Rex Ryan Tells Minkah Fitzpatrick 'Adios' After Viral 'Jets Being Jets' Comment

Minkah Fitzpatrick used three words the Jets have spent years trying to bury, and a former coach buried him for it. The New York safety said “Jets being Jets” after Sunday’s 38-33 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, a line that went viral within minutes. The team said two hours later that he meant to say “Jets beating the Jets”. By Monday morning it did not matter: Rex Ryan, the last coach to win a playoff game for the franchise, had already told ESPN New York that Fitzpatrick is “a shell of himself” and that if he really feels that way, “adios”.

What did Fitzpatrick say?

“Some bad penalties, bad mistakes, Jets being Jets.” That was the answer when Fitzpatrick was asked about the defence’s second-half collapse, and Heavy quotes it in full. TheScore, citing ESPN’s Rich Cimini, gives the slightly fuller version: “I think we had some bad penalties, bad mistakes. Jets being Jets.” Either way, the last three words did all the damage. “Jets being Jets” is not just a phrase in New York. It is the shorthand for half a century of self-inflicted losses, and it came from a player the Jets acquired specifically to help end that story.

Did he mean it?

The Jets say no. TheScore reports that two hours after the comment, a team spokesperson said Fitzpatrick had intended to say “Jets beating the Jets”, meaning the Jets were beating themselves with penalties and mistakes. That reading fits the substance of his answer, which was about bad penalties and bad mistakes. But clarifications do not travel like clips do, and the words that came out were the ones everyone heard. A misspoke defence also has a limit: even if he meant “beating”, he still reached for the franchise’s own punchline in the moment, and that is what Ryan seized on.

What did Rex Ryan say?

Everything, loudly, on Monday’s DiPietro and Rothenberg show on ESPN New York. Ryan said Fitzpatrick was brought to New York not just because he is a great player but because he could bring leadership, then added: “but he’s a shell of himself. This is not the same guy.” He contrasted him with veteran linebacker DeMario Davis, saying: “I can tell you one thing I know DeMario Davis is a leader. I can promise you that.” Then came the verdict: “We don’t need you to go against us. We need you to build this team up. And my understanding is that he meant we’re killing ourselves but it certainly didn’t come out that way… this is horrendous. If this is actually how he feels then adios… don’t let the door hit you in the [expletive].” Heavy carries the full exchange.

Why does Ryan’s blast land so hard?

Because of who he is to this franchise. Heavy notes Ryan is the last coach to win a playoff game for the Jets, and his teams reached back-to-back AFC Championship games on a brash, us-against-the-world identity. When Ryan says a veteran leader should be building the team up, Jets fans do not hear a radio guest. They hear the standard from the last era when the Jets were relevant, applied to a player who was supposed to help restore it. The desk has covered coach-player rows before, from Mike Vrabel being flagged for swearing at a referee to Todd Bowles calling out the league’s most flag-happy crew, but this one is different: it is a former coach telling a current leader he is failing at the part of the job that is not on the stat sheet.

How did the Jets lose the game behind the row?

By wasting a near-perfect start. TheScore reports New York scored on its first six possessions at MetLife Stadium, only the second team since 2000 to do that and lose, and was outscored 24-10 in the second half. The New York Post adds the shape of the collapse: a 23-14 halftime lead, 30-21 midway through the third quarter, then 17-3 the rest of the way, with the Raiders taking the lead for good at 35-30 on a Kirk Cousins touchdown pass to Jalen Nailor with 11:33 left. The loss dropped New York to 2-6, and Heavy adds that it was the Jets’ third consecutive one-score defeat, with a defence that has regressed significantly. That is the context Fitzpatrick was describing, and it is why his line stung: the penalties and mistakes he named were real, and the team really did beat itself.

How bad is the bigger picture?

Worse than one loss. TheScore reports head coach Aaron Glenn has lost 20 of 25 games since arriving in January 2025 with the goal of changing the losing narrative, and that New York is in danger of missing the playoffs for a 16th straight season, the longest active drought in North American sports. Fitzpatrick himself arrived in March, via trade, and signed a three-year, $40-million extension, theScore reports. He was supposed to be part of the answer to exactly this problem. Instead, his postgame line became the week’s summary of it, which is why Ryan’s response went beyond one comment and into a judgment on the whole acquisition.

What happens next?

Three things to watch. First, whether Fitzpatrick or Glenn answers Ryan directly, since Glenn was not asked about the comment at his Monday press conference. Second, whether Fitzpatrick’s name comes up before the November 10 trade deadline, since Heavy notes a veteran of his standing could attract a contender. Third, the schedule, which offers no sympathy: the Jets’ next two opponents are Kansas City and Buffalo, Heavy reports, starting with a Chiefs team still smarting from its own viral week after the Denver loss. The Jets are not the only team whose week was defined by a single chaotic sequence: the Eagles-Jaguars game began with two ejections on the opening kickoff in London, and the Commanders let the clock run out in overtime and tied the Giants instead of kicking. If the Jets lose a fourth straight one-score game to the Chiefs, the “Jets being Jets” line will stop being a controversy and start being a description. That is what Ryan was really warning about.