Real Talk From Thomas Jones

You know I was wondering if anybody on the Jets team was going to tell the truth about how they felt about Brett Favre after the season was over. And I am not talking about some anonymous backbiting bullshit. I am talking about legitimate criticism by a guy who is willing to go on the record. I guess I didn't have to wait too long to get my answer. Thomas Jones went hard at Favre on Hot 97 according to the New York Daily News but in actuality he was only telling the truth. Hell if TJ would have had 3 fumbles he would have found his ass riding the pine, so why wasn't Favre treated the same way? And its obvious when you really read the story that TJ isn't going at Favre in a personal way, he just wants to win. And anybody who isn't helping him do that is going to be a problem for him. It would be for me too quite honestly.

Now I know that I have talked before about players not throwing their Quarterback under the bus and I still believe that in 99.9% of cases but in this situation where Favre was only there for a year and might not be back I actually think the opposite is needed. If Brett Favre is not really wanted back in the locker room and he he comes back because nobody voiced that opposition its going to be more divisive than actually telling the truth about what the rest of the team thinks.

I am expecting this opening salvo from TJ to open the flood gates of guys putting their name on their criticism of Favre. I guess his shoulder might not be the overriding factor in whether he return or not after all.

Appearing as a guest Tuesday on New York's Hot 97 FM, Jones sacked his quarterback, hinting that Favre should have been benched during his three-interception nightmare in the season-ending loss to the Dolphins. That defeat, the final insult in an epic late-season collapse, may have sealed Eric Mangini's fate.

"We're a team and we win together ... but at the same time, you can't turn the ball over and expect to win," Jones said in a videotaped studio interview. "The other day, the three interceptions really hurt us. I mean, that's just reality. If I were to sit here and say, 'Oh, man, it's okay,' that's not reality.

"The reality is, you throw interceptions, I'm (ticked) off, I don't like it. You know what I'm saying? I don't like it, I know everybody else on the team doesn't like it."
At that point, the show's host, Angie Martinez, asked the AFC's leading rusher if teammates start to look "funny style" at a player that makes that many mistakes.

"If somebody is not playing well, they need to come out of the game," Jones replied. "You're jeopardizing the whole team because you're having a bad day. To me, that's not fair to everybody else. You're not the only one on the team."
"So it gets like that?" Martinez interjected.

"It definitely gets like that," Jones said. "You're playing to win, you're playing for the Super Bowl. That's what you do all this work for ... So when you get to the wire and somebody is just giving the game up, I mean, it's just not (fair)."