Rex Return? Dolphins-Denver 2023 Game Could Get Even More Fun

The Miami Dolphins' 2023 game against the Denver Broncos already had become more interesting early this offseason, and now they could be another interesting twist added.

Already this offseason, the Broncos hired Sean Payton as their new head coach less than one year after the Dolphins were found guilty of tampering with him and the Dolphins later hired former Denver head coach Vic Fangio as their new defensive coordinator.

And now reports suggest that Rex Ryan is a leading candidate to join Payton as defensive coordinator and return to the NFL for the first time since 2016.

That season, Ryan was head coach of the Buffalo Bills, ending an eight-year run as a head coach in the AFC East. Six of those seasons came with the New York Jets and the final two with the Bills.

During that time, the Dolphins had a 7-9 record against Ryan's teams, with the Jets sweeping the season series in 2009 and the Bills doing it in 2015 and the Dolphins sweeping Buffalo in 2016.

In that 2016 season, of course, Jay Ajayi had two of his three 200-yard rushing performances against Ryan's defense.

Another Dolphins highlight against Ryan came in 2009 when Ted Ginn Jr. had his game with two kickoff returns for touchdowns, to go long with a Jason Taylor fumble return, in a 30-9 victory.

There were bad moments for the Dolphins against Ryan as well, starting with the 2013 season finale when the Jets eliminated Miami from playoff contention with a 20-7 at Hard Rock Stadium. And in Ryan's final game as Jets head coach in 2014, the Jets again won at Miami in the season finale when Geno Smith pulled off a 158.3 passer rating in a 37-24 game.

In 16 games against Ryan's teams when he was an AFC East head coach, the Dolphins scored 332 points, an average of 20.8 per game.

THE FAMOUS WES WELKER EPISODE

If we're talking Rex Ryan and the Dolphins, we absolutely cannot leave out the awesome episode involving current Miami wide receivers coach Wes Welker, who back then was still in his days as a player for the New England Patriots.

If you're not familiar with it, it's a doozy.

It was before the Patriots and Jets were scheduled to face off in the 2010 playoffs when Welker conducted a press conference and decided to have some fun in the aftermath of reports about Ryan having a foot fetish.

"These are the games you play for. What you spend all year getting ready for and you just want to put your best foot forward," Welker said.

He later said, "You can't just stick your toe in the water" and that the team should "Just go out there and be good little foot soldiers."

In all, Welker made 11 references to "feet" and "toes" during his press conference.

The Jets ended up having the last laugh, defeating the Patriots in the divisional round. It would be the last time New England would fail to reach the AFC Championship Game until eight years later.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick disciplined Welker, who then became "Commander Cliché" for the rest of his time with New England.

Guess you could say Belichick stuck his foot up Welker's butt for making those jokes. Too soon?

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