Rex Ryan has expressed his belief that New York Jets owner Woody Johnson had no choice but to fire him at the end of the 2014 season.

Ryan enjoyed an encouraging start to life with the AFC East side as he led them to the AFC championship game in his first two seasons at the club.

However, the Jets missed the playoffs in the following three seasons and posted 4-12 record in the 2014 campaign, which resulted in the end of Ryan's tenure at the club.

"I had a million positive things from that," Ryan told NFL Network. "Woody Johnson will always be a friend of mine. He's a guy that I respect. The man gave me a job when no one else [would].

"He's almost like a big brother and he was outstanding, but he had no choice, he had to fire me. He had to blow it up to start again. He couldn't justify bringing me back again."

Ryan was appointed as the head coach of the Buffalo Bills in January.