Rex Ryan

Bombastic New York Jets coach and former Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan was the talk of the combine last year when he guaranteed that his team was going to win the Super Bowl. Standing in the same room today, about a month and a half after his team endured an 8-8 season and a divided locker room, Ryan was significantly less brash. In fact, he blamed himself for what Ryan called a “terrible” season. “In all seriousness, looking back, obviously it was a huge mistake to make that guarantee,” Ryan said.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter seemed prepared for a question today regarding his feelings toward New York Jets coach Rex Ryan's belief that the Orioles should have played an extra game on the road to accommodate the Ravens' proposed home opener on Sept. 5. Because the Orioles already have a scheduled night game on Sept. 5, the Ravens aren't opening at home, which is the tradition for Super Bowl champions. The Ravens will instead will kick off the NFL season that night in Denver.

Because Ravens outside linebacker Jarret Johnson plays on the same defense with Haloti Ngata, Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs, he often gets overlooked when you talk about the Ravens' front seven. But Jets coach Rex Ryan won't overlook the Ravens' ninth-year strongside outside linebacker. Johnson may not get a lot of tackles because he is usually wrestling some tight end, but he has been close to pulling off several sacks this season.  “I'll tell you a guy that's underrated is Jarret Johnson,” Ryan said.

New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan is never shy about voicing his opinion so perhaps it should come as no surprise that the Ravens former defensive coordinator weighed in on a matter that has nothing to do with him or his current team. In a conference call with reporters following the release of NFL's regular-season schedule, Ryan took issue with the fact that the Ravens, the reigning Super Bowl champions, are opening the season on the road after they couldn't work out a scheduling conflict with the Orioles for the night of Sept.

Some of the familial ties between the Jets and Baltimore Ravens bring up bittersweet memories during game week. For one, there's the head coach, Rex Ryan, who was passed over for the head coach's job in Baltimore in 2008 after a decade as an assistant with the team, eventually leading him to the Jets. “Was I bitter about not getting the head coaching job? Yeah, absolutely,” Ryan said today of losing the Ravens job to John Harbaugh. And then there's the veteran wideout, Derrick Mason, who was released this past July by the Ravens after spending six seasons in Baltimore.

Last month, Ravens safety Ed Reed made an interesting remark about Jets coach Rex Ryan, saying that he and other unnamed players had hoped Ryan would get the Ravens' head coaching gig in 2008. Recently, in an unfiltered interview with Pro Football Focus, Jets inside linebacker Bart Scott, who followed Ryan to New York in 2009, tried to explain where Reed was coming from when he made those comments about Ryan to ESPN. “I’m sure you guys are into the news and heard what Ed Reed said a couple of weeks ago about how disappointed he was and about how he wanted Rex to get the head job in Baltimore,” Scott said.

ESPN’s Ed Werder tracked down Ravens safety Ed Reed at his annual football camp in Louisiana this week, and Reed said that when he entered the NFL, he planned on playing until he was 35. But after suffering a hip injury and a nerve impingement in his neck in recent years, he isn’t sure how much longer he will play. “I don’t want to be like these guys having neck surgery and then you got to have another surgery just to continue to play this game,” said Reed, who missed six games in 2010.

As the New York Jets get bigger, the legend of their head coach Rex Ryan grows in Baltimore. Ever since the Ravens lost to the Atlanta Falcons Thursday in a last minute comeback by the Falcons, we keep hearing comparisons of Ryan and current Ravens defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, which is unfair to both men. Ryan was a great assistant coach and coordinator here, and he has done a terrific job in New York during the last two...

News item: New York Jets coach Rex Ryan is back in the prediction business. He said this week that he looked into his crystal ball and saw a Super Bowl Trophy. My take: In a cruel cosmic twist, he didn't notice that it had "1969" engraved on it. News item: New Orioles manager Buck Showalter went 3-for-3 in his debut series against the Los Angeles Angels. My take: Maybe it was just a coincidence — since the O's have swept a few series this year without any noticeable change in overall direction — but it's also possible that Buck was the wakeup call this organization needed.

Ravens Pro Bowl outside linebacker Terrell Suggs behaved for most of his time with the media -- until someone asked him about New York Jets coach Rex Ryan's tattoo. Ryan used to be the Ravens defensive line coach and coordinator. Suggs remains close to Ryan. "I probably got something on my ass that ya'll never see that is probably inappropriate," Suggs said. "Who cares? I think you guys blew it way out of proportion. I don't really think it's a big deal. I think everybody should have a certain amount of privacy, even though they are in the public eye, no matter who they are. Even our president deserves a certain amount of privacy.

