Later, he offered a similar answer when asked to comment on a possible reunion with Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas, widely assumed to be the outs in New England. But he did offer the value of having some of his ex-Ravens in New York.

"That's big, I think any coach that gets a job would want to bring in people he's familiar with, because these are guys that the rest of the team is going to look at," Ryan said. "You better make sure your're bringing in the right guys from a work ethic standpoint. ... Their teammates are going to be watching them. So that something where we definitely had the right guys."