Ed Reed spent the final six weeks of the 2013 season with the Jets. The veteran safety’s impact on the field was minimal, but the Jets say they are a better team this year for having Reed around.
“I think he rubbed off on a lot of people in that [locker] room and not just defensive backs,” said defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman, who also coached Reed in Baltimore. “It was linebackers. It was D linemen. It was about, ‘Hey, Ed Reed says something. He’s won. He knows. He’s going to the Hall of Fame in five years.’ It was what we were looking for. You can see the carryover now from that impact.”
Thurman said the Jets brought in Reed to educate the younger players on taking ownership over the defense.
“Just bringing Ed in was something that we felt we needed to do from an overall perspective to help guys understand a standard that we’re trying to get to,” Thurman said. “He wasn’t the same Ed Reed we had in Baltimore, obviously.
“But it is a standard of defense, a standard of preparation, a standard of understanding of how to put things and take ownership of it. The preparation, the film study, practice is not over when we’re having walkthrough – leave your backpacks on the sideline – all the little things that make up of taking ownership of a certain unit. That is why he was brought in. It wasn’t about him being the same player. It was about helping us to establish a standard of defense that will take the New York Jets a long way as it has done in Baltimore.”
Antonio Allen was the player who saw his playing time dwindle the most with Reed’s arrival and admitted it frustrated him.
“I don’t think he was real happy with it,” Thurman said.
But Allen said he learned a lot from Reed, including how to study film better and what to expect from offenses.
“The New York Jets should be happy that Ed Reed walked into this building,” Thurman said. “I believe he rubbed off on all those young defensive backs.”