Buffalo Bills: Rex Ryan Rips Reporter for Cleveland Browns Comparison
By Paul Taylor
Rex Ryan becomes riled by question negatively comparing the Buffalo Bills’ defensive transition to Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs.
Whatever Buffalo Bills fans may think of Rex Ryan after his first season in charge, they’ll probably at least admit he brings a lot more exposure to Western New York. In that respect, he was at it again, during his press conference at the NFL owners meeting in Boca Raton.
As reported by Matthew Fairburn of www.newyorkupstate.com, the Bills head coach took offense to a question asking about the Bills’ defensive. In particular, he became annoyed by a comparison to the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs, claiming their defensive transitions were smoother.
Ryan said: “When you compare me to Cleveland’s defense, I don’t think that’s appropriate because I’ve never been that low in my life, okay? So I don’t appreciate that comment. It’s a joke.
“Just look at my history. I finished one time outside the top 10, so don’t put me at 30th in the league in defense. I just don’t get it.”
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There’s no denying Ryan’s first season in charge in Buffalo was a disaster, given his sterling reputation as a defensive coach. He took over a unit which was fourth in the NFL the year before, and saw them plummet to 19th.
As such, it makes sense the former New York Jets head coach would at least partly attempt to refer to his resume as a defense mechanism. However, he’s still right to take exception to being compared to the situations in Cleveland and Kansas City.
Referencing the Browns is particularly ridiculous, with the reporter probably using them as an example because they were coached by Mike Pettine, who previously worked under Ryan. The defense’s transition under Pettine was anything but smooth, going from 9th before he arrived, to 23rd in his first year as head coach .
Despite Ryan’s bombastic ways, he did admit after the season that the defense struggled, probably more than he anticipated. The most glaring example was Mario Williams, going from a career-high 14.5 sacks, to just five last season.
Williams was particularly vocal in his criticism of the defense schemes and was ultimately cut, albeit also partly due to his contract. If the defense doesn’t perform better this season, expect more people to step forward and condemn Ryan.
For his part, the 53-year old is confident things will turn around: “Once you get that confidence, the ironic thing is once you play in this system and you can ask many of the guys (who have played in it), you don’t want to play in any other system.
“Once you get it dialed in, that’s why it becomes great. You take advantage of the player’s mind as well.”
For his sake, Ryan had better hope results improve on the defensive side of the ball. If not, his previous success won’t mean a thing.
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What do you make of Rex Ryan’s reaction to the question about the Bills defensive transition last season? Is he right to be offended? Or is this just a way of avoiding the bigger issue of how the defense regressed from the season before? Let us know in the comments section below.