THE Dolphins’ expected breakthrough season is in ruins while the Jets have risen from the ashes, in part because of their earlier 20-17 victory over Miami. Yet, despite the bitter rivalry, memories seem shorter than a Dewayne Robertson press conference.
Jason Taylor, usually good for two sacks and a Santa’s bag full of insults when he plays the Jets, said yesterday in a conference call with New York writers that he could “care less” about ending their playoff hopes Monday night. Meanwhile, Miami writers reminded Laveranues Coles that Vonnie Holliday said Miami never should have lost to “that team.”
“If it came from Jason Taylor or Zach Thomas . . . ,” said Coles. “I don’t even know who Vonnie Holliday is, to be honest with you.”
This week the Jets voted Coles their Most Valuable Player of football, not Trivial Pursuit. “What Dolphin defensive lineman, originally picked first by Green Bay, once cleaned cages in a dog pound?”
“Beats me,” Coles would say, shrugging indifferently for the second time this week. The first came Tuesday, when despite 87 catches, six for touchdowns, 52 for first downs, 22 of which came on third down, he made the Pro Bowl only as an alternate. Pro Bowl? Coles never heard of it.
“I would take being MVP of my team,” he said. “When I first heard, it was like ‘Man, my teammates really like me.’ ”
Quite the epiphany for a guy who, abused by a stepfather as a child, took a long time to learn to like himself. Coles, slipping to the third round because of off-field incidents at Florida State, came to the Jets in 2000 with a memory file of teams that had passed him over.
Since it was 30 of them, that’s a lot of rage, potentially exacerbated by a two-year Washington exile because the Redskins thought he was worth more money than the Jets. But the huge chip seems off the shoulder, leaving room for a ton of responsibility.
“I have more than most other people and a lot more than what I ever expected to have,” he said. “But if I sat down and looked at my past, I probably wouldn’t continue to be as productive as I am now.”
The once-bristling Coles, no fan of the media for its reporting of a battery arrest (he was going to the aid of his mother, being attacked by his stepmother) and his part in a players merchandise scam at a Tallahassee department store, has become a go-to guy for reporters, like teammates.
“He reminds me of Troy Brown in the sense their leadership style is more on the field,” said Eric Mangini yesterday. “The way he practices, banged up or not, he has that sheer toughness, consistency and ability to make plays.
“Some receivers are dominant on the edge, outside the numbers. LC can go inside, make plays on slip screens.”
Coles has had a remarkable season, considering the lack of a consistent Jet running game or a deep threat to stretch the field. They traded the one they had last season to re-obtain Coles, raising eyebrows when Santana Moss had a breakout year in Washington. Pennington, who didn’t have the arm strength to utilize Moss, who lobbied for Coles’ return after he got into Joe Gibbs’ doghouse for refusing toe surgery, got hurt. Coles made 73 catches last year regardless, which didn’t surprise Mangini, a distant New England admirer.
“When I saw the trade, I’m thinking ‘really good decision,’ ” said the coach now benefiting from it. “He’s everything I’m looking for. And he provides comic relief. ”
Coles makes fun of the rotund coach’s walk, and the coach got the joke, showing the Jets “The March of the Penguins.” Yesterday, Coles couldn’t think of another Mangini thigh-slapper.
“You never know if he’s joking or not,” said Coles. “I’d hate to be in a poker game with him.”
If it took place in a foxhole, Mangini would deal Coles in.