This is the kind of season it’s been for Kerry Rhodes: Yesterday in the locker room he went to hurdle a laundry cart, clipped his foot on the edge and fell to the floor.
The Jets safety got up uninjured and laughing, but it’s been that type of year for Rhodes, who entered this year hoping to be a playmaker such as Ed Reed in coach Rex Ryan’s defense. Instead, he has no interceptions and no sacks.
“It is getting difficult,” Rhodes said. “I see myself wanting to do certain things on certain plays to try to make a play. But once you start doing that you get yourself out of position and other plays happen. This is where you really have to stay disciplined in what you believe in and what the game plan consists of.”
Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine was asked about Rhodes this week and said Rhodes has graded out well but then raised an interesting issue about Rhodes’ off-the-field activities.
“There are some guys where that’s their thing,” Pettine said. “When they leave the building, they put more on their plate football wise. I think as coaches we all want to be of the mindset that our guys are all going to be gym rats and football junkies and if they leave here, they’re going to go home and study tape. Not everyone is like that.”
Pettine did say he has no issue with Rhodes’ work ethic, but the implication is clear — he thinks Rhodes might be too worried about TV appearances and photo shoots.
Rhodes said the perception of him as a “Hollywood” player is way off.
“It is a little bit misleading, I think,” Rhodes said. “I do some stuff and that’s fine. I think it is a little bit skewed. People think I do more than I actually do. People can think what they want. At the end of the day, I put in my work.”
He has not done a photo shoot this year, he said.
“I know when to do it and when not to,” Rhodes said.
The bigger issue for the Jets is getting Rhodes to make some plays. He has not intercepted a ball since the Bills game last year in December. Rhodes said he is doing the same things he always has done but teams pay him more attention now then when he was an unknown player.
“It’s just the way the ball bounces sometimes,” Rhodes said. “If I can get on a streak here and get a couple [interceptions] next thing you know I’ll end up with six and people will be like he didn’t have a bad year at all. You can’t let the outside people affect how you play.”