"With Wes Welker, well, I think this is a huge rivalry type game and anything goes. I can take it," Ryan said Friday. "I'm not going to discuss it, but I can take it."
Clearly, nothing is out of bounds now. With Welker taking shots at the coach's supposed fetish, there are no boundaries in the war of words between the two rivals leading into Sunday's divisional playoff game.
In his press conference Thursday, Welker managed to work in the words "foot," "feet," or "toes," 11 times.
He seemed to be referring to the scandal that Ryan found himself in earlier this month, when several foot - fetish and sexually oriented videos and photos of a woman who resembles Ryan's wife Michelle surfaced on the Internet.
Since the first images appeared last month, the topic has been taboo for the coach. He has steadfastly refused to comment on it, calling it a "personal matter."
Even a Boston newspaper got into the fetish fray, taking a front - page shot at the coach. Metro Boston, a commuter newspaper, had Ryan's smiling face bordered by a collage of feet on each side on its front page Friday morning. The headline read: "Why the Pats will De - Feet the Jets."
Welker, smirking, declined to comment when asked Friday to clarify the intent of his comments. However, Ryan and his players seemed to recognize the latest and most obvious shot in the war of words between the teams.
As usual, the outspoken Ryan threw the first barb. Earlier this week, he called Sunday's game "personal" between him and Bill Belichick. The Patriots' coach, who had pointedly reminded his team not to get into a verbal battle with the Jets this week, responded with a mild jab at Ryan's girth. He claimed that if the coaches were playing, he would have an edge on Ryan with his quickness.
Then things got heated when Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie said he took exception to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady pointing and gesturing at Gang Green's sideline after a touchdown in their December matchup. He called Brady an "a--hole," and said he hated him.
Brady responded somewhat mildly. He said Cromartie was a "good player," but made sure to add that Darrelle Revis was a "great player."
On Thursday, Welker used his press conference to ratchet up the chatter. Not only did Welker say that Revis had "good feet," and "great feet," he also said the Pats were "putting their best foot forward."
His barbs got mostly laughs from the Jets.
Center Nick Mangold responded to Welker's witticisms with this tweet Friday night:
"Welker is a great player. He's taken advantage of watching film. If we don't keep a Spy on him, he could really open the Gate."
Mangold's use of the words "Spy" and "Gate" are obvious references to Spygate of 2007, when the Jets accused the Patriots of videotaping their signals from the sideline.
Veteran fullback Tony Richardson laughed and said that now he can say he's seen it all in rivalry talk. "I actually did my show on SNY Saturday and that's how we opened the show and I was laughing," Richardson said. "Yeah, it's personal, but there have been some shots taken this week. It is what it is. It's playoff time, nothing surprises me."
- With Kevin Armstrong and Manish Mehta
more about this wes welker foot interview
source : http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2011/01/15/2011-01-15_coach_insists_he_can_take_welkers_barbs.html
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