It’s clear the injured Jenkins doesn’t think much of the Patriots’ quarterback, telling Brady to “shut up,” even though Brady hasn’t really said much since Sunday.
“You can’t touch him,” Jenkins told ESPN.com on Monday, citing the “Brady rules” that were established after Bernard Pollard hit the quarterback’s knee in 2008. “At the end of the day, if you’re cocky and you have special rules and stuff, no one wants to hear it. Be quiet, shut up [and] just keep it to yourself, if you’ve got special rules.”
While the irony of a player who went on injured reserve in Week 1 telling a player who hasn’t spoken an ill word against the Jets since losing on Sunday won’t be lost on New England fans, it didn’t stop Jenkins from speaking his mind.
“You can’t ring his bell and [he acts like] ‘OK, I’m a tough guy.’ Yeah, OK. Whatever,” Jenkins told ESPN.com.
Jenkins, who tore his ACL in Week 1 against the Ravens, probably had a stronger case last season, when the rules were new and Brady benefited from a debatable roughing-the-passer call on Terrell Suggs early in the year. In 2010, there were no egregious calls that sparked league-wide debate, yet Jenkins clearly has a long memory.
Perhaps some day — maybe this year, next year, or by 2097 — the trash talking between the Jets and Patriots will die down, but at this point, it doesn’t appear likely.
