Quinton Coples, here getting to Chad Henne, led the team with 5.5 sacks last season.
Credit: Getty Images
Last week, head coach Rex Ryan sent a message to linebacker Quinton Coples, calling out the second-year player for what he saw was a lack of effort in the weight room. The former first-round pick says that the message was received.
Neither player nor coach have talked about the perceived lack of effort with Coples saying it was a “first-time experience for me” and that he has never been called out before. He called it a “wake-up” call.
“I wouldn’t say I got comfortable, it was during a drill, it was videotaped and I could have given better effort,” Coples said. “The next day when we came back here, I gave a better effort to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.”
In 2011 during his final year as a Tar Heel, Coples was dogged by criticism he would take plays off and lacked overall effort. It was a talking point that stuck with him throughout last spring’s NFL Draft process, despite his strong metrics.
Coples said he heard about his head coach’s disapproval when his business manager called him about Ryan’s quotes from rookie minicamp. A Google Alert went off in his business manager’s inbox, notifying him of the situation.
“I wasn’t shocked by it; it was just something he did,” Coples sad. “I responded well. I responded in the weight room and got better.”
Last week, Ryan said he holds Coples to a very high standard since he “has all the physical tools to be the best player out on the field and that’s what we need him to be.”
In 2012, Coples played in all 16 games and had 30 tackles. He led the Jets with 5.5 sacks.
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
