A forgotten aspect of the Jets' offense made an unexpected return Sunday, when the team employed the Wildcat formation several times during its 34-19 win over the Redskins.
"I think it's tough to defend some of that if you're not really focused on it," Ryan said Tuesday, according to the Jets' official site. "This was a good team, really good against the run, and we thought we could challenge them by putting in some of those things. That was my feeling on it and (offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer) said, 'Yeah, that sounds like a great idea, let's go for it" and (offensive line coach) Bill Callahan did a good job putting in the blocking schemes for it. I thought it was successful."
The team consistently used the formation the previous two seasons with Brad Smith, who signed with the Buffalo Bills in the offseason. Ryan downplayed the fact he made the suggestion to Schottenheimer to bring it back.
"We're just trying to help. We're all on the same page. If there's something I see that might be decent for us, whether it's a play or something like that, we'll mention it," Ryan said. "We'll have our defensive coaches sometimes come up with suggestions for the offense and vice versa. We don't care where we get it from -- even though I wanted credit after the touchdown … no, I'm kidding."
Ryan shouldn't get too carried away with taking credit here. The formation wasn't all that effective other than Shonn Greene's game-icing nine-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. In fact, the previous six direct snap runs netted just 17 yards and no first downs.
The Jets can go ahead and put lipstick on a pig if they like, but "Ground and Pound" remains nowhere to be found.
