A Final View Of the Jets “Press Conference Gate”

Dec. 23, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan stands on the sidelines with quarterback Mark Sanchez (6) during the second half against the San Diego Chargers at MetLife Stadium. Chargers won 27-17. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

We finally have resolution to “Press Conference Gate” (term I made up), as we found out that the Jets are going to meet with the media on Tuesday for the final time for in the 2012 season. Since it is technically against the rules, the local writers made a complaint against them to the NFL, which was subsequently dropped by the Pro Football Writers Association.

You all know the divide on this now, the media members are not happy about this, and actually are pretty angry at the team. The fans are just fine with it, as they feel that the Jets are getting their “ducks in a row”, before going to the media. We then learn that Rex went on vacation, and the media got upset about that too. One member mentioned how Tom Coughlin is more likely watching film than going on vacation.

The general feeling has become that they want to have more of the house in order before meeting with the media. Rex couldn’t have very many answers anyway, with no general manager in place. Why have him talk? The media will just badger him with questions that he cannot answer and that will be the end of it. The other viewpoint is that Woody actually isn’t sure about bringing Rex back, so they are having him out of the way, on vacation, so they can make the general manager move, and then decide on Rex’s future. These are all possible scenarios, but there is one possibility that hasn’t been spoken of.

Maybe, just maybe, this was done to BENEFIT Rex.

Look back to the press conference immediately following Sunday’s game against the Bills. Did anyone else notice when Rex started to get very irritated by the questions. Around a quarter to halfway into the questions, Rex said that he wanted to talk about the game only, and that he wanted to keep the longer range questions to their next press conference. But, true to form, the media didn’t listen. They continued to ask questions about the future, and about the season as a whole. No matter how many times Rex said he wouldn’t talk about these topics, they kept asking. Finally, there came a point when PR director Bruce Speight had to step in. Rex was borderline hot. Did anyone else notice? I did.

Maybe, just maybe, Woody and Bruce got together and said, “Let’s let Rex take a little break, so he doesn’t take out his frustrations in public, regardless of what punishment the league gives us.” Then, they told Rex, “Go clear your head, it’s OK. We’ll talk next week.” Maybe they did this for the good of Rex.

We’ll never know of course. Just exploring the possibility.