"I welcome him to come out here and watch our guys prepare," Ryan said Monday in response to an ESPN radio interview Namath did while questioning the team's level of readiness.
"He'd see a team that, in my opinion, prepares as well as any team I've been around. I disagree with him."
Namath quarterbacked the Jets to their only championship, the historic Super Bowl III upset of the Baltimore Colts after the 1968 season.
Like the team's fans, he's eager to see the Jets return to the pinnacle after 43 years. However he didn't sound sure that Ryan's brashness -- he guaranteed in the offseason that the Jets would win the Super Bowl -- is the right approach.
He called Sunday's loss to the Raiders "alarming."
"It starts at the top. Coach Rex Ryan I think has been doing a great job getting the team to two (AFC) Championship Games," said Namath.
"But if there's one thing about the athlete, if you keep telling him how good he is, he's going to start believing it, to the point that he may not be preparing not quite the way he should. He may be losing some respect for the other team."
Ryan remained unbowed ... unbowed enough to take a little dig at Namath, 68.
"The great thing is I'm confident with our football team," said the third-year head coach. "There's no question about it. I've told you this many times, I've never gone into a game I didn't think I'd win. Haven't won them all, but I certainly think we can and will. I'm not going to change who I am because Joe Namath said something.
"Namath can come in here, and if he can still throw, we'll have him as a backup quarterback, but you know what? He doesn't know our team. He's on the outside. Even though he's a Jet, and once you're a Jet, you're always a Jet, but he's on the outside. He's not in these meetings. I think if he was, he'd be shocked with the preparation."
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