1:54AM EST November 15. 2012 - FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Antonio Cromartie tried to drown it out.
Blasting rap music from his locker at top volume as a mass of reporters entered the New York Jets locker room Wednesday afternoon, the cornerback attempted to silence the incoming questions about the article that no one on the team's roster wanted to discuss.
"He's terrible."
That was the anonymous money quote from a story in the (New York) Daily News where over a dozen unnamed players and staffers criticized backup quarterback Tim Tebow, a piece that led head coach Rex Ryan to rip those who didn't identify themselves as "cowardly" in a midday press conference.
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After a Jets public relations staffer turned off Cromartie's music, the usually loquacious veteran reacted to the tornado of reporters like a trained elementary school child, refusing to talk and turning his back to the group while crouched on a stool.
But while Cromartie turned his back on the media, the three main players who did hold court did their best to show that they still had each other's.
"I've always thought Tim was a great player," guard Matt Slauson said. "I never said he wasn't a great player. He's a great dude and I enjoy having him on the team."
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Slauson, the only player to go on the record in the Daily News piece, claimed that his quotes in the story, where he referred to Tebow as an athlete rather than a quarterback, were either from earlier in the season or training camp. While many of the team's other veterans either refused to talk or made themselves conveniently absent during the media session, Slauson continued to be accountable.
Asked if Tebow would be able to lead the offense if starter Mark Sanchez were to be injured, he didn't exactly reverse course.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We don't have to worry about it right now," Slauson said.
"I don't know what it takes to be a quarterback. I get paid to protect them, but I've seen him throw some really good balls."
For a player who had just been thrown under the bus by a dozen teammates, Tebow remained his ever optimistic self. He said he spoke with both Ryan and Slauson individually about the story earlier in the day, but refused to divulge much from those conversations.
"It's a little disappointing, but you try to go about your business and improve and not let it affect you at all," Tebow said. "I'm more secure in who I am as a person and football player to look and wonder why. I've got a bunch of great relationships in this locker room and there's a bunch of awesome dudes in here."
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Sanchez, whose 52% completion rate is the league's worst, came to his teammate's defense.
"I've been in those shoes. If anyone knows what it feels like, it's me," Sanchez said. "He's mentally tough enough to handle it, I know it. He's smart and strong mentally and physically and it really won't bother him."
Tebow claimed that while he's used to hearing criticism, there was some "frustration and sadness" over the fact that this was the first time it had come from anonymous sources within his own locker room.
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"I'm not going to judge them for doing that. I just try to control what I can control," he said. "I prefer having an honest relationship with my teammates."
Ryan, who noted earlier Wednesday that he discussed the Daily News story with the team as a whole, believed that it would make the group even tighter as they continue through the season. At 3-6, the Jets face a must-win game at St. Louis on Sunday to keep their already slim playoff hopes alive.
"Will this galvanize it? I don't know, maybe so. This team, in my opinion, is not going to be pulled apart by outside people," Ryan said.
"Inside the walls, we are going to be (together) and that's what's going to give us an opportunity."
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