Early in his tenure as head coach of the New York Jets, Rex Ryan talked a big game and encouraged his players to do the
Will Calvin Pryor give the Jets a shot of attitude or will his act get stale?(Credit: Getty Images / Rich Schultz)
same. After repeatedly failing to back up his promises, coach Ryan has toned down his rhetoric and so have the Jets players. This has resulted in a more uniform and professional organization with the focus back on football.
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This season the Jets will bring in an X-factor in Calvin Pryor who could bring back some of the familiar swagger. Pryor is a hard hitter, an aggressive player and an admitted trash-talker. He talks so much during games that he does not wear a mouth guard because it would get in the way of antagonizing his opponents. I have been outspoken on the topic of Pryor's aggressive, sometimes out of control style. Adding the fact that he runs his mouth is another red flag.
Undoubtedly there are many players who trash talk on the field. The fact that Pryor needs to talk about it shows a potential lack of focus on the game itself. When asked if he planned to talk trash as a rookie, Pryor replied,
"With me being a rookie, that doesn't mean anything, I am who I am. I'm going to talk trash. I'm going to be myself. People who don't like it are just going to have to get used to it."
(quote courtesy nfl.com)
This issue may be overblown as Pryor is a young player excited to start his pro career. His energy and attitude could give the Jets a jolt in the right direction. It is just as likely that he could become a distraction and provide bulletin board material for the opponents, however.
Pryor makes no secret of who he is or how he conducts himself, so the Jets knew what they were getting when they took him in the first round of the draft. Clearly the GM and coach Ryan are on board with his style. It will be interesting to watch as the season progresses to see if Pryor becomes detrimental to the team or he is just the intimidating playmaker the Jets were looking for.
