Brandon Moore rips Holmes recent criticism

[Kentucky Jet]

By Rich Cimini

ESPNNewYork.com

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Now it's official: The New York Jets' locker room is fractured.

Veteran guard Brandon Moore, taking offense to Santonio Holmes' latest criticism of the offensive line, fired back at the wide receiver Friday, telling ESPNNewYork.com that Holmes is creating a rift by throwing teammates under the bus.

"He's obviously got the green light to evaluate every position on the team," Moore said. "I just didn't think captaincy entailed that. I've never seen a captain do that. That's not leading. That's not being a leader. It actually fragments the locker room. It's not productive."

Moore, the longest-tenured player on the Jets' sputtering offense, is regarded as one of the quiet leaders on the team. That he decided to speak out against Holmes is an indication of the current state of team chemistry.

"Obviously, it's OK to do that," said Moore, alluding to Rex Ryan's freedom-of-speech policy. "This organization lets you say whatever you want. There's no muzzle. But as a professional, there are some things you do muzzle. I've muzzled my mouth numerous times. It's called being a pro. It's called taking care of your brothers in the locker room, the guys who fight for each other."

On Thursday, Holmes called out the offensive line for the second time in two weeks, saying the line is the root of the unit's problems. He made critical remarks after the Jets' Week 3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, and he followed that up Thursday, by saying, "I may be criticized again for saying it, but it starts up front. The big guys know it. If they give Mark (Sanchez) enough time to sit in the pocket and complete passes, I think everything changes."

Now the big guys are ticked off. Guard Matt Slauson declined to comment on Holmes' remarks.

Center Nick Mangold had this to say: "Santonio's very competitive. He's a great guy, a good teammate. And a lot of times that competitiveness, that drive to do well and do great, it happens. It's just one of those things you move on, you don't worry about it too much."

The other two starting linemen didn't show up in the locker room during the media period.

Moore was asked if others share his sentiment.

"I don't know, some guys might side with (Holmes), that attitude of, 'I'm doing everything right and the blame goes on everybody else.' I'm sure guys are thinking like that, the selfish guys."

Asked if he's upset, Moore said: "Yeah, I am. I've just never seen anything like this."

Ryan refused to criticize Holmes for his latest shots, saying he doesn't like to restrict players from speaking their mind. He also suggested that Holmes' comments were taken out of context.

"I'm as guilty as anybody, sometimes when you make comments, maybe things aren't interpreted exactly how they show up on black and white," Ryan said. "The thing I can tell you about Santonio is ... nobody is more supportive of his teammates than Santonio. These comments, you can interpret them any way you want. I don't think he planned on it being a negative, how it came out." Ryan said he doesn't think his offensive linemen were bothered by the comment. "No," the coach said, "they've got skin like an armadillo."

Moore was obviously bothered, however, with the comments and the fact that Holmes was allowed to utter them.

"Somebody at the top is telling him it's OK," Moore said. Turning sarcastic, he added, "He's the captain. If that's how the captain feels about things, that's the psyche of the offense, I guess. Everybody takes their marching orders from that."

Before the season, Ryan named Holmes and Sanchez the team's offensive captains.

Moore said it was "the fourth or fifth time" that Holmes criticized a segment of the offense. He mentioned the AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh, when Holmes criticized offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.

This latest back-and-forth between Holmes and Moore comes at the worst time for the Jets (2-3), who are mired in a three-game losing streak. On Tuesday, they traded wide receiver Derrick Mason to the Houston Texans, a move that wasn't popular among his fellow receivers.

Rich Cimini covers the Jets for ESPNNewYork.com.

[Larz]

cimini is in a fapping marathon

[Midget Love 20]

I don't understand why Santonio needs to keep running his mouth despite the fact that they played considerably better last week than 2 weeks ago. It's one thing to air your displeasure but keep it behind closed doors and lead by example in the media. As much as I like Holmes him taking shots 2 consecutive weeks in a row is a little much. The past is what it is, and they need to come together to beat the Dolphins if they want to salvage their season

[villain_the_foe]

I don't understand why Santonio needs to keep running his mouth despite the fact that they played considerably better last week than 2 weeks ago. It's one thing to air your displeasure but keep it behind closed doors and lead by example in the media. As much as I like Holmes him taking shots 2 consecutive weeks in a row is a little much. The past is what it is, and they need to come together to beat the Dolphins if they want to salvage their season

because he knows that we like to read it. Also, if the O-line has a problem with him telling the truth then maybe they should block some defenders.

The line is terrible. We havent been able to run the ball and its damn near half way through the season. We still have a moron for an O.C. so that doesnt help yet people are uptight at Santonio saying the truth? Maybe thats exactly what they need. A spark to get them pissed and take it out on the defenders in front of them instead of acting overly sensitive from the fact that someone's mentioning their lack of production

Sometimes the capt'n needs to do the dirty work to get things done.

[#27TheDominator]

cimini is in a fapping marathon

He's typing lefty?

[SenorGato]

MUUUUUUUUUUUUTIIIINY!!!

[T0mShane]

I know there's a few posts i wrote two years talking about the extremely limited shelf life of pairing a player's coach with a bunch of anti-establishment exiles and how this would end poorly.

If only we had a search feature.

[#27TheDominator]

I know there's a few posts i wrote two years talking about the extremely limited shelf life of pairing a player's coach with a bunch of anti-establishment exiles and how this would end poorly.

If only we had a search feature.

There is certainly some truth to that. Bob Lemon worked great, but it didn't last too long. The only real issue is Holmes. Who are these free talking anti-establishment exiles? Most of the team is still a bunch of choir boys and guys that know to keep their mouth's shut. Bart Scott can talk with the best of them, but as far as following authority he is more Pepper Johnson than Bryan Cox. The rest of the trouble is coming from guys on 1 year deals. Edwards? Gone. Mason? Gone. Feely? Gone. Burress? 1 year deal and easy to dump. Brandon Moore is approaching his own shelf life anyway.

Holmes is the one guy that cost money and will be rough to dump. Otherwise it's not too difficult to tweak the roster and come back as good as last season. I guess you could lump Cromartie in there with Holmes, but except for his yapping about Brady he has been pretty well behaved. He kept his mouth shut during the Aso sweepstakes and didn't even rise to the bait that Brandon Marshall was trolling.

It may be that Rex will be able to keep the loud mouths on the defense but will have to keep choir boys on offense. Even when things are going good it will take a conformist on offense to accept killing time instead of making yards and points and it seems that is what Rex wants.