"All Kerry Rhodes needed to be successful was to be benched.

The Jets safety responded to head coach Rex Ryan pulling him from the starting lineup with a pair of interceptions yesterday in a 17-6 win over Carolina -- his first two picks of the season.

Rhodes, who played primarily only in third-and-long situations, didn't have much to say after the game -- apparently taking a cue from quarterback Mark Sanchez. Rhodes gave a statement, then refused to answer questions.

"Coach tried to send a message to me," Rhodes said in the statement. "I got the message; the message was sent. Now I'm moving on. You're going to see Kerry Rhodes. That's all I got to say. You saw Kerry today and that's it."

But his teammates knew it was more complicated than that.

"I told him in the tunnel before the game, 'Watch, all that (garbage) this week and you're going to get two picks,' " Jets kicker Jay Feely said.

When Rhodes was yanked out of the starting lineup, Calvin Pace could relate.

"Coming from somebody who has been benched, been deactivated, you want to blame other people, you want to say, 'They're doing me wrong,' " said Pace, who went through similar periods while playing in Arizona. "But ultimately, you've gotta look at yourself in the mirror and say, 'No, I'm the reason why I got benched.' ""