For the second time in less than 24 hours, Jets head coach Rex Ryan is apologizing.
In the early morning hours Monday, Ryan apologized for his team’s poor performance. Monday afternoon, Ryan was apologizing again for his own actions.
Ryan, no stranger to putting his own foot in his mouth, appears to have found a way to put another in there.
As he walked off the field at halftime, a fan taunted Ryan, screaming that “Belichick is better than you.” Ryan yelled back, “Shut the f— up.”
“It was right after halftime, [we] obviously made the mistake with the timeout, gave up the touchdown. I was just full of emotion, and I just popped off,” Ryan said.
It was a rough final two minutes of the second quarter for the Jets.
Mark Sanchez’s timeout stopped the clock with 1:24 to play and after the Jets scored for a 9-6 lead, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady used the remaining time on the clock to march 80 yards on six plays in 1:11 to give New England a 13-9 lead at halftime. But even more than the unfortunate timeout, Ryan may have done something more stupid than his third-year quarterback calling an inopportune timeout.
The video was posted on YouTube and the NFL said they’re looking into it.
“I know I represent the National Football League and I represent the Jets and I know it was a mistake,” Ryan said. “I apologize for it.”
While Ryan apologized for the moment, he didn’t back off from the emotion that got him there. Ryan has had a similar incident two years ago in Miami, when he gave a heckler the finger during a UFC event in Miami. Shortly after the flap, Ryan apologized for that incident as well.
“It’s who I am, I made a mistake. I’m about as big of a competitive as there is. At that time I was in no mood to hear anything, but I also understand I have to handle that better,” Ryan said. “I make mistakes all the time. I’m not perfect by any stretch. I try to get better. Sometimes I let my emotions get the best of me.”
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
