Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan is a proud guy, a confident guy. He's great, you might've heard (from him).
Well, he wasn't great on Sunday. His defense got worked over pretty good by Michael Vick and the Eagles, and after the game Ryan admitted as much, saying he was outcoached by Andy Reid.
So here's a question. How does a football coach with the bravado of Muhammed Ali react when he is knocked out? Does he lose confidence in himself? In his guys? On the outside, you would never know. He'll remain himself.
"He's a competitor, so you know he's ready to get back out there and compete, and prove to everybody that we're the defense everybody knows we are," said Abe Elam, who played safety for Ryan in Cleveland. "I enjoy seeing him talk trash in the media, and talk about how good his players are. That just shows you he believes in us and has confidence in us to go out there and play well."
Ryan might've set himself up to look bad with the preseason jab at Philadelphia, which backfired, and an interview aired at halftime on Sunday in which he discussed, among other things, a potential future as a head coach, but Elam said the players don't think anything less of their coach because of that.
In Ryan's seven years as a defensive coordinator for the Browns and Raiders, his teams have allowed 30 points or more 25 times. In the week after those games, the teams have allowed an average of 24.3 points per game, not even a point more than the 23.7 per game allowed his teams have averaged over the course of his career.
Ryan won't talk to the media until Friday, but defensive end Kenyon Coleman, another former Browns player, said we can expect him to continue to let his freak flag fly, in so many words.
"He's the same guy," Coleman said. "He doesn't bend with pressure. He doesn't bend - he's just consistent, enough to where it makes him a great coach. He's just consistent.
"Everyone gets discouraged. No one likes to lose. What can happen is some people panic, but he just knows the formula and he stays the same."
