BALTIMORE (AP) — Jets vs. Ravens in a preseason game?

Yawn.

How about a Monday night battle of wits between outspoken first-year head coach Rex Ryan and the sensational defense he helped create?

Now that sounds interesting!

After building one of the stingiest defenses in NFL history, Ryan left Baltimore during the offseason to oversee the revival of the downtrodden Jets. The teams won’t meet during the regular season, so this is the only chance in 2009 for Ryan to go up his former boss, John Harbaugh, and the organization that paid his checks over the last 10 years.

“The atmosphere is going to be awesome out there because I’m coming back,” Ryan said with a chuckle. “You’re playing against a great football team and one that’s going to be great in the New York Jets, so I think that’s going to be a great matchup. You got myself and John, two great buddies going against each other.”

Ryan’s fondness for Harbaugh and the Ravens didn’t prevent him from criticizing his former team for the decision to give the No. 99 worn by former Baltimore standout defensive end Michael McCrary to rookie Paul Kruger. Ryan later apologized, but it’s obvious that he’s got the Ravens on his mind.

“You’re like, ‘Wow, this is a preseason game,’ but it’s going to feel special. I know it is,” Ryan insisted. “It’s not just going to feel special to me. It’s going to feel special for all our guys.”

Especially linebacker Bart Scott and safety Jim Leonhard, who left the Ravens as free agents to sign with New York.

“This will be my first time on the opposing sideline. It was my first home. I played seven years and had seven great years,” Scott said. “It will be exciting to go back there and really show myself well. I will see some familiar faces, but when the clock strikes, I have no friends.”

Baltimore’s defense still has Ryan’s fingerprints all over it. Greg Mattison took over for Ryan as defensive coordinator, but the swagger – and mainstays Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Haloti Ngata – are unchanged.

Mattison, the linebackers coach last year under Ryan, isn’t foolish enough to mess with a good thing. He may add a few wrinkles to keep the opposition guessing, but Baltimore’s 23-0 shutout of the Washington Redskins in the preseason opener shows the defense hasn’t lost its edge.

“At this point, we’ve made the transition,” Reed said. “I’m happy for Rex. I love him. I hate to lose him, but I’m glad he got the job. It was well-deserved. It’s going to be fun.”

It’s a student vs. teacher thing, but only to a degree.

“I’m sure they’re out there to prove it was more or less them, not Rex’s system,” Scott said. “But they’re running the same system.”

The Ravens’ defense respected Ryan as a motivator and strategist. Most of all, they appreciated his love for football.

Now it’s time to see what it’s like to be on the other side.

“I think it means a lot to be going against a Rex Ryan-coached team. We think the world of Rex,” Harbaugh said. “We kind of know what they’re building there and respect it. We recognize it when we see it. We’re looking forward to playing them; it’s going against someone you really care about.”

If anyone knows about the Baltimore defense, it’s Rex Ryan. That, however, may be only marginally beneficial to Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez, who will get his first NFL start.

“As much as people think we have this unbelievable advantage just because Rex is coming from (Baltimore), those are great athletes with a good scheme. It’s going to be tough to game-plan for them,” Sanchez said. “It will be a good test.”