Sometimes both at the same time.
Lighter in the wallet a total of $10,000 for a conspicuous package check while crossing the line into football nirvana on a first quarter pick-six, a play that looked like it was going to spark a New England Patriots rout of the New York Jets last Sunday, Ryan also served notice that he's not going to settle for being the dime back any longer.
It wasn't perfect, but perhaps the best thing to come from playing in a secondary absent one Aqib Talib was the play of the rookie corner from Rutgers - and the trickle down effect of his college teammate, Duron Harmon, getting the most reps of his young career.
But life for a young project at the NFL level can mean inconsistent playing time and a harsh lesson on why incumbent veterans will always have another chance to secure their starting spot.
The health of Talib will dictate how much playing time both players will get this Sunday when the Patriots host the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium - if he plays, which most experts are assuming, the secondary will have perhaps the top cover corner in the NFL at the moment manning one side, and perhaps one of the better complimentary corners in the league in Alfonzo Dennard on the other.
There really isn't much of a question as to who will be lining up in the slot, as veteran nickel corner Kyle Arrington should see the field once again, despite his struggles and subsequent early benching against the Jets last Sunday, which opened the door for Ryan - perhaps wider than Arrington would have liked.
Regardless, the secondary is as solid as the Patriots have seen in years - possibly ever - and has become the strength of a Patriots defense that has fallen victim to a plague of injury.
The season ending injury to defensive tackle Vince Wilfork and the nobody-knows-how-serious-it-is injury to his battery mate Tommy Kelly opened the door for a couple of more rookies on the interior line and, given the fact that they can be protected somewhat by the ends and linebackers bracketing them, have performed well...
...but the most devastating injury to this defense was losing weak-side linebacker Jerod Mayo for the season.
Mayo's sideline to sideline range and intensity appears to be difficult for the Patriots' coaching staff to replicate, despite having top shelf draft picks at every position on the second level, not necessarily in run support, but in covering the opposition's tight ends and backs in the pattern.
Fortunately, Dolphins' quarterback Ryan Tannehill doesn't target his backs much in the passing game, the team preferring to keep a back in to help their struggling offensive line protect the second year signal caller, and their impact tight end signing in the off season, former Jet Dustin Keller was lost for the season - but that's as lucky as the Patriots defense is going to get.
Miami can field a quartet of game breaking talent in their pass catching corps, and Tannehill displays great aptitude in practicing equal opportunity in targeting them.
The biggest free agent signing in Miami's aimless offseason spending spree is former Pittsburgh Steelers' wide receiver Mike Wallace, who has blazing speed and ankle breaking moves after the catch in the open field but, as his former coach Mike Tomlin stated at the time of his defection, is a one trick pony.
Wallace can stretch the field with his 4.33 speed, but can also end promising drives with his penchant for drops and sloppy route running, but a defense must respect his speed and his ability to wiggle out of tight spots on the jailbreak screen, which the Dolphins run frequently just to get the ball in his hands - a dangerous proposition if a defense is not prepared for it.
The safer options are the working class pass catchers in the solid possession guy Brian Hartline and slot receiver Brandon Gibson, both with great hands and precision route running, but where the Dolphins can hurt the Patriots is with tight end Charles Clay, who is their most consistent play maker, particularly in the red zone with his three touchdowns - and he rarely drops the ball.
Fast, big and athletic, Clay is in the top five tight ends in the league in yards after the catch and is proving to be too much for linebackers and safeties, as opposing teams have been relegated to putting a corner on him at times to stop the bleeding that his sudden cuts in the pattern cause.
What's new, right? Another solid tight end for the Patriots to deal with.
In the running game, the Dolphins prefer two-back sets, which makes them a bit predictable - but the interior line comprised of John Jerry, Mike Pouncey and the best name in football, Richie Incognito, prefer it that way - all nasty run blockers who will move linemen and linebackers in tandem, regardless of their preparation.
Daniel Thomas is a big back and a load to bring down and Lamar Miller is also capable in the hole, and though the Dolphins are more of a passing team - as evidenced by their 2:1 pass to run ratio - they may see an opportunity to get the running game going early, particularly with the quality of their interior line going up against the rookie combination of Joe Vellano and Chris Jones at defensive tackle for New England.
And it would behoove them to try, given that they have major issues protecting Tannehill on 2nd or 3rd and long passing situations.
Miami needs the play action to give Tannehill that extra split second to get rid of the ball and to protect his ribs, as he has been sacked an average of four times a game and taken twice as many big hits when he does get the ball off - most of the pressure coming though the right side of his line, as tackle Tyson Clabo can be overwhelmed at the point of attack.
Clabo is far from the only protection issue the Dolphins have, though left tackle Johnathan Martin is serviceable - and the team traded for Ravens' offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie this week in hopes of shoring up the pass protection, but that's like trying to hold back the ocean with push broom - and when one side or the other breaks down, neither of Tannehill's backs are capable of picking up the slack.
That said, it is still up to the Patriots to stop the run and get after Tannehill.
Will the Dolphins take a page out of the successful game plans for the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets and run the football right up the gut - and keep running it regardless of initial success or failure?
Most likely not, because they are ultimately built to throw the football.
The Patriots renewed acquaintances with old friend Andre Carter this week to bolster a pass rush that has frankly had a difficult time reaching the passer, averaging two sacks per game as a unit - but much of this is due to the fact that the opposition has run on the interior of the New England defensive line more than all but one other team in the league...
...yet the rush defense is middle of the pack in terms of yards per carry, and are only going to get better the more the rookie tackles gel and work in tandem with the ends and linebackers.
In short, there seems to be a misconception regarding the Patriots front seven. Though missing their captains, they are performing admirably, with the exception of figuring out the underneath coverages on tight ends and backs, and an improved pass rush will help in that regard immensely - but what exactly is the answer to the underneath coverage?
The Jets' offense exposed Dont'a Hightower in coverage on the tight end, and the Patriots were forced to counter with combination coverages - and while New England was effective in these coverages, the Dolphins pose a more legitimate set of weapons than New York's pieced together corps.
Some speculation has Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia using a combination of Carter and Chandler Jones as ends, relegating Rob Ninkovich to the strongside 'backer, but it seems more realistic that Carter is a sub-rusher that will slide Jones into a tackle role on passing downs while a safety like Harmon or Gregory comes up into the box to take care of Clay...
...the slot manned by Arrington (on a very short leash) to take Gibson with Dennard taking on Wallace with a safety over the top and Talib left to shut down the Dolphins' most versatile weapon in Hartline - or maybe the other way around, but if the New England pass rush can get to Tannehill, Wallace will have to break off his routes anyway and come back toward his quarterback, just as Hartline already does.
The backs are rarely a factor in the passing game - mostly because Tannehill sets them as part of his protection by need - but one thing that the pass rush and underneath coverage will have to worry about is his propensity for tucking the ball and running for his life, so it will take a measure of discipline from the defensive ends to set the edge and not take themselves out of the play.
And that's what Carter was brought in for, as Belichick recognized that the interior of his defense would benefit more from setting the edge and forcing things to the inside where they would be more comfortable with the linebackers helping to plug the gaps than making them have to make plays out in space where the opposition's quickness would cause a disadvantage to New England's scheme.
Overall, if the Patriots can generate pressure on Tannehill and Talib comes back good as new - or a reasonable facsimile thereof - the defense should be plenty good enough to toe the line and hold the Dolphins' offense in check...
...which leaves Ryan back at the dime back role that he has held most of the season - and that's exactly where Belichick would prefer to see him - because if Ryan is playing in any other capacity, despite being more than capable, it means that something has gone terribly wrong.
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