Rex Ryan is a defensive-minded coach who, in the past, has preached a Ground & Pound philosophy on offense. Ryan has said he's not married to that philosophy, but he also wasn't pleased that the Jets called only 16 running plays in the preseason opener -- compared to 42 pass plays.
You never want to have just [16] rushes -- or whatever it was in a game," Ryan said Tuesday. "You don't want that. But will we throw the ball more than we run it? That's certainly a possibility."
Coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, known as a pass-happy coach in his years with the Eagles, was asked in a separate interview if he has spoken with Ryan about achieving offensive balance.
"Who said you need to be balanced?" Mornhinweg said. "You score points throwing the ball. Now you're getting into a philosophical situation. Look it, we don't care how we get it done -- running, passing, we don't care who gets the credit. It's whatever it takes to win the next game."
Given the current state of the Jets' QB situation, these comments are somewhat puzzling. If the team moves to a pass-first mentality, it could impact the upside of Chris Ivory who is by far the best fantasy prospect in this offense. Mornhinweg was the OC in Philadelphia where the Eagles were definitely pass-first. On the flip side, if Geno Smith wins the job, he could have some low-end QB2 appeal in a pass-happy attack.
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