Rex Ryan: “I know we’ll have a tremendous defense.”

Aug 7, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan on the sidelines during the third quarter of a game against the Indianapolis Colts at MetLife Stadium. The Jets defeated the Colts 13-10. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Rex Ryan was, is, and always will be, a confident guy. That is just his way. Like him or not, Rex Ryan will always be that way.

Rex Ryan also was, is, and always will be, a great defensive coach. There is no denying his ability to get a defense to perform, no matter what you think of him. We saw it in Baltimore, as well as here, with last season being the first during his tenure as coach that the defense was outside the top ten.

So, it is no surprise that when asked about his confidence in his team’s defense, Rex had this to say:

If you just think you’re going to have all the pieces for a whole season and all that, that doesn’t work. That’s not the case in this league. The guys with the staying power, guys that have been fairly successful through the league, know how to make adjustments and play to the strength of your team and that’s certainly what we’ll do. And again, I (do) fall back on my experiences and all that. I know we’ll have a tremendous defense. There’s no doubt. That’s one thing that you can say throughout the years. I’ve been right on that. And I’ll be right on this.

Why does coach Ryan feel so good about this year’s edition of the Jets’ defense?

I mean, I feel great about the 11 that’ll be out there. Now, I can’t tell you exactly who the 11 are going to be, but they’re going to play like Jets and they’re going to know the system. We’re going to know them, we’re going to play to the strengths of our players like we always do and good things will happen. I know we’re working extremely hard and that another thing that it starts with, that work ethic, the fact that the players buy into what you do, and that’s already here, that’s already built in, so again, I know we’ll be successful, ranking-wise or whatever, on defense, but we want to win, period. And to do that, we think that our defense should be top, whatever, a top five defense, if you will, but as a team, we just want to be a great football team, so whatever that takes, that’s what we plan on doing.

Rex is a great defensive coach, we all know that. I will always love his confidence. When his confidence waned, so did the play of the team. Rex, don’t ever change.