Updated

Rex Ryan is going back to his roots.

The New York Jets coach says Saturday that he will control the play-calling on defense, as he did during his first two seasons with the team. Ryan, a defensive coordinator in Baltimore before being hired as a head coach in New York, left most of those duties to Mike Pettine the last two years.

Ryan wanted to get more involved in the offense and "be more the head coach role" last season, but wants to "go back to do what I do, which is teach and coach primarily on defense."

Dennis Thurman replaced Pettine as the team's defensive coordinator when Pettine took the same role with Buffalo this offseason. Ryan says his increased role on defense is not a reflection on Thurman.