Damien Woody Throws Former Coach Mangini Under the Bus

Now that former Jets head coach Eric Mangini is roaming the Cleveland Browns’ sideline, the cat is starting to be let out of the bag in the Meadowlands during the newfound Rex Ryan era, something Jets guard Damien Woody, for one, is relieved about.

"Here I am 31 years old, I've got my own kids, and I'm married, and here's someone that's not that much older than me -- or whatever the case may be -- telling me what I can and can't do," Woody told the Los Angeles Times in reference to Mangini. "It's so regimented where the game is just not a game anymore. It's not fun. Even when you win it's not fun."

Ryan seems to be bringing the fun back to the green and white. "I think they realized, 'Wow, this is different [than before],'" Ryan told the Times. "But it is going to be different. I think they understand who I am. I'm just being myself, and I think they know they can trust that. Where before, guys were just a little bit tight.

"I just want to make sure they knew that this is still a game."

Apparently Mangini never reminded the Jets of that during his three- year tenure – in which he compiled a 23-25 record.

"[That] was great to hear,” Woody said. “I'd never heard that in my whole career, for a guy to say that. He wants things to be enjoyable, where you have fun but get your work done."

The Jets have some work to get done. They sit behind a pair of division foes that finished 11-5 in 2008 that only seem to be getting better.

This was written for NESN.com, but was already posted by another writer.