INDIANAPOLIS -- Rex Ryan opened his 15-minute availability at the NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday with a rambling anecdote about minor league baseball in Buffalo. This was the Bills coach as stand-up comedian, testing out new material at the Comedy Cellar to find out what works and what doesn't.
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The Buffalo Bisons riff probably fell into the latter category, but it's undeniable that Ryan still brings a rush of energy to a room when he steps to the podium. His first question? What was it like to watch the Patriots win another Super Bowl?
"It was terrible," Ryan replied with a grin. "Next question."
The Darrelle Revis follow-up was just a matter of time. Ryan didn't take the bait when asked about his feelings seeing Revis, the former apple of his eye, hoist the Lombardi in another uniform.
"All right now, I was waiting. I knew it would come from somebody," he said. "See, my first year, I would have done this and I would have swung at that pitch and probably been fined for tampering or something like that. This time, no way am I going to talk about somebody else's player, so I refuse to do that."
When the discussion turned away from the Patriots, it headed to Richie Incognito, the controversial guard who signed with the Bills last week.
"We wanted to find out for ourselves where he was at and have a conversation with him," he said. "Obviously, we felt good about him moving forward and ... conducting himself in a way where he's a good teammate. I expect him to be that."
"I get all the questions about him and understand where they're coming from and I recognize that there's several people in our population that will not give this guy a second chance. That no matter what he does he's going to be looked at a certain way. But I think the majority of the people in our community, in particular, are going to take a wait-and-see approach."
Ryan confirmed the Bills' meeting with Josh McCown, saying "it'd be nice to get somebody like that." Ryan remained supportive of EJ Manuel, however.
"I'm excited about EJ Manuel though, I'll tell you that much," he said. "I think he's a young man that has some potential. We'll see how that pans out."
If this all sounds familiar, you may be thinking of the combine last year, when the coach was asked about his opinion of Geno Smith. Ryan might have created his own personal Groundhog Day.
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