Rex Ryan Calls the New York Jets Horrendous but Thinks They'd Beat the 2008 Detroit Lions

Former New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan says the Jets are bad but not historically terrible.

Not even Rex Ryan can defend the New York Jets at this point.

The last head coach to take the Jets to the playoffs, Ryan was opinionated this week when talking about his old team. A 36-7 loss at the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday sank the Jets to 0-3 with no reason to believe that they can turn things around.

Dan Orlovsky, an ESPN analyst who played on the 2008 Detroit Lions team that went 0-16, tweeted on Sunday that the Jets would lose to his winless team were they to play.

“The New York Jets are horrendous right now but c’mon the Jets would have destroyed [the Lions],” Ryan said on Monday about Orlovsky’s tweet.

“It’s frustrating being a Jets fan right now because I thought this team was going to be competitive. Last year they won six of their last eight games,” Ryan said on ESPN.

“I thought they were going to build off of it. This year they’re doing the opposite. I still think the Giants are worse than the Jets. “

The New York Giants, of course, had their own issues in a Week 3 home blowout loss to the San Francisco 49ers. In Sports Illustrated’s recent power rankings, the Jets were ranked bottom of the NFL and the Giants one spot above at No. 31.

Much of the issues surrounding the Jets are centered around personnel. The team is still rebuilding and appears to be far from a finished that can compete on a weekly basis. This year was always going to be a bit rought.

Injuries, however, are ripping the roster apart. On Sunday, the Jets were without their top three wide receivers due to injury. Right tackle George Fant (concussion) was also missing as was All-Pro running back Le’Veon Bell, who is on Injured Reserve.

Starting left tackle Mekhi Becton was taken out of Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury.

The good news for the Jets is that Fant and Becton participated in practice yesterday. So too did Jamison Crowder, out since Week 2 with a hamstring injury.