New York Jets coach Rex Ryan was in a chipper mood Thursday, touting his team's OTA attendance record as the best in the league and raving about his defense's depth.
At the same time, the coach known for his bombastic predictions, brushed off concerns about Santonio Holmes' request for fewer reps as well as criticism of Tim Tebow's practice performances.
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Ryan bragged about New York's "99 percent" attendance mark, claiming that out of 2,211 possible workouts, the team had 2,178.
"I would challenge any other team to have these numbers. I don't believe that happened anywhere else in the league," he said. "I think that is a real positive that the Jets are heading back in a good direction. Again, how many games this is going to affect us on the field? We will find out."
As for what took place at those OTAs, Ryan -- an old defensive coordinator -- singled out the defense.
"I always think this defense is going to be special," he said. "We believe that. I think we have so much depth on defense right now. This might be the deepest that we have been. We can stack up a lot of good football players. The depth we have at linebacker is crazy."
Ryan said safety LaRon Landry, a free-agent acquisition still recovering from an Achilles tendon injury, was the only player to miss all of the Jets' voluntary workouts. Ryan added that Landry is expected at next week's mandatory minicamp.
