Brad Smith Named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week

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Jets WR Brad Smith named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week

Published: Wednesday, December 01, 2010, 1:20 PM Updated: Wednesday, December 01, 2010, 1:57 PM

Jenny Vrentas/The Star-Ledger

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Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerBrad Smith returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown against the Bengals.

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Share 1 Comments On Monday, Rex Ryan made his bid to send Brad Smith to Hawaii.

"He better go to the Pro Bowl this year as a special teams player," the Jets coach said.

Smith, who returned a kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown against the Bengals last week, has received at least one honor: AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

Smith amassed 200 all-purpose yards in the Jets' 26-10 win against Cincinnati, and became only the fourth player in NFL history to score on a rushing play of 50-plus yards and a kickoff return in the same game. Early in the third quarter, the versatile Smith took an end-around 53 yards for a touchdown.

Smith leads the league in kick return average, picking up 29.2 yards per return. He was previously named Player of the Week in Week 16 of the 2009 season.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who completed 21 of 27 passes for 341 yards, four touchdowns and a perfect passer rating against the Lions last week, was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week.

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Bill Belichick was asked by New York reporters today on if he could remember an opposing coach ever saying he wanted to "kick his (butt)." Belichick replied, "I don't know."

As a follow-up, Belichick was asked what he thought of Ryan's comments to Newsday, when he said, "As much as I respect and admire Bill Belichick, I came here to kick his (butt), and that's the truth. That's just the way it is."

The conference call ended before he had a chance to respond, though.

Yesterday in Foxborough, Mass., Belichick told reporters in response, "Is that a big news story?"

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Tedy Bruschi, who played 13 seasons with the Patriots, will be honored by the team at halftime of Monday night's game for his career.

Bruschi, who earlier in the season said Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez "tanks it" when the going gets tough, backed down from those comments this week on a podcast on ESPNBoston.com.

“I called him a front-runner and said that when things got a little bit tough, you could see the look on his face and it looked like he tanked it a little bit," Bruschi said. "Rex Ryan came out and reacted to my comments and said ‘If Tedy was here and saw how hard Mark Sanchez worked, he would see how much of a leader Mark Sanchez is.’

“Rex was right. I really have watched Mark Sanchez closely from that point on, and I was wrong about calling him a front-runner. I was wrong to put that label on him. I’ve watched him and the leader he’s become, and the plays he’s made for this 9-2 first-place Jets team."

[visajets]

Congrats Brad Smith the difference maker much well deserved.

[flgreen]

Congrats Brad Smith the difference maker much well deserved.

It certainly was well deserved, but I wish Rex would stop talking up these players who are in their contract year.

Guess he just says what he feels

[bitonti]

brad smith also had a very nice catch out of the slot... i believe it was a 3rd and long situation

[THE ILK]

Kudos to Mr. Everything!

[Integrity28]

Congrats Brad - and can we get an honorable mention for #25 Mr. Joe McKnight, who seemed to be playing on another speed with his kick coverage?

Watching him make S/T tackles, its no wonder Rex has given him a look at DB - he hits like a safety, which is ironic considering the guy that formerly wore #25.