The comments in question came from Tedy Bruschi, who wrote in a chat with Mike Reiss on ESPN.com that Mark Sanchez was a front-runner and "tanks it" when his team gets down.
Ryan obviously disagreed, but he kept his emotions in check when defending his No. 1 quarterback.
"I respect the heck out of Tedy Bruschi, no question, but I think he would have a different opinion if he was here every day," Ryan said at his Thursday news conference. "I really do respect him. That’s a tough dude and he’s smart. I think he would feel much different if he was here because of the way [Sanchez] leads on the practice field, the personality he has.
"What [Bruschi] says about him when we get ahead, that’s how he is every day on the practice field," Ryan continued. "It never went our way on Monday night, but I would definitely not put Mark in a front-running category. This guy is a competitor and I think Bruschi would have loved to play with him."
When pressed further on what Sanchez needs to do to overcome the Jets' Week 1 loss, Ryan continued his tour of humility.
"Well he’s not going to match what Tom Brady does or accomplishes this week. That's not fair," he said of Sanchez. "I’ve always said, anytime we play New England, they’re going to be better at two spots, head coach and quarterback [laughing]. I’ve always said that and it will be no different this week, but we’re still going to try to win. If the rest of our team can overcome me as the head coach and Mark as the quarterback, we’ll beat them."
Ryan didn't stop there, either, as he insulted himself for Wes Welker's 15-catch day against the Jets last November.
"I’ve always done a great job defending Wes Welker," he said sarcastically. "Last year, when he had the 20 catches. How bad is that? If he catches half, he catches 10 balls. It would be a bad day for Welker, so I don’t’ know. I’ve got no answer for him."
The quotes certainly don't live up to the persona that Ryan has as a loudmouth, egotistical head coach, but 10-9 losses on Monday night tend to temper the spirit of even the most rambunctious leader.
The original comment from Bruschi was much more harsh than anything Ryan said on Thursday.
"Right now, when I look at Mark Sanchez, I see a quarterback who is a front-runner," Bruschi said. "If things are going well, and the Jets are winning, his positive attitude is infectious. He's a leader, he smiles, he plays with a freedom and confidence when things are going well.
"But when things aren't going well, I think he's shown that he tanks it a little bit," Bruschi added. "So if I'm a defensive player getting ready to play Mark Sanchez, I'm going over to the offense and saying, 'Hey fellas, just get us an early touchdown. We're going to stop the run. Let's get a lead and he will fold.' That's what I saw Monday night. His self-confidence went way down when they were behind. Just like Rex Ryan's confidence exudes to the team, the starting quarterback's does also. That's not the sign of a good leader."
Being an ex-player, Bruschi has the freedom to speak from experience but also speak without dealing with any repercussions on the field or in the media. Ryan, does not, and after a humbling loss in the opener of the new stadium, he clearly isn't trying to fan any flames heading into Sunday.
After watching the man all summer on Hard Knocks, though, you just know that it's burning up inside him. If the Jets can come out on top on Sunday, the world may see the return of the coach who fired up his team in August by telling them, "We know we're better than you, we don't give a [expletive] if you know it or not … We're gonna give you our best game, and we're gonna beat the [expletive] out of ya. How's that?"
