Good Cromartie vs. Bad Cromartie

I have fantastic news, folks. Our coaches are not blind. Well, at least on the defensive side. They fully realize how inconsistent CB Antonio Cromartie is, and plan accordingly. During his time with the media today, defensive coordinator Mike Pettine had some choice words to say about our #2 cornerback.

Apparently, at the start of every game, Pettine asks the DB coach Dennis Thurman, "Which Cro do we have today, the good Cro or the bad Cro?"

"[His inconsistency] is something we've had many discussions about behind closed doors."

"I'm not sure, it could be a horoscope thing. I'm at a loss. I think we're all searching for that answer."

"It's frustrating, but I think we also have to have the ability as a staff not to just rely on him so much that the plans are built around him, that if he's not playing well, we're not going to play well. We've learned that you almost have to have some calls in mind where if things aren't going well on his side of the field, we need to protect him a little bit more."

Take the jump below as we delve a little more into this.

Yikes. This is as close to a Jets coach throwing a player under the bus as I've seen under the Rex Ryan era, except of course Kerry Rhodes and Vernon Gholston. However, I firmly believe that nearly everything Rex or one of his coaches say in public is carefully planned, even though they make it seem like it's all impromptu. This seems like one of those things where they're planting the story on purpose to motivate Cromartie to give it his all this week.

As Cromartie is facing the San Diego Chargers for the first time since he left them nearly a year and a half ago, he will likely be extremely motivated to play well. He also left with some bad blood with some of their current players, most notable S Eric Weddle. However, as we all know, that does not mean that he will in fact play up to his ability. What do you expect from Cromartie this weekend?