Since the end of the NFL regular season, we've heard a lot from 31 of the teams around the NFL.
We've heard from teams going to the playoffs as well as those who are making tee times, fired coaches and those who escaped the ax have both shared their thoughts and owners have given postmortems on the season all over the country. The only team that hasn't bothered to face the media firing squad is the one team that normally won't shut up.
That's right, boys and girls, the Jets' resolution for the new year is apparently to stop filling every available inch of space with the noise that has become synonymous with the team since Rex Ryan became the coach. There was the statement Monday firing general manager Mike Tannenbaum and announcing that Rex Ryan remained as coach, but not a peep since then and they've already announced that neither Ryan nor Woody Johnson will be speaking on Wednesday.
On the one hand, it's pretty sad that the Jets can't just stand up and explain their decision the way every other team that let someone go on Black Monday has managed to do in the last few days. Ryan's long been a proponent that players, coaches and everyone else are free to talk as much as they want about anything they want, so it is hard to understand his refusal to talk now although we'll leave open the possibility that the Jets have told him to keep his trap shut.
Still, it's odd that the king of oversharing has decided to hide at the most trying crossroads of his career. It allows all kinds of speculation to run roughshod, including the reasonable conclusion that Ryan's job isn't as secure as it was made to be in Johnson's initial statement.
On the other hand, though, what more do we really need to hear from the Jets this year? Does anyone actually need a detailed explanation of the reasons why Tannenbaum was relieved of his duties?
Just look at the roster, the recent drafts and the lack of salary cap space to get all the explanation you need on that front. After a full season of ridiculous Tim Tebow commentary and clueless explanations of myriad problems, a little silence is golden.
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Yes, it would be nice to have some confirmation that the team will find a more competent offensive coordinator than Tony Sparano, but this is better than their fraudulent claims that Brian Schottenheimer would return last year before finally firing him when he didn't get a head coaching job that everyone knew he wasn't going to get.
It's a bit reassuring to think that the Jets are actually concentrating on football decisions rather than the PR concerns that always seem to be their main concern. They might not be doing that, although the general manager interview process is moving along while the Jets put up their silent front.
Until that person is hired and until we know how Ryan's future will be handled with a new G.M. who has no ties to him, there's not really much more to say than the Jets have already said this season. In the end, it's just like our mother told us so many years ago.
If you don't have anything nice to say, it's better not to say anything at all.
Josh Alper is also a writer for Pro Football Talk. You can follow him on Twitter.
