own man" »

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)

By Tim Graham

The New York Jets' coaching staff has been showcasing Aaron Maybin to the rest of the team as an example of how they want their players to approach the game.

This is the same Aaron Maybin the Bills drafted 11th overall in 2009 but cut after two seasons. He's the same Aaron Maybin who, in his first training camp in 2010  (he held out as a rookie) touched off a brawl when he knocked running back Fred Jackson down from behind in a no-tackle practice, causing center Eric Wood to yell "Give back some of that money you ain't f------ earned!"

But with the Jets, Maybin has remained a favorite of head coach Rex Ryan and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine.

"The guy has been tremendous," Ryan said in a transcript the Jets disseminated Sunday. "Mike Pettine did a great job [Saturday]. He showed [a film clip of] Aaron running to the football like he does. He said 'Guys, as teammates you have to be embarrassed because this guy embarrassed the other 10 guys that were out there at that time.'

"They might have been thinking they were going hard, but this guy reminds me a little of [two-time Pro Bowl defensive end] Michael McCrary in the fact that when I had this young man in Baltimore, he was relentless. That's the way Aaron plays.

"He goes 100 miles an hour. ... He doesn't play with any brakes. He doesn't slow down until he runs into something. That's who he is, and that's who he's been since he's been a New York Jet."

Bills head coach Chan Gailey told me at the 2011 NFL owners meetings that Maybin's failures with the Bills weren't for lack of effort. That seems to jibe with the player Ryan and Pettine are coaching now.

Maybin didn't have any sacks in his two seasons with Buffalo. He was a healthy scratch on occasion and started only one game because the Bills wanted him to be an all-around outside linebacker. With the Jets last season, he recorded six sacks and forced four fumbles as a situational pass-rusher.

Ryan was asked if Maybin might get more playing time as a three-down outside linebacker.

"I could definitely see that," Ryan said. "He's going to earn that, and you have to earn your way out there, and I think he's on his way to earning more reps and more responsibility from us."

Maybin is a weird story angle for Bills fans. The consensus when the Bills cut him was "Good riddance." He was tough to root for because of his cocky persona and invisible production. I get the sense Bills fans still are glad he's gone even though the team didn't get anything in return.

But as long as he's with the Jets and getting Ryan excited, then there's reason to dread facing Maybin twice a year. He's now one of those villains Bills fans can't stand to see doing well.

(Photo: Julio Cortez/Associated Press)