New York Jets coach Rex Ryan opened his Wednesday news conference by poking fun of himself and then his quarterback. Ryan started the show by taking a box of tissues from Jets senior director of media relations Bruce Speight. The reference was to the tearful talk Ryan delivered to his players Monday.

"I've got a new sponsor," Ryan said. "Besides the Jets having Toyota, I got Kleenex for obvious reasons." Ryan then revealed a sheet of paper and said he wanted to read a prepared statement. Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez pulled that bizarre maneuver to avoid some questions after Sunday's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Those jokes aside, Ryan got serious and offered no apologies amid the criticism his team is at the emotional brink:

"I understand everything's out, and sometimes you say things to your team and you don't realize that everybody will find out, and that's fine and dandy. One thing I'll say is I'll be true to myself. I'm always going to be, and I said that from Day 1. If I don't fit the stereotype of coachspeak or anything else, so be it. I'm going to always be myself.

"There was a great quote. There's very few quotes that I remember, which I know surprises everybody, but one of them, when I was a kid I was reading about Sugar Ray Robinson. Of course, I never even brought this up to the players because they don't even know who Sugar Ray Leonard is. I figured it wouldn't go over, but he made a great statement once, and it goes something like, 'To become a champion, you have to believe in yourself when nobody else will.' I think that's the message that I believe in, that I'm always going to be that person. I think our team understands that.

"If people believe in us, we're going to believe in each other, regardless of what the facts even look like. You have to believe in yourself to achieve great things. That's the way I am. That's the way this team is."