Ryan fires Defensive Line coach

In a surprising move, Jets coach Rex Ryan has terminated the contract of Defensive line coach Kerry Locklin.

According to Rich Cimini at the NY Daily News:

“There were some disagreements, let’s put it that way,” Ryan acknowledged. “There were some issues, some personal issues that are behind this.”

According to team sources, Locklin was the line coach in name only. In reality, assistants Jeff Weeks (Ryan’s old college roommate) and retired Falcon pass rusher turned instructor Chuck Smith had been sharing the job “for a while,” said one source, who described Locklin as a “token” coach. Late Tuesday, Weeks was officially named by Ryan as the Locklin replacement.

Sources said there was a serious falling-out between Locklin and Ryan, who first met in the early 1990s as assistant coaches at Morehead State. There’s always a lot of he said/he said in situations like this, so it’s hard to separate fact from fiction, but one source said Locklin was “bad-mouthing” Ryan behind his back. Ryan apparently got wind of it.

In other news:

Safety Jim Leonhard, broke his right thumb against the Jaguars, and is having surgery.

Leonhard injured the thumb while missing a tackle on Jacksonville RB Maurice Jones-Drew on a touchdown run in the first quarter. He had a cast put on and continued to play.  This is a big loss for the Jets who have counted on Leonhard this year on special teams as well.