Ryan Quigley is back with the Jets after being cut before the season.
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The call came on Friday night and completely disrupted Ryan Quigley’s weekend plans.
Quigley was in California late last week to watch his alma mater Boston College play USC at the Los Angeles Coliseum when he got a call from the Jets asking him to come back to the team for a tryout on Monday morning. Realizing that with a time difference and a continental flight ahead of him, Quigley made the decision to forego the college game and hop on a flight back to New York City on Saturday morning.
The Jets had Quigley in training camp and he was one of the last players cut to get the roster down to 53 players. Now with the team asking him for a tryout, Quigley made the choice to “not do the red-eye flight” and come back a day before he was put through the paces.
“When I got the call and they said they wanted me to come in for a workout, I started thinking about time, flying from the West Coast to the East Coast. I knew I had to be here as soon as possible. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Quigley said. “I was at the hotel all day, basically stretching and a little bike to stay loose — watch some NFL. I felt I made the right decision.”
With Monday’s workout at 7 a.m. having gone well, the Jets cut ties with Robert Malone Monday morning, who was signed by the team last preseason but had a very erratic season. Quigley said he had a tryout with the Buccaneers for later this week that has obviously been cancelled with Monday’s roster move.
Through two games, Malone was fourth best in the league in total punting yardage but was a very average No. 15 with 46.3 yards per punt.
“With Robert, it’s just the consistency, that’s the thing that bothered us,” head coach Rex Ryan said.
Last year, Quigley was signed by the Bears as an undrafted rookie free agent and made the 53-man roster but was cut shortly after the season opener without ever having punted in an NFL regular season game.
In three preseason games, Quigley averaged 43.8 yards per punt, not terribly high numbers. But what was impressive was that four of his 10 punts landed inside the 20-yard line.
“We’re very different in our styles. He has a huge leg, a strong leg. He hit an 84-yard punt in the first game, very strong,” Quigley said. “And I’m more of a directional punter.”
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
