Welcome to Camp Confidence, where bold proclamations are among the rites of summer for the New York Jets. They are talking themselves up again and, maybe, even a little more than before.
Their self-impressed coach, Rex Ryan, is fine with that.
“I have no idea where they get that from,” Ryan said with a smile. “No idea. Because you know I’m a great coach. Just ask me.”
Ryan has been making bold proclamations since he became coach in 2009. He has toned down some of the bravado in recent seasons, but his players have stepped in for him. Second-year cornerback Dee Milliner recently declared to The Daily News that he believes he is the NFL’s top cornerback. Linebacker Calvin Pace also proclaimed to the newspaper that the Jets have the league’s best defence.
Geno Smith told ESPN.com he thinks he can become a top-five quarterback.
Said Ryan: “You know my Ray Robinson quote: ‘To be great, to be a champion, you’ve got to believe in yourself when nobody else will’. And that’s it. You can’t hide in this league. So if you’re saying it, that’s great, because they really believe it. But you don’t want to get embarrassed, that’s for sure.
“That means you’re going to put in the work. You’re willing to do that and you know what comes with it.”
Opposing teams will take notice, certainly, and perhaps chuckle at the pronouncements, recalling that the Jets were 4-8 last season before winning their final four to save Ryan’s job.
“You get a few bullets shot at you when you take this approach, so maybe that’s not recommended,” Ryan said. “But you know what? It’s who we are. It’s how we feel. They can laugh, but you’ve got to play us, too. So we’ll see at the end of the day. The beauty of it is, we get to find out.
“We’re not running from it. We’re running into it.”
In his five seasons, Ryan has outlasted one general manager, Mike Tannenbaum, and endeared himself to the new GM, John Idzik, despite the two seeming to have opposite personalities.
The bottom line: the Jets have failed to reach the play-offs in three seasons, the longest drought since Woody Johnson bought the team in 2000.
Ryan, though, seems as confident as ever. “Maybe there’s a reason,” he said. “Maybe I am more confident in this team.”
At this time a year ago, the Jets had a beleaguered Mark Sanchez competing with an inexperienced Smith for the quarterback job. There were five new starters on offence and seven on defence.
Ryan also pointed out that there was a new punter and 11 new assistant coaches, including offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.
“Maybe I wasn’t as confident initially,” Ryan said. “I mean, I was confident, but it was like, ‘Whoa, I don’t even know these guys’. But, again, I knew myself. I knew we’d give it our best shot, for sure.”
Idzik then went out and signed wide receiver Eric Decker, running back Chris Johnson and quarterback Michael Vick, among the best players available at their positions.
They also signed right tackle Breno Giacomini, fresh off a Super Bowl win with Seattle, and filled huge needs in the draft by taking hard-hitting safety Calvin Pryor and pass-catching tight end Jace Amaro with their first two picks.
“We understand that it takes a ton of hard work and you’ve got to prove it out on the field, but we never want to sell ourselves short,” Ryan said.
“The main thing is that we continue to stay focused. We’re all levelheaded.
“No one’s here saying we cornered the market on anything. We believe that we have to put the work in and, if we do so, then we’ll have a good team.”
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