FOXBORO, Mass. — So much for Adalius Thomas' can't-miss career revival.
When the Patriots cut ties with Thomas over the offseason, the entire football world believed the outside linebacker would find his way onto the Jets' roster and get his chance to stick it to New England once again. Thomas signed a $35 million, five-year deal with the Patriots in 2007, but the experiment on the whole was a failure.
Jets head coach Rex Ryan — the former Ravens defensive coordinator who bred Thomas' legend as a do-it-all linebacker and pass-rushing specialist — shot down the notion Wednesday that he and Thomas would reunite in New York. Thomas has had some conversations with Ryan and the Jets, but the two sides haven’t reached any sort of agreement.
On a conference call with the New England media, Ryan was asked how he could revive Thomas' career.
"I don’t know about all that," Ryan said. "I thought [Thomas] played pretty well. In fact, they almost won the Super Bowl against the Giants. He had a strip sack. I think he just missed another one that ended up being a long gain. I had Adalius in Baltimore. I thought he did an outstanding job for us there. We tried to take advantage of what he can do athletically, and I thought he played well. It was no surprise that New England picked him up, and I think he played better than people give him credit for up there. But right now, we're set pretty good with the guys that we have. I don’t think Calvin Pace's injury is going to be that long. We have Jason Taylor, and we have Bryan Thomas, so we feel pretty good about our outside backers."
