Rex Ryan not allowed to talk about visiting sick dad Buddy on bye

Halfway through a story by the New York Daily News’ Manish Mehta calling for the ouster of paranoid, in-over-his-head general manager John Idzik, there is a bombshell: The New York Jets failed to let head coach Rex Ryan speak on details about visiting his ailing 83-year-old father during the Jets’ bye week.

Wait, what?

Yes, Mehta asked Ryan about the trip to visit cancer-stricken Buddy Ryan, one of the most respected defensive coaches in NFL history, and a Jets PR official intervened. The Daily News, and Mehta specifically, has been rough on the Jets this season and in the past — namely about Idzik, whose bumbling of the team’s roster has left the talent pool bare.

Mehta writes:

Asked who made the decision to prevent a willing Ryan from sharing stories about his father, the media relations official said, “I don’t have to tell you.”

Ryan has always given his players the freedom to speak their minds, but the organization has muzzled the coach with a change on the horizon. He will be the fall guy on Black Monday.

This is incredible. It’s also speculation, but the fact that the PR official refused to let Ryan speak about his dad shows just to what level the paranoia has risen. Idzik has been vilified around New York, with billboards calling for his removal, including one that demands owner Woody Johnson fire Idzik or sell the team.

The remarkable thing is that Ryan, who was asked about Idzik indirectly on Tuesday, actually shielded the GM from further criticism when asked about the state of the roster, even though Ryan could end up being the first fall guy.

“I think we have a lot of talent on this football team,” Ryan said.

When Ryan has been muzzled this thoroughly, it’s clear that this is not the same bombastic, antagonizing, free-speaking and free-wheeling coach the Jets hired to be the antidote to the New England Patriots and a player’s coach the locker room can rally around.

Instead, he sounds like a beaten man. One who has been neutered and who knows it might not even be worth trying to fight that fact, knowing what will happen in five weeks when the NFL season ends.