After tight end Rob Gronkowski broke his forearm on an extra point play late in the 4th quarter during the Patriots 59-24 blowout win against the Colts, coach Bill Belichick has taken a lot of heat for his insistence to play the tight end in an otherwise settled game.
Surprisingly, Jets coach Rex Ryan came to Belichick’s defense.
Per Tom Curran of CSNNE.com: “Absolutely ridiculous,” Ryan said. [Gronkowski] is on an extra point. He’s probably done it 100 times this year for the simple fact that’s how many points they score. You never see that. Every single team in the league, we have D’Brickashaw Ferguson there.”
“You don’t play the game that way and it’s just an unfortunate thing,” Ryan said. “That’s just a freak deal that that would happen. But unfortunately that’s part of the game. Injuries do happen. We lose [wide receiver Santonio] Holmes and [cornerback Darrelle] Revis to non-contact injuries and it’s just one of those things and it’s unfortunate, obviously.”
To see Ryan come to the defense of Belichick is certainly odd but his premise is right.
I doubt this friendliness lasts through Thursday when the Patriots and Jets play on Thanksgiving.