Cotchery Praises NY Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan

Interesting quote coming out of Pittsburgh yesterday.  Former Jet Jerricho Cotchery, who was granted his release at his request after head coach Rex Ryan could not assure him a prominent role in the Jets' offense, had this to say about Rex and the reasons for the Jets' surprising success in 2014:

Steelers receiver Jerricho Cotchery, a former Jets player, credits Ryan's leadership for a 3-2 start this season in which some predicted the Jets would be the NFL's worst team.

"He knows how to motivate and how to tap into that something in each guy that gets him to respond the way he wants to," Cotchery said.

You can read the full article here.

Ordinarily this wouldn't be all that noteworthy, as Rex is known to be a player's coach and very popular with most of his guys.  What is surprising here is that Cotchery is the one saying this.  Cotchery was reported to be very unhappy when he requested his release, as he wanted a larger role in the offense and Rex refused to give that to him.  Apparently Cotchery holds no grudges.  It's kind of nice to know even guys who left under less than ideal terms still think Rex is a great coach.  The particular way in which Cotchery praised Rex reminds me a bit of what many once said of Bill Parcells: that he was a master motivator who knew exactly which buttons to push for each individual player to bring out the best in him.