Coming unglued in Jetland.

[dscola31]

By Rich Cimini
ESPNNewYork.com

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Now it's official: The New York Jets' locker room is fractured.

Veteran guard Brandon Moore, taking offense to Santonio Holmes' latest criticism of the offensive line, fired back at the wide receiver Friday, telling ESPNNewYork.com that Holmes is creating a rift by throwing teammates under the bus.

"He's obviously got the green light to evaluate every position on the team," Moore said. "I just didn't think captaincy entailed that. I've never seen a captain do that. That's not leading. That's not being a leader. It actually fragments the locker room. It's not productive."

Moore, the longest-tenured player on the Jets' sputtering offense, is regarded as one of the quiet leaders on the team. That he decided to speak out against Holmes is an indication of the current state of team chemistry.

"Obviously, it's OK to do that," said Moore, alluding to Rex Ryan's freedom-of-speech policy. "This organization lets you say whatever you want. There's no muzzle. But as a professional, there are some things you do muzzle. I've muzzled my mouth numerous times. It's called being a pro. It's called taking care of your brothers in the locker room, the guys who fight for each other."




On Thursday, Holmes called out the offensive line for the second time in two weeks, saying the line is the root of the unit's problems. He made critical remarks after the Jets' Week 3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, and he followed that up Thursday, by saying, "I may be criticized again for saying it, but it starts up front. The big guys know it. If they give Mark (Sanchez) enough time to sit in the pocket and complete passes, I think everything changes."

Now the big guys are ticked off. Guard Matt Slauson declined to comment on Holmes' remarks.

Center Nick Mangold had this to say: "Santonio's very competitive. He's a great guy, a good teammate. And a lot of times that competitiveness, that drive to do well and do great, it happens. It's just one of those things you move on, you don't worry about it too much."

The other two starting linemen didn't show up in the locker room during the media period.

Moore was asked if others share his sentiment.

"I don't know, some guys might side with (Holmes), that attitude of, 'I'm doing everything right and the blame goes on everybody else.' I'm sure guys are thinking like that, the selfish guys."

Asked if he's upset, Moore said: "Yeah, I am. I've just never seen anything like this."

Ryan refused to criticize Holmes for his latest shots, saying he doesn't like to restrict players from speaking their mind. He also suggested that Holmes' comments were taken out of context.

"I'm as guilty as anybody, sometimes when you make comments, maybe things aren't interpreted exactly how they show up on black and white," Ryan said. "The thing I can tell you about Santonio is ... nobody is more supportive of his teammates than Santonio. These comments, you can interpret them any way you want. I don't think he planned on it being a negative, how it came out." Ryan said he doesn't think his offensive linemen were bothered by the comment. "No," the coach said, "they've got skin like an armadillo."

Moore was obviously bothered, however, with the comments and the fact that Holmes was allowed to utter them.

"Somebody at the top is telling him it's OK," Moore said. Turning sarcastic, he added, "He's the captain. If that's how the captain feels about things, that's the psyche of the offense, I guess. Everybody takes their marching orders from that."

Before the season, Ryan named Holmes and Sanchez the team's offensive captains.

Moore said it was "the fourth or fifth time" that Holmes criticized a segment of the offense. He mentioned the AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh, when Holmes criticized offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.

This latest back-and-forth between Holmes and Moore comes at the worst time for the Jets (2-3), who are mired in a three-game losing streak. On Tuesday, they traded wide receiver Derrick Mason to the Houston Texans, a move that wasn't popular among his fellow receivers.

Rich Cimini covers the Jets for ESPNNewYork.com.

[Ravenswintitle]

not good to be sparring in the press. As with Flacco, part of the problem with the Oline has to lie on Sanchez and getting rid of the damn ball. But they are a different team without Mangold.

Pats on the other hand lost their center and never missed a beat.. but then again there aren't many Brady's in the league.

I saw where Brandon Marshall lists his goal for the game as getting ejected for fighting. http://www.foxsportsflorida.com/10/1...22&feedID=3720

[SouthSide]

Jets shouldn't feel too bad. They aren't the first team whose season the Ravens sent spiraling down the crapper. :D

[sailorsam]

speaking of, I remember the Broncos starting 6-0 the other year and getting pounded here. after...
"The Denver Broncos have been the worst team in the NFL since the 6-0 start to the Josh McDaniels era, notching just 7 wins in the nearly two full seasons since then."
(Cold Hard Facts site)
guess they never recovered?

[The Excellector]

This is exactly why Rex did not get the job here. Whoever was going to get the job here was going to have to A.) Unify the locker room and B.) Develop the offense. As soon as I found out that Rex told Bisciotti that Billick lost the locker room, I got this feeling that he was going to have the same issues that Billick had here. It was karma. I would imagine that, knowing what we know of Rex, he did very little to help diffuse the situation here. He came off as one of those 'My unit's doing its job' guys. The defensive players get upset, turn to Rex, see how he is reacting and feel this sense of a green light being given to point the finger.

Now, he best offensive player is tearing the offense apart.

[Galen Sevinne]

rex is undisciplined and his teams are undisciplined. he's a "players coach" and that shit works when things ar going well but as soon as it starts going south, it will go in a hurry. The business acumen and understanding of effective leadership led Bisciotti to making the right decision in Harbaugh.

two things I have been wanting to see for the last seson or two have been to see how the Jets repond to a string of bad games and what woud the Colts be like without Manning. Its been humorous to watch these shows.

[wickedsolo]

It is absolutely hard to get behind a guy who has called out, essentially you, in the past two-three weeks.

[moose10101]

This is exactly why Rex did not get the job here. Whoever was going to get the job here was going to have to A.) Unify the locker room and B.) Develop the offense. As soon as I found out that Rex told Bisciotti lost the locker room, I got this feeling that he was going to have the same issues that Billick had here. It was karma. I would imagine that, knowing what we know of Rex, he did very little to help diffuse the situation here. He came off as one of those 'My unit's doing its job' guys. The defensive players get upset, turn to Rex, see how he is reacting and feel this sense of a green light being given to point the finger.

Now, he best offensive player is tearing the offense apart.

+1

[StingerNLG]

And this is why I am glad that Rex Ryan is not the Raven's head coach. Seriously as much as Derrick Mason ran his mouth with Harbaugh and Billick here, could you IMAGINE what it would be like with Rex feeding off of that and vice-versa?

Say what you want about Harbaugh, but once again our city is not dealing with this crap and constantly in the news for the wrong reasons.

[sailorsam]

I guess guys like Rex do well with an overlord to kind of keep them reigned in. this is the kind of thing a Head coach does that doesn't make the papers or involve Xs and Os, and why, or partly why, great coordinators (Wade Phillips, Eric Mangini) often fail at HC.
John Madden and Bill Parcells otoh were obscure assistants that made great HCs.

[Ravenswintitle]

If Miami goes in and beats the jets it will be doom and gloom time. And it's not that far fetched - those teams aren't light years apart in talent

[StingerNLG]

I don't see any way at this point Miami beats the Jets. They are just not good this year.