Rex on Jets' locker room: "I need to be around more"

(Photo: Marianne O'Leary, Flickr)

BY NICK ST. DENIS

Jets coach Rex Ryan admitted to losing the "pulse" of his team in 2011.

After leading Gang Green to consecutive AFC Championship berths his first two years as head coach, Ryan's Jets crashed at the end of this season, losing their last three and finishing 8-8.

A little over a week after Jets captain Santonio Holmes was benched in the season finale for a bad attitude, anonymous players ripped quarterback Mark Sanchez in a New York Daily News story. While many Jets immediately came to Sanchez's defense, Ryan said he needs to get back to being more involved in the locker room to prevent division.

“I need to be in the locker room,” Ryan told reporters Friday. “I need to be around more. I got away from that this year, thinking that as a head coach I needed to act differently, and it hurt me.

"What gave us a huge advantage in the first few years was how close a football team we were. I take responsibility and it won’t happen in 2012.”

That was the second time in as many weeks Ryan admitted to getting away from his natural leadership style. In the team's end-of-season press conference, Ryan said he won't name captains in 2012 because it "pulls away from the team."

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