Rex Ryan refused to give out game ball to Jets defense

You know Rex Ryan is annoyed when he refuses to hand out game balls to the New York Jets Defense.

Bart Scott had a great game; Darrelle Revis set up the winner with an INT, and Jim Leonhard saved the game on a Jason Witten tackle, but according to Rex, this defense was awful.

“We’re not giving a game ball to any defensive players, even though Bart Scott played tremendous,” Ryan said. “But when your defense is not consistent and we don’t play to our standards, no game balls.”

“There’s definitely a lot of room for improvement on the defensive side,” cornerback Antonio Cromartie said. “Just for us, we gave up too many yards.”

Watching the game, the same problems from last season emerged again; no pass rush (Cowboys Tony Romo threw for 342 yards), and a tight end (Jason Witten) who had 110 yards on 6 catches.

As for Cromartie, he has mixed feelings about his play.

“In the beginning I thought I played pretty bad,” Cromartie said. “But going back and looking at the film and seeing how everything broke down I feel like I did a pretty good job.”

As for his kick returns, Cromartie was used a majority of the time, something the Jets decided to go with at the last second.

From now on, Cromartie and RB Joe McKnight will rotate, according to Ryan.

“I think Cromartie could be exceptional,” Ryan said.

The only complaint: Taking a ball nine yards back in the end zone.  That will change, as special teams coach Mike Westhoff issued orders forbidding Cromartie from that.

“I can’t go 109 no more,” Cromartie cracked, alluding to his league-record, 109-yard return on a missed field goal from his days with the Chargers.