Coles Speaks to The Press
Internally, I’ve been guessing that once the game against the Dolphins was over, Laveranues would speak to the media, and he’s now broken his silence and said some things that help to put perspective on how it’s been for him and how he’s empathized for his good friend. Rather than saying things he would have regretted, he made a smart decision to keep quiet and let the fluster around it boil down.
On his decision to keep silent …
“I felt it was the right thing to do, because no matter what I said, I’d be wrong. If I praised Chad too much, then of course, I’m the bad guy who’s not happy. But if I praised Brett too much, then I’m not a true friend of Chad. It’s one of those things where I kept my mouth closed and waited until this day was finally over and in the rearview mirror. Now it’s come and gone … If you develop a special relationship with people like I had developed with Chad, of course you’re going to take that kind of personal. I can return to being me,”
On learning the news from Chad …
“I was the first one he came to when he got the news. To be woken up in the middle of the night, to get news like that about a guy you’ve been with for a long time and a guy you’ve discussed every important decision you’ve ever made, it was tough. I always went to him for advice.
“For me, when you develop a special relationship with certain people, like the one I had with Chad, it’s kind of personal. You have to put yourself in his shoes.”
On his relationship with Favre …
“It’s different. It’s one of those situations where Brett is Brett and you just fall in. I don’t know what you want me to say … It’s cool. There are no quarrels with me and Brett. Never been since Day One. Never been a problem since Day One.”
On speaking to Chad the night before the game and his happiness for him …
“This is something Chad wanted. That’s the most important thing. He looked good out there. He’s a great player and he’s always competitive. Any time you have him out there, he’s going to give you a chance to win the game.”
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Coles’ petulance about his friend being released in favor of one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time was one of the key threats to the Jets’ success this season — Frighteningly, now that it’s gone, that threat has been replaced by Mangini going into a conservative shell in the second half of games the remainder of this season –
Lest we become too convinced that Mangini is all about sitting on a lead, I wanted to offer the perspective that he was going to make the Miami’s lackluster offense beat our improved defense.
He certainly learned it from watching other teams make Chad try to beat them with his arm late.
I’m in the Jonathan camp. I was just waiting, and for the first time, for the D to stop the madness. And they did. At the last moment as it turned out, but I didn’t doubt for one moment that they would prevail.
I do understand the desire to see our offense take charge and end the game with a first down, but the Dolfins D played very well, and it’s to their credit that they stopped the run when they didn’t during most of the game. I can’t blame the coaches for thinking they would either gain the first running or, at least, not stop the clock on incomplete passes.
Coles needs alot of work with Favre, as it was apparent on a couple of plays. Cotchery and Coles, Stuckey as the slot, Smith as the decoy, and whatever TE is open, will be pretty hard to defend against, especially if the running game continues its effectiveness like it did against the Fins.
I’m hoping part of the Hermball approach, was related to the *newness* of Favre to the system, and players. Judging from what Favre said, after the game, he still seems uncomfortable, and the Jets are still foreign to him.
As for Coles, he played the Media thing smart, knowing it would only be a distraction. As it was, the Media made up the thing that Coles was angry. I never thought he was, since he was joking around with Favre, immediately.
Coming from the Media (I worked in it for 15 years), I despise what it has become, over the past decade… sports & news Media.
The Jets won this game becuse of the defense !! Our CORNERS just flat out sealed the win. That was the difference. Our corners just flat out outplayed their receivers, specially Revis, he put an air tight lid on his side of the field. Our defense has to keep performing as it did Sunday for us to relize going into the playoffs. It has to because they are the reason we won our very, very close first game against a very inferior team with a noodle arm QB.
My respect for Coles increased after those comments. He made it clear he was trying to show some loyalty to Chad without alienating Brett or the rest of the team. He won’t be Brett’s best friend but I believe he has nothing against him and will absolutely enjoy playing with him once they get their chemistry down.
He also reiterated the obvious: Chad to Miami is an everybody wins scenario. Chad immediately improves the Dolphins, they’re happy to have him, he makes great money and there’s no expectation for him to do anything he can’t. Brett gives the Jets – a team a lot farther along in pursuit of a title than Miami – a better chance to win, as he proved yesterday, and the Packers are off the hook.
Bassett –
Not that I think it’s beyond the Post to stoop to – and perhaps in this case blur the lines of bad taste – but he exclamation point and colon seem to imply they are crediting Yahoo! with the story on Brady’s injury, no?
Coles appeared to be playing at half speed Sunday. Let’s give Stuckey or Smith a chance to start in LC’s place until he’s ready to go 100%
And what was with the lack of pass rush at end of game? That Prevent Defense drive that led to Fins’ second TD was abominable.
And I hope they work on the concept of covering the TE in practice this week.
If you play not to lose and run the ball on 3rd and 7 when a first down ices the game, you deserve to lose. Our D rose to the occasion. But, Revis could have tripped on the final play or, earlier, inept Drew Coleman could have tipped the ball he dropped only to have the Fish receiver catch it. Bad luck sure.
But as on the second Favre touchdown, skilled people tend to have luck follow them around. Mangini was responsible for giving Chad a chance to win the game by skill or luck.
Unforgiveably stupid.
harlan
hey he can speak
the players arent here for “FRIENDS”,thats just a fortunate circumstance that comes with the game. at the end of the day,your CONTRACT states that you CATCH balls thrown to YOU and TRY to MAKE PLAYS! NO MORE…NO LESS. it IS a BUSINESS!!!
with THAT being said,i still believe that COLES IS our #2 reciever. stuckey looked really good and brad smith IS more than just a DECOY! buy hey, whatever WORKS!
I agree with KC this is a business! you’re just a chess piece in the league that is the NFL, they move you when and where they want. you’re not suppose to be this invested in emotional attachments knowing the person on your left or your right might not be here next year or two years from now….
Coles is starting to sound like Owens last year. “That’s my Quaterback”. “Its not fair”. Guess what, he is not your quaterback, And even Chad will tell you, “Catch the ball”. Lets Go!!! Your a Jet!! Snap out of it!!!
Coles will snap out of it favre can make him a great receiver