Brash Jets not talking trash about Pittsburgh

Associated Press

FLORHAM PARK, N.J.

Bitterness and nastiness have been replaced by praise and compliments.

The New York Jets are done with the New England Patriots. Bring on Big Ben and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“It’s a different feel,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said.

Sounds different, too.

Last week was all about Ryan vs. Bill Belichick, Antonio Cromartie vs. Tom Brady, and Bart Scott vs. Wes Welker. Sensational back-page headlines in New York and Boston added to all the hype until the Jets took care of business on the field by beating the Patriots 28-21 on Sunday.

“We’ve moved on,” Cromartie said. “We’re getting ready for Pittsburgh now.”

Just don’t expect a bunch of expletives and trash talk to overshadow the AFC championship game between the Jets (13-5) and Steelers (13-4).

This time, it’s not personal for Ryan. Not against Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.

“You look at our backgrounds, we’re similar,” Ryan said Monday, adding that Tomlin is one of his favorite coaches. “We’re defensive guys. We both have incredible opportunities. We know that. I just want to win a Super Bowl like he has.”

Ryan was motivated last week by the Jets’ 45-3 drubbing at the hands of Belichick’s Patriots last month, an embarrassing performance New York’s coach was determined to make up for.

“Like I felt last week, that Bill Belichick had dominated me the time before,” Ryan said. “He did. I was just like, ‘Man, that’s not going to happen. No way is that going to happen to me again.’

“I’m not in his class, not even close, but I knew one thing: He was going to get my best shot. There was no question, and at the end of the day, it never mattered because of our players.”

He needs his guys to step up one more time against Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers to reach their second Super Bowl, and first since Joe Namath backed up his big guarantee 42 years ago.

“For myself, I’ve been here three years in a row,” said Ryan, whose defense helped lead Baltimore to the AFC championship in 2008. “I don’t know if I can handle not winning it.

“I need to win this game.”