The Jets get no respect. Shut-down cornerback Darrelle Revis did not win the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year Award yesterday. In so many words, an irritated Rex Ryan said the Jets will make opponents pay for the snub.
“Revis is going for different hardware right now,” Ryan vowed. “We’ll feel a lot better if we can put a ring on our finger than the individual accomplishment.”
There you have it. Another day at Jets practice, another Super Bowl reference. If only Ryan had coached Joe Namath, then we would really have something special.
Revis lost out to Green Bay cornerback Charles Woodson, but the way Ryan and Jets look at this, it just gives them more fuel in their quest to shock the high-flying Chargers come Sunday in San Diego.
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“You can’t get a higher individual award,” Ryan said, and then added this about Revis. “This in my opinion was the best year a corner has ever had, the most impact a corner has ever had in the National Football League.”
“Ever” sure covers a lot of ground, but that’s the kind of faith Crazy Like a Rex has for his players. Revis, like all the Jets, appreciates the support.
“He’s always behind us, and that’s important,” Revis said of his coach.
Revis added it’s not about individual awards anyway, although he did note that he won the USA Today Defensive Player of the Year Award. I’m letting him know now The Post has awarded him our Defensive Player of the Year honors, too.
Revis said he’s got more important things to worry about now. He has to worry about stopping Vincent Jackson and the other San Diego receivers.
“What [do] you want me to say? He won,” Revis said. “He had a great year, he did his thing, and he won. That’s what it is.”
Asked if this snub would motivate Revis, safety Jim Leonhard answered, “Absolutely. I don’t think he needs a whole lot of motivation outside of what he puts on himself. He’s extremely self-motivated. But if he needed any extra motivation, I think it’s there. He wanted that award. But I think he wanted it for the rest of this defense as much as for himself.”
Leonhard noted that Revis has to play the most difficult of quarterback-receiver combos.
“You play [Tom] Brady and [Randy] Moss twice. We played Indy with Peyton [Manning] and Reggie Wayne and [Houston’s Matt] Schaub and Andre Johnson. It’s been unbelievable. He held Chad Johnson to no catches for 6½ quarters. That never happens. Ever.”
Voting for the award is done by a nationwide panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.
“I would like to congratulate the people who voted for Darrelle Revis. These guys obviously really know the game,” Ryan said early in his press conference, before adding some zingers. “You’ve got to look at all the numbers, not just a number about this or a number about this stat or that stat. A number that I think is interesting would be eight and, no, that’s not the amount of touchdown passes that Green Bay gave up against Arizona. That is the number of touchdown passes we gave up all season at the Jets, and the biggest reason for that is Darrelle Revis.”
“There [are] plenty of things to look at — No. 1 defense in the National Football League by 35 yards a game, No. 1 in scoring, even though we gave up seven returns when the defense wasn’t on the field,” Ryan said. “Basically, [it was] 187 points the defense gave up all season. [A player on that defense] might be a consideration for the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. For the people that obviously voted for Darrelle Revis, I tip my hat to them, because they really know the game.”
For those who didn’t, Rex might have added, watch Sunday’s game and learn something.