Jets tight end Jace Amaro walked back some of the harsh comments he had for former head coach Rex Ryan, as Rich Cimini of ESPN.com writes. “I had no intention of attacking anybody, especially Rex,” Amaro said. “I have the utmost respect for the guy, he gave me a chance to play in this league before anyone else. … I was really just talking to the players mostly and our team now and I’m not really worried about what happened last year.” Amaro is squarely focused on the season ahead, but two of those 16 games will be against his former coach. Here’s more from around the NFL..
- Earlier tonight, SiriusXM’s Adam Schein asked Falcons coach Dan Quinn if Shane Ray is still on his board. “Yeah, absolutely,” the coach said, according to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “As we’re going through the process we felt good about him. I think he had a setback. It was hard, and hopefully one that, like I said, he learns from and can move on from.”
- Cowboys owner Jerry Jones won’t call running back a “must” for his team in this year’s draft. That checks out with Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (on Twitter), who hears that they could wait until the third or fourth round to grab a tailback. Dallas can afford to take a lesser back in this year’s draft thanks to their outstanding offensive line.
- Danny Amendola said he didn’t have any hesitation about taking a pay cut to stay with the Patriots, Shalise Manza Young of The Boston Globe writes. “You know, it’s a business and everybody treats it like a business. Obviously you love playing football, you love being around the locker room, you love being around your teammates, and that’s really the most important thing for me,” Amendola said. “I love the group we have here, I love the work ethic everybody puts in every week, I love being here, so that’s why I chose to come back.”