The fire that is the Patriots and Jets rivalry seems to get bigger by the minute. But on Wednesday, in the words of Rex Ryan, "It is personal".
For this first time this week, it wasn't Ryan who was doing all of the trash talking, it was his players.
During a meeting with the New York media, Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie took a shot at Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. When asked about how he feels about Brady's comments about hating the Jets, Cromartie told the media "F*** him" and later called him an "ass----"
Cromartie also claimed that Brady taunted the Jets during the Patriots 45-3 victory over New York.
"Yeah, [Brady] does it a lot. That's the kind of guy he is. We really don't give a damn, to tell you the truth."
Also, Jets defensive lineman Shaun Ellis lashed out a Brady. Ellis' comments were a little less forceful than Cromartie's, however he did get his point across that he is no fan of Tom Brady.
"It wasn't too much. It's just his his body language and things like that. When they scored, he'd look over to our sideline and do a little body language and all that. He was fired up for that game. We're going to get the same thing this week. It's for us as a defense to go out there and shut him down."
Brady responded to Cromartie's comments later, and did not want to ignite the fire any further than it was. Brady simply told the Boston media "I've been called worse." Brady later praised Cromartie as a player.
Cromartie was given another chance to take back his comments he made about Brady earlier in the day, but would have no part of it.
"No. Why would I regret them?" asked Cromartie. "That's my opinion and how I feel about it. There's no reason for me to sit back and take anything I said about him back, and I'm not."
Just another typical day during Jets-Patriots playoff week.