Jets' Ulbrich: Haason Reddick '1 of the Most Unselfish Players I've Ever Been Around'

New York Jets fans might request interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich consult with a dictionary given the word he used to describe veteran edge-rusher Haason Reddick.

On Monday, Ulbrich came to the defense of Reddick, who has 11 tackles and 0.5 sacks through nine games with the team. He said the two-time Pro Bowler is "one of the most unselfish players I've ever been around."

This is the same player who missed the Jets' first seven games due to a contract holdout. Reddick didn't make his debut with the team until a 25-22 loss to the New England Patriots in Week 8.

It's hard not to wonder whether his performance has suffered from him missing not just offseason workouts but nearly the entire first half of the regular season as well.

The 30-year-old had gone four straight seasons with notching double digits in sacks, and now he's making little to no impact on the field. Only twice has he logged at least 70 percent of the Jets' defensive snaps, having failed to hit that threshold just five times in 2024.

By any metric, Reddick has been a massive disappointment.

Being selfish isn't necessarily bad within the context of a contract standoff. An NFL player is incentivized to get as much money up front as possible because they can have relatively short careers and an even smaller window for their peak earning powers.

Of course, you wouldn't exactly expect a coach to call one of his players selfish because of everything that word connotes within a team sport.

But Ulbrich's praise of Reddick is likely to ring hollow with a lot of people who have followed the Jets.