NFL Notes: Jets, Saints, Rob Ryan, Sean Payton

Jets

Jets HC Todd Bowles says that TE Jace Amaro will be competing for a roster spot this summer like everyone else.

“He’s competing for a spot like everybody else,” Bowles said, via Rich Cimini of ESPN. “He missed a year. I haven’t seen him play yet. My first year, he was out. So getting him back healthy, it’ll be interesting to see what he does.”

Last year, Jets tight ends managed to contribute just 10 receptions on the season, so it’s clear that they’ll need better production for that position, and Amaro is well aware of this.

“This is a big year for me, especially the way we played as a collective group,” Amaro said after Wednesday’s practice. “The tight ends only caught 10 balls [actually eight], so it’s a big year for all of us. All I know is that we plan on getting more involved this season. I plan on getting involved a lot this season.”

Saints

Former Saints DC Rob Ryan says that he believes he did a “damn good job and got fired for it” while in New Orleans. Ryan also talked about playing for his brother, Rex Ryan, and having the support of a defensive-minded head coach.

“For me, and I’ll speak for myself on this, I have an extra hunger,” Rob Ryan said in an interview with Jenny Vrentas of TheMMQB.com . “I have always been a guy who is going to work my tail off, and I think I have always advanced the head coach’s plan. But at the end of the day, the last two years in New Orleans were a waste of time for me. I want to give everything I have to a team that I want to be a part of, with a head coach I want to be a part of. Not only is Rex a great head coach, but he is also a great defensive coach. He’s going to be the best coach that I can work for, anytime. And I have worked for Belichick, who is the best head coach in football, in the history of the game. But we’re going to beat him, and we’re going to beat him together. And it’s going to be an awesome challenge. I need to be in a multiple system. I was hired to be in a multiple system in New Orleans, and I did a damn good job and got fired for it. I am more hungry now than I have ever been. So I wanted to go with the right guy. And the right guy is someone I have 100 percent trust in and 100 percent faith in.”

Saints HC Sean Payton offered a response to Ryan’s comments during an appearance on Pro Football Talk Live.

“The idea that it wasn’t his defense, or he wasn’t in charge of it, is silly,” Payton said. “…When you’re struggling as bad as we’re struggling for two years, and some of the same problems keep coming up — you know, 10 guys on the field — those are things that just are hard to live with.”

• Katherine Terrell mentions that Payton thought Ryan needed to be more disciplined, but Ryan felt his hands were being tied.
• Sources previously told Terrell that the Saints were trying to force their defense to be more like the Seahawks or Patriots, which explains their decision to draft CB Stanley Jean Baptiste a few years ago.
• A former Saints player told Terrell: “In 2013 … the defense was ballin, We get back the next year and Sean has his hand in it.” However, a source within the organization later told Terrell of their 2014 struggles: “No one interfered in ’14 at all. Rob earned ’14.”