Sheldon Richardson isn’t refraining from sex — or food, judging by his meal this week at the Cheesecake Factory.
Credit: Getty Images
According to a story in the New York Daily News on Wednesday, head coach Rex Ryan was asking his players to abstain from having sex leading up to Sunday’s game.
Ryan refuted that on Thursday in his daily press conference, saying, “I did not tell our players that they couldn’t have sex.” On Wednesday night, one Jets player told Metro, “Hell no. Never heard anything like that from Rex.”
The original story cited rookie defensive end Sheldon Richardson as the source for the remark about Ryan’s request for the players to hold back on their urges in order to focus more on their upcoming opponent. Richardson told Metro his head coach was joking with the players on Thursday and that he was simply having fun.
In other words, don’t take this thing so seriously — just the game seriously.
“This is a serious game, it is a rivalry — a big rivalry. We feel like we should have [won] last time we played them and we feel like we should beat them now,” Richardson told Metro. “It’s just that simple. It was a joke. He wants us to win this game, just like we do every week.”
As for his own ability to focus, Richardson said he’s doing everything as he normally would, whether it is ‘Patriots Week’ or not. He usually stays in and watches film, except for his weekly Monday night excursion with his teammates to the Cheesecake Factory.
He said his decision to stay low key during the season is one where “smart things compound daily.”
Apparently, the 6-foot-3, 294-pound defensive end has a diet that compounds daily. His meal at the Cheesecake Factory was enough for a romantic rendezvous.
“Salmon, mac and cheese and green beans on the side along with the smokehouse burger,” Richardson said. “Then red velvet cheesecake that he finished that night.”
Richardson reports the dessert did not make it beyond the night but was eaten when he got back home. That’s true love.
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
