National Football League

Jets' playbook controversy doesn't sit well with Rex Ryan (VIDEO)

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:05 p.m. ET

foxsports

New Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine created a firestorm this week when he claimed a New York Jets defensive playbook had landed in the hands of the New England Patriots.

Pettine, who served as the Jets' defensive coordinator from 2009-12, also suggested that the Patriots received the intel via Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who got it from Jets coach Rex Ryan and also is a close friend of Pats coach Bill Belichick.

While Saban has the playbook sitting in his office, according to an Alabama spokesman, he never shared the information with Belichick.

"Go talk to Mike Pettine,'' Belichick told reporters Thursday. "I don't know."

Ryan called the claims “ridiculous” and “disrespectful” on Thursday when he was asked about them by local reporters.

Growing agitated, Ryan continued, “I don't understand what he's trying to gain by it. Everyone needs to talk to Mike Pettine 'cause he's got all the answers."

Pettine's comments came in the context of him explaining why he keeps his playbooks so lean.

"I don't put a lot of graduate-level information in it," he said. "We know in places like New England, it's only a matter of time that they somehow mysteriously end up with our playbook."

Despite Pettine being a protege of Ryan’s, the recent developments certainly have gotten under Rex's skin.

"(Pettine) needs to learn to be quiet," Ryan said. "Absolutely."