Been there, done that.
If former Jets wide receiver Derrick Mason has an axe to grind against the team that traded him Tuesday night to Houston for a seventh-round pick, he isn’t showing it. Mason addressed the Texans media on Wednesday morning to discuss the move and he harbors no hard feelings towards the Jets or head coach Rex Ryan, whom he knew when Ryan was defensive coordinator in Baltimore and Mason was a standout wide receiver.
“I’m done, I just want to put that behind me as quickly as possible. They can continue to talk about it if they want, but I’ve got a job to do, and that’s to come here and play good football. I can’t worry about what happened in New York. I enjoyed my two months there, if it was that,” Mason said. “I enjoyed Rex. I’ve been knowing Rex for a long time, but things just don’t last. Sometimes you go in with one thought as an organization and then you come out with another.”
Mason said he’s “not upset” with the personnel move in New York, but things clearly went south for the player while with the Jets. After a Week 4 loss at Baltimore, Mason complained to the media about the “foundation” of the offense needing work. The next week, he found himself on the Jets practice squad and riding the bench until the third quarter of Sunday’s game in New England.
General manager Mike Tannenbaum and Ryan both said that the emergence of rookie Jeremy Kerley made the 15-year veteran Mason expendable. He claims surprise at the trade.
“Yeah, it did, but nothing in this league surprises me no more. I try not to, but sometimes it catches you off-guard. But, you know, it happened and I’ve said it before, you just find a way to pick up the pieces as quickly as possible and move on,” Mason said. “The faster you do that, the more likely you will have some success at your next team. So I’m putting it behind me as quickly as possible. I just want to get to playing football with the Texans.”
A knock on Mason from his time with the Jets was that he didn’t grasp the playbook fast enough and wasn’t picking up his role as the third receiver in the offense. Texans head coach Gary Kubiak, ironically, thinks that the seasoned receiver can assimilate easily into the offense.
“We had a chance to go get a guy that still runs very well even though he’s played a long time in this league. He’s been very effective in this league and we feel like we can catch him up real fast,” Kubiak said. “So that was a big key and worth us bringing him in here and giving him a chance to help us out.”
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
