It's a rite of late summer: When Rex Ryan starts making bombastic statements, we know that training camp is right around the corner. He's the NFL equivalent of Punxsutawney Phil.
Rex has learned not to make Super Bowl promises anymore, but he still has plenty of self-belief in his skills as a coach.
"Do I think that I'm a great coach? I absolutely know I'm a great coach," Ryan told Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. "But it's not just about me. What makes a great coach is the people that surround you, the people that are with you every day."
After a relatively quiet offseason, it's almost like Rex decided his team needed to hear some "old Rex" to get fired up before camp.
"Somebody asked me if we focus on New England. Bull----," Ryan told the New York Post. "We're focused on us. We're focused on us and how are we going to be better. I have to be honest, I don't worry about them. They need to worry about us. I think that's really where we're at now."
Ryan did one of his best jobs in New York by scraping out eight wins last year. He's said publicly that winning eight games again would be a disappointment, but, with huge questions at cornerback and the same old questions on offense, eight wins is no guarantee.
"You know what? I'm not as good in certain areas," Ryan admitted to the Daily News. "I get it. No question, I get it. Are there better offensive coaches than me? Yeah."
Ryan's biggest problem this year: expectations. His roster is flawed, but he probably needs to show progress in the standings to keep his job.
That's life with Rex in New York -- and in much of the NFL. Even the great coaches are year-to-year.
The latest "Around The League Podcast" broke out a monster team-by-team AFC training camp preview.
