New York Giants head coach Joe Judge might still be learning the ropes in his first season, but he already has the confidence to call out other coaches. Specifically, former Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Judge took a jab at the former Bills and New York Jets coach and how he prepared teams for games.
When Judge was asked to recall any time with the New England Patriots when the team knew an opponent lost before the game, he immediately brought up Ryan’s Bills.
“There were other times we saw teams that kind of came in too overconfident and too over-focused on just a couple of people. I can recall games with Buffalo, kind of circa 2014, ’15, ’16, that area right there,” Judge said, via Dan Duggan.“There were a lot of times it was kind of almost too much stuff pregame. You just kind of understand they’re not really tuned into the game. They were just kind of worrying too much about some kind of matchup or something they may have heard or read about in the headlines that week. They’re not really focused on the game.”
Judge might have a point. During Ryan’s two seasons in Buffalo (2015-’16), the team went 1-3 against the Patriots. In those matchups, Buffalo’s defense gave up 40-plus points twice.
Ryan can’t exactly be mad about being called out by an active person in the NFL. The outspoken former coach has called out the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield and used inflammatory language about Dallas Cowboys star receiver Amari Cooper.
Unsurprisingly, Judge isn’t the first person to come after Ryan. We’ve seen one of his former players and even Mayfield go after him.
It’s entertaining to see Judge go after a former NFL coach, delivering the kind of jabs that are rare in the coaching ranks. Although, New York’s fans might prefer he start finding ways to improve upon that 1-6 record.