Rex Ryan looking to bolster NY Jets' defense with pair of castoffs from Bill Belichick's Patriots

[BurnleyJet]

Hope these two can shine this season?

Bill Belichick may have given up on outside linebacker Jermaine Cunningham and cornerback Ras-I Dowling last August, but Rex Ryan couldn’t care less whether the Patriots castoffs didn’t live up to the expectations of football’s preeminent genius.

He thinks they can revive their careers with the Jets.

“I don’t believe the one guy up in New England’s got all the answers,” Ryan told the Daily News. “I worry about ourselves, what we think of a player and how we evaluate a player. Do I respect the hell out of Bill? Absolutely. But if we think a player can help us, we don’t care how we get him.”

In some ways, Cunningham and Dowling are outliers, former second-round picks discarded so quickly by the team that once coveted them. In other ways, they epitomize the unforgiving NFL culture that routinely pushes former college standouts to the margins if they can’t stay healthy.

Cunningham and Dowling’s careers have been plagued by injuries and inconsistency, a deadly blend in an ultra-competitive environment with a shrinking margin of error for players.

“You can’t take anything for granted in this league,” Dowling said. “Anything can happen.”

Ryan, of course, isn’t giving Cunningham, the 53rd overall pick in the 2010 draft, and Dowling, the first player selected in the second round in 2011 (No. 33), another chance simply out of the goodness of his heart. He needs help at outside linebacker and cornerback, and isn’t concerned by the perception that Belichick wouldn’t have cut the cord on the high draft picks unless they weren’t good enough to play at this level.

“You had the same perception of a Ryan,” Ryan said. “If you let a defensive player go, why pick him up if he can’t play for you?... It could have been a logjam at (the position). Maybe they were looking for something else. You really don’t know. But again, I don’t care.”

Cunningham, who was a sack machine for the two-time national champions at the University of Florida, had just 3 ½ sacks in three seasons for the Patriots, hampered by a hamstring injury and sprained MCL before he was cut. He spent one month with the 49ers last year before the Jets signed him in November.

“Sometimes change is good,” said the 25-year-old Cunningham, who played two games for the Jets last season. “Every day my mentality is to just play up to the ability that everybody knows I have.”

Ryan has challenged the 6-3, 255-pound Cunningham at the backup SAM (strong side) linebacker spot, testing him mentally to do a variety of tasks like stopping the run, dropping into coverage and shadowing tight ends. “I’ll be shocked if he’s not a contributor for us,” Ryan said.

MARK BONIFACIO/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Ras-I Dowling is all smiles about a second shot at the NFL.

“I don’t know what happened to him in New England,” veteran outside linebacker Calvin Pace said. “But I do know a lot of people come and go up there. It could be anything… but the talent is there. He’s welcomed here. I know he can help us.”

Dowling’s NFL resume has been littered with hip and thigh injuries that limited him to only nine games in two seasons with the Patriots, but Ryan, who covets physical corners and desperately needs help at the defensive position he values the most, is intrigued by his 6-1, 210-pound frame.

Ryan gave the 26-year-old Dowling, who was signed to the Jets practice squad last October, plenty of reps during OTAs this offseason, but his true test begins this week at minicamp when corners to will be allowed to play press coverage.

“Here’s a guy who’s clearly built like a press corner,” Ryan said. “He’s done a good job up until this point. His thing is going to be how he is as a press corner. We’ll start to find out.”

Failure isn’t an option for the former Virginia star.

“Every day my motivation is high,” Dowling said. “Everybody doesn’t have the talent that we’re given. There’s a lot of people that would kill (to be) in this league. So, I’m here and every day I just work.”

Ryan insists he won’t get additional satisfaction if he succeeds with players that Belichick rejected.

“Sometimes what might not be good for you looks good for somebody else,” Ryan said. “You know what? Guys make mistakes.”

He hopes the guy up in New England made two of them.

http://m.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/mehta-rex-bolster-jets-pair-belichick-castoffs-article-1.1829799#bmb=1

[32EBoozer]

I'm sure we'd all enjoy seeing these 2 guys push for starting roles. Not only are there serious needs at @ OLB and #2 CB, but it would continue a trend that has been happening since "Spy Gate".... the dismantling of the Bellicheat "Monument of GENIOUS" built on the back of a HOF QB, erected by the adoring media ( many of whom are his former players, or NE fans (Cimini, King etc.)

Unfortunately, the only way it becomes a story in the media is if they become All-Pro.....

[Larz]

was that really the articles headline ?

 

what garbage

[Jetlife33]

I have more hope in Dowling than Cunningham.

[FloridaJetsFan]

was that really the articles headline ?

 

what garbage

I don't think that is the actual headline, but I don't know for sure? To be accurate, Cunningham is now a 49er castoff, no longer a Patriot castoff. Using this logic, Woodhead was a Jets castoff. He did okay for a couple of other teams, no?

[Integrity28]

One man's trash is another man's maybe trash.