NFL Nation: DBrickashaw Ferguson

Revis' bold statement full of curiosities

June, 15, 2010
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Darrelle Revis surprised me Monday. Not once, but at least four times.

The New York Jets' star cornerback made several curious moves to express his dissatisfaction in such a public way.

The demonstration began during the morning practice at mandatory minicamp. While the rest of the first-team defense practiced, Revis took himself off the field.

In explaining why he did so, he at first said he was light headed. Or maybe it was a pulled hamstring. He laughed as he said it, letting reporters know he was pulling a stunt. But he later said in explicit terms he was making the statement he can be on the field when he wants and take himself off when he wants. He wasn't injured at all. In fact, secondary coach Dennis Thurman knew and laughed about it.

So Revis stages a kneel-down, admits he was faking and implicates his position coach.

Jets head coach Rex Ryan, meanwhile, was caught unaware when he strolled into his scheduled news conference. Asked about Revis coming out of drills, Ryan replied "Any player we have, when they tell you something’s not right, you believe them to be a man of their word."

Ryan then was informed Revis already had told reporters he was faking.

"OK, well," Ryan said, looking befuddled, "he made a statement."

Revis, who said the way the Jets have been treating him is "an insult" and that they've been disloyal in their dealings, made another peculiar decision when holding court at his locker stall. He chose to evoke the names of his teammates.

"It's not just me," Revis said. "It's Nick Mangold. It's D'Brickashaw [Ferguson]. It's David Harris. They tell us we're the core guys of this team, so why are you not treating us as one of the core guys?

"I feel the same type of way that Nick Mangold feels about it, too. As of right now, it doesn't look good. They haven't been doing nothing."

For one player to drop names like that is uncommon when it comes to personal situations. While it might be understood in the locker room that teammates -- maybe all of them, maybe the entire union -- have your back, players generally refrain from putting words in others' mouths. If teammates want to speak up, then they should be allowed to on their own. They shouldn't be nudged to the fore.

Harris, for one, has demurred when asked about his contract. Mangold wasn't in the locker room during the media access period and couldn't speak for himself.

I understand Revis is eager to get the message out that he's unhappy. He wants a new contract and does deserve to be the NFL's highest-paid cornerback. And he saw with former Jets running back Leon Washington last season what waiting can do. Washington agreed to play out an undervalued contract and broke his leg.

But he created an awful lot of unnecessary chaos around him in the process.