Santonio Holmes made it until the final practice of OTAs before reminding the New York Jets of the drama that seems to perpetually follow the emotional wide receiver.
Holmes pulled himself out of practice Thursday after deciding coaches were working him too hard in his return to the field following a USO trip to Germany.
The wide receiver kicked his helmet in frustration and limped off the field in a showing that ESPN's Rich Cimini described as a "mini-meltdown."
"I was talking to the coach, letting him understand it was too many reps today," Holmes said, referring to new wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal. "I've been gone for a while, so I can't be at full tempo like the rest of the guys and where they want us to be at."
The Jets decided to bring Holmes back despite a 2011 season in which he criticized the offense in the media, blew off a late-season meeting called by Mark Sanchez, and was benched in the season finale after arguing with teammates in the huddle.
"He's a cancer," an unnamed Jet told the New York Daily News in January. "It's like dealing with a 10 year old."
"If he thinks he'd be stretching it to give five or 10 extra reps, you have to be smart about it," said Ryan, who said he spoke with Holmes and Lal about the incident. "If a guy thinks he's tight ... you don't want a guy pulling (a muscle). He knows his body better than anybody."
Ryan comes off as soft here, catering to Holmes' emotional outbursts rather than making it clear storming off and showing up a member of the coaching staff is unacceptable behavior.
Then again, this wouldn't be Ryan's first questionable move regarding Holmes. He made the wide receiver a captain last year.
