JET NOTES
A month ago, Miami’s candid linebacker Zach Thomas tore into his teammates and the Jets after the Dolphins blew a 17-0 halftime lead to lose 21-17 at the Meadowlands.
In his post-game tirade, Thomas said, “They’re better than us, I’ll give you that. But does that make them out to be some good team? Come on, man. They’ve had one good year in the last 10.
“We’re a terrible team. You’ve got to close. Winners close. Winners don’t go, ‘Oh, I hope the clock runs out so we win because we’re up.’ Shoot. I ain’t no winner. Like I said, we’re garbage, man. We just [stink] worse than the Jets [stink].”
Yesterday, Thomas said, “I don’t regret anything I said. I was just hot. We’ve got to respect the Jets. They beat us seven straight. If we don’t respect them then, shoot, we’re ignorant.”
Thomas said he doesn’t care about bulletin-board material, saying, “I don’t think [Jets’ center] Kevin Mawae is going to hit me any harder just because I said they [stink]. He’s already hit me hard enough.”
The Jets players took notice of the comments Thomas made, but no one was really angered by them.
“I guess with losing seven in a row to us it came out of frustration,” Vinny Testaverde said. “But just because they said some things we don’t like doesn’t mean we’re going to win the game. It certainly does add fuel to our fire, though.”
Jets’ CB Marcus Coleman was in Miami on Monday and Tuesday after the Jets’ win over Kansas City and he heard the south Florida rumblings about why the Dolphins can’t beat the Jets first hand.
“I was at the grocery store and I heard things said,” Coleman said. “I heard it both days I was down there. It would [tick] me off if I were [a Miami player].”
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WR Wayne Chrebet (left shoulder) sat out practice, but is expected to play. He’s listed as probable . . . RG Randy Thomas, who’s missed two games with a sprained left ankle, is also listed as probable and he, too, sat out practice yesterday.
Thomas said this is the first time in his football career at any level that he’s missed games. “Yeah, it’s killing me,” he said. “All my life I’ve never even thought about being on the sideline and now I’ve missed two games.”
