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| New Jets coach wants Favre back |
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Source: Reuters
Jan. 22, 2009
The New York Jets' new head coach Rex Ryan said on Thursday he hoped Brett Favre would return as quarterback of the NFL team.
"Brett Favre is a tremendous player," Ryan told a news conference. "I got whiplash coaching against him, watching him go up and down the field.
"I know the kind of talent he has and the kind of competitor he is. I think anybody would want a player like that on his team."
The 39-year-old quarterback, traded by the Green Bay Packers to the Jets before last season after he changed his mind about retirement, has said he has not yet made up his mind about whether he wants to continue playing.
Ryan, who replaced Eric Mangini at the helm, said he had not yet talked to Favre but planned to in the coming days.
The new head coach, who was defensive coordinator of the rugged Baltimore Ravens, said he planned to field a ferocious defense at the Jets.
"We will be an aggressive football team and a physical football team," he said. "We want to be known as the most physical football team in the NFL. If you take a swipe at one of ours, we'll take a swipe at two of yours."
The Jets parted ways with Mangini after the team lost four of their last five games following an 8-3 start to finish 9-7 and miss the playoffs. Mangini was later hired as head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
Ryan said he welcomed the expectations that came with taking over a team that had posted a winning record.
"I look at that as an opportunity, that we can win immediately," he said.
"This team won nine football games. This is a good football team. There really doesn't have to be a drastic change. But I think you may see a drastic change in the style of play, in particular on defense.
"We're not going to read and react, that is for somebody else. We're going to attack from the whistle. We're going to turn the heat up and let the fur fly and see what happens."
Ryan is part of a coaching family that includes his twin brother Rob, defensive coordinator for the Browns, and their father Buddy Ryan, a former NFL head coach who began his NFL career as an assistant with the Jets.
"This is a dream come true," Ryan said. "My dad started his NFL pro coaching career with the New York Jets and won a Super Bowl in his first year. I'd love to duplicate that here." |
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