Rex Ryan Having Jets Do 10 Pushups for Every Penalty, Wants Owner Woody Johnson, Fans to Join In

And just like that, Rex Ryan has a little hop in his step again.

The Jets coach appeared to be closer to his old self Monday after the Jets moved to 2-1 on the season with a 27-20 divisional win Sunday over the Buffalo Bills. While he wasn’t entirely thrilled with New York’s win, which included a ghastly 20 penalty flags being thrown against the Jets (compared to their 20 total first downs on the day), his solution for cutting down on penalties in the future had the same pep Ryan has been known for throughout his years as the Jets’ head coach.

Ryan said Monday that he is bringing back a team policy from 2010 that requires players to do 10 pushups every time they make a move in practice that would draw a penalty during a game. Officials will be at Jets’ practices to throw flags.

It’s not just Jets players who are going to have it ingrained in them not to make silly mistakes, though — Ryan is asking just about everyone to get on board. Coaches, staff members and even owner Woody Johnson (if he’s at practice) will have to drop and crank out 10 if a flag is thrown. Ryan says he’d even like to see fans get involved.

“I challenge the entire organization to get behind it,” Ryan said Monday, according to the New York Post. “I’m not saying our fans need to do the pushups and all that. I’m not saying it, but if our fans want to get in there and help us, how much pressure is that? You’ve got your fans doing pushups, too.”

The Jets’ 20 penalties Sunday went for 168 yards. Only seven teams in NFL history have ever had 20 penalties or more, according to the Post. The last one to win with 20 penalties was the 1951 Browns, and another team that Ryan was the defensive coordinator for, the 2005 Ravens, also rang up 20.

“I don’t want our team to be associated with penalties,” Ryan said. “There’s no question. That’s not who we are. I want to have a physical football team, but I also want to be the least penalized team in the league, not the most penalized team. It’s not acceptable.”

The Jets went to the AFC Championship Game for the second year in a row in 2010, the last time Ryan consistently used the ploy. But while he sounds excited about how the pushups could cut down on the penalties, Ryan is likely hoping that the idea will be a deterrent rather than something that ends up getting used a lot.

“We don’t want to look like Jack LaLanne or somebody either,” Ryan said.

Especially since Ryan apparently has to crank pushups every time there’s a penalty, too.