Kerry Rhodes, a team captain, finally had an opportunity to address his demotion. Don’t call it a benching as when that term came up multiple times, Kerry was cleary irked. Kerry will still play in the games but not as a starter in the 3-4 base package. Kerry will see the field only in nickle and dime situations.
The team is losing and the Jets plans are not coming to fruition as hoped so I would say that things are now getting ugly.
Kerry Rhodes, left, and Jets coach Rex Ryan talk at practice Wednesday, the day the team announced Rhodes would be benched this week against the Panthers. Tim Farrell/The Star-Ledger
Coaches, fans, and players are now questioning Kerry’s heart and whether he’s dedicated to playing football. What constantly comes up is his “Tweets”, his interested in acting, and his TV time on networks and online.
Manish Mehta of the Star Ledger is reporting that Kerry is Embarrased.
Rex said that he is going to see how Kerry will handle this:
“I just know how much this hurts him,” Ryan said. “I think he’s going to respond.”
Kerry admitted today that he knows football is short lived calling it “Not For Long” and was quoted today:
“If I can’t have a living and do what I want to do besides football, maybe they should pay my bills,” Rhodes said. “I got to further my career outside of football. Football is not forever. So if I was one of the guys that didn’t do anything to further myself… after football, you’d be like, ‘That guy’s stupid. Why is he just banking on football?’ It’s a double standard.”
Fans on Twitter and blogs have been talking about the fate of Kerry and the question I have is “Are we seeing Kerry’s last days as a Jet?” I think he is talented and he is UNDER a lot of pressure because he’s supposed to be the Ed Reed in Rex’s Ravens Defense.
What’s ironic for me is MINUTES before the patriots game I posted a blog story on Jets Twit called “Perception is Reality: What is Wrong with Kerry Rhodes?”. In the story I said NOTHING, but after the game he looked tentative. Said a teamate under anonymity:
“It was just his (lack of) physicality,” said one player, who requested anonymity. “When things aren’t going good, you can always fall back on that. And he wasn’t showing that. It was just so obvious watching from the sidelines.”
So what are his plans to get out of this:
“I can’t put pressure on myself now,” Rhodes said. “That’s probably why I’ve been off a little bit — trying to make plays to please everybody else. You hear outside people talking about how you should make more plays. When you hear those things, you try to press and do more stuff… and you get yourself in trouble. And I’m in trouble now.”
