Tongue touts big game
New York Jets safety Reggie Tongue knows he’s had a roller-coaster season.
What better way to start building momentum than against his former team, when the Jets play Seattle on Sunday?
“A dream game would be 10, 12 tackles; two, three picks; run two of them back for touchdowns,” Tongue said Thursday. “I’m a dreamer. I dream big. I’ll shoot for that, and if it doesn’t happen I’ll shoot for it again next week.”
Tongue, a nine-year veteran, is coming off another mixed performance. Although he recorded his first interception as a Jet in a 16-7 loss to Pittsburgh, he had two plays that cost his team.
On the halfback option touchdown pass Jerome Bettis threw to Jerame Tuman, Tongue was supposed to be on Tuman. But he bit on the run, and Tuman waltzed into the end zone untouched to put the Steelers up for good. Bettis also scored on a run when Tongue could not quite tackle the big back.
“It was a great call, but it would have been a great play, also, if I had stayed on my guy,” Tongue said. “I go into every game trying to make every possible play I can. It doesn’t always work out that way. I’m not going to ponder and harp on all the bad that’s happened to me.
“The play happened and I’m moving on to Seattle now. I’m frustrated about it, but I can’t let one game affect the next.”
Tongue came to the Jets after four seasons with the Seahawks. When the season ended, coach Mike Holmgren asked Tongue if he wanted to stay in Seattle or pursue free agency. Tongue said he wanted to return, and Holmgren said the Seahawks wanted him back.
But after consulting with defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes, the Seahawks decided they wanted someone else at safety. Tongue was surprised at the news, but latched on with the Jets, who needed a replacement for Sam Garnes.
Things did not start smoothly for Tongue with his new team. He and defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson butted heads, then Tongue had a calf injury for most of training camp. When he was down, Tongue called friend James Hasty, with whom he played for four seasons in Kansas City.
“He was upset that things weren’t going the way I planned them to go coming in,” Tongue said of his conversation with Hasty. “He told me to take it in stride, and if I had to, just to go in and talk to Donnie. We came to an understanding of how to deal with each other.”
Henderson was hard on Tongue and another free-agent acquisition, David Barrett. He would go after the two of them constantly, but Tongue and Barrett understood Henderson was trying to make them better.
Tongue combined for 12 interceptions in his final three seasons in Seattle, but has just one this year.
“I just want to make a big play,” Tongue said. “Playing consistently and not doing anything doesn’t work for me. I like to have my hands on the ball. I like to have big impact plays. I just have to do my part and be patient and things will come.”
Coach Herman Edwards said Tongue has been more consistent over the last month, although stopped short of heaping glowing praise on the veteran.