When we last saw Santonio Holmes the New York Jets wide receiver was throwing a temper tantrum in the team’s offensive huddle near the end of a season-ending loss to the Miami Dolphins. Thursday Holmes was at it again, having what ESPN New York referred to as a “mini-meltdown” during the team’s OTA.
Holmes reportedly pulled himself out of practice “because he felt he was unfairly overworked by coaches.”
“I was talking to the coach, letting him understand it was too many reps today,” Holmes said. “I’ve been gone for a while [with a USO tour in Germany], so I can’t be at full tempo like the rest of the guys and where they want us to be at.”
Jets head coach Rex Ryan said he had no issue with Holmes taking himself out of practice.
“Santonio knows his body better than anybody, obviously,” Ryan said. “So if he thinks he would be stretching it to give another five, 10 snaps, then you have to be smart about that and that’s really with any of those veteran players.”
Still, after a contentious 2011 Jets season during which Holmes was in the middle of much of the controversy, it isn’t comforting to see him having a dispute with the coaching staff already.