Jets coach is angry, humbled by defeat

NEW YORK (AP) — Rex Ryan arrived back at the New York Jets facility early Tuesday morning and never went home.

The Jets coach was too angry about how his defense — his pride and joy — allowed the Miami Dolphins to pull one out Monday night.

“It absolutely was a humbling experience,” Ryan said of the Jets’ 31-27 loss at Miami.

New York’s defense had given up three touchdowns in the first four games, but allowed three in the fourth quarter against Miami and blew three leads in the second half.

“I mean, that’s our time to go for the jugular and we just never responded,” Ryan said. “On defense, it’s like, I’m mad, still. That’s unacceptable.”

Miami did it with lots of wildcat trickery, especially on the game’s last drive when four players took snaps and kept New York off balance. Running back Ronnie Brown capped the 13-play drive when he took the snap and scored the winning touchdown on a 2-yard keeper with six seconds remaining.

“I’ve been down that road before where you don’t play great on D, and we’ve always responded,” Ryan said. “This is a different group of guys and I’ve got confidence in this group, and there’s one way: When I’m backed in a corner, I’m going to come out swinging, and that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

Ryan and the Jets (3-2) won’t have to wait long with a short week to prepare for Buffalo (1-4) at home.

“This is a must win for us, and I think we have to respond,” Ryan said. “I think playing at home in front of our fans is going to be huge for us, but from an organizational standpoint, our entire organization, this week has got to be huge.”

That’s because the Jets’ defense, No. 1 in the league just a few weeks ago, has fallen to ninth overall and appeared alarmingly vulnerable — especially against the run.

The Jets gave up 151 yards rushing to Miami after allowing 153 at New Orleans last week and 127 in a win over Tennessee the week before.

“Normally it’s a thing when somebody runs the ball, we’re able to smash it, but the last three weeks, we haven’t performed that way,” Ryan said.

Making things worse, Dolphins second-year quarterback Chad Henne was able to throw consistently, finishing 20 for 26 for 241 yards and two touchdowns.