Ravens Pro Bowl outside linebacker Terrell Suggs behaved for most of his time with the media -- until someone asked him about New York Jets coach Rex Ryan's tattoo. Ryan used to be the Ravens defensive line coach and coordinator. Suggs remains close to Ryan. "I probably got something on my ass that ya'll never see that is probably inappropriate," Suggs said. "Who cares? I think you guys blew it way out of proportion. I don't really think it's a big deal. I think everybody should have a certain amount of privacy, even though they are in the public eye, no matter who they are. Even our president deserves a certain amount of privacy.

A retread like Vick Aaron Wilson Baltimore Sun It's time for the Jets to put Mark Sanchez out of his misery: Cut him, bench him or trade him. Sanchez's erratic play can't be tolerated anymore, and Tim Tebow and Greg McElroy aren't the answer. Regardless of whether Rex Ryan and Mike Tannenbaum return, Sanchez shouldn't. If the Jets want to upgrade at quarterback, it won't be easy. Alex Smith or Matt Flynn aren't bad choices via trades but would be tough to pull off. That's why the Jets will wind up with a retread like Michael Vick once the Eagles discard him. Vick turns 33 before next season and is a flawed quarterback, but it's better than sticking with Sanchez.

Good morning and welcome to a fairly sleepy morning on the Internet. Twitter is mostly concerned with heady topics like Happy Hump Day and #ILoveMyPhone, but there are a few news stories bubbling up.  The lovely ladies of the annual Victoria Secret Fashion Show , which aired last night on CBS, are performing well to no one's surprise. Meanwhile, Jets head coach Rex Ryan is standing by his man, deciding to start Mark Sanchez this Sunday. Is it me or is there more quarterback drama than ever this year?

Jets have nothing to lose Dan Pompei Chicago Tribune The Jets are 3-6 and have lost three straight. They are playing another team with a losing record this week, the Rams. Mark Sanchez has a 70.4 passer rating and is not winning games. Rex Ryan has nothing to lose by giving Tim Tebow an opportunity to do for them what he did for the Broncos a year ago. If the Jets don't go to Tebow now, it made little sense to trade for him in the offseason. If they wait for another loss or two, it's going to be too late.

Ryan and Kubiak Dan Pompei Chicago Tribune It is difficult to argue with the choices of the players who were polled by The Sporting News. Gary Kubiak (underrated) has not won big in the postseason, but he runs a solid program, develops players and finds a way to consistently contend. Since the start of the 2011 season, he has guided the Texans to a 17-7 record despite seeing his team battle through some potentially devastating injuries.He really has put Houston on the NFL map again, with the four best seasons in franchise history.

When they want to panic Joseph Schwerdt Sun Sentinel Rex Ryan should give Tim Tebow the start on Monday night against the Texans if he wants to throw a bomb in an already volatile clubhouse. He should start Tebow if he's ready to pound on the panic button. Ryan and offensive coordinator Tony Sparano have done a pretty good job keeping Tebowmania bottled up. What they haven't done is use Tebow effectively. Tebow is the ultimate Wildcat weapon, but he hasn't been a factor in New York and has given no indication he can spark the offense.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter seemed prepared for a question today regarding his feelings toward New York Jets coach Rex Ryan's belief that the Orioles should have played an extra game on the road to accommodate the Ravens' proposed home opener on Sept. 5. Because the Orioles already have a scheduled night game on Sept. 5, the Ravens aren't opening at home, which is the tradition for Super Bowl champions. The Ravens will instead will kick off the NFL season that night in Denver.

An emotional Ray Lewis lashed out at the New York Jets on Thursday, ripping the team and coach Rex Ryan for their self-promoting hype. Ranting for a couple of minutes, the Ravens middle linebacker reached a point where he got fed up from all the Super Bowl talk coming from the Jets. This should increase the drama for the Ravens' season opener at the Jets on Monday Night Football. "We're talking about the Jets like we're talking about the Saints," Lewis said. "That's the Super Bowl champs.

Boston drama never ends Paul Doyle Hartford Courant This one's not even close — the Red Sox are beyond dysfunctional. Once considered baseball's model franchise after winning two titles in four years, the Red Sox are a mess. The team experienced an epic meltdown in 2011, and management responded by dumping manager Terry Francona before GM Theo Epstein bolted for the Cubs. The answer? Hire Bobby Valentine, a guy whose skin is too thin for Boston. Valentine accurately said the season has been miserable, as players revolted against their manager and the remnants of last year's "chicken-and-beer" collapse still lingered at Fenway Park.

The world's nicest NFL Player met the New York media Monday and charmed everyone in the room. And considering the room was the cavernous Jetsindoor practice facility, crammed with enough TV cameras, tape recorders and notebook-wielding reporters to cover a papal visit, this was no small feat. At probably the biggest news conference ever held for a backup quarterback, Tim Tebow said all the right things to the howling jackals of the press, as you knew he would. He was folksy and humble and open and aw-shucksy, just what you'd expect. How many times did he say he was "excited" to be a Jet?