By DENNIS WASZAK Jr.
AP Sports Writer
FLORHAM PARK, N.J.(AP) — Mark Sanchez and his New York Jets
teammates grabbed a few things from their lockers and headed
home, eager to get away.
They’re hoping to re-emerge from their bye-week break as the
team they and coach Rex Ryan keep telling everyone they are,
despite their 4-4 record.
“We’re on a great football team,” Sanchez said. “Our record
doesn’t show the type of players we have, the kind of people we
have in this locker room and the kind of coaching we have.”
The big question is: Who are these Jets? Are they the team that
started 3-0 and had some dreaming of a deep playoff run? Or, are
they the unpredictable squad that has gone 1-4 since, unable to
overcome its shortcomings?
“If I didn’t feel like we were capable, I’d be standing here
ecstatic about being 4-4,” linebacker Bart Scott said. “I’m not
doing cartwheels or jumping jacks.”
The break might have come at the perfect time because the season
is teetering precariously close to falling apart. The Jets have
eight more games to prove otherwise.
“There are bumps in every road,” Ryan said. “Am I still
confident? I am confident. I have not wavered one bit, and never
will. I think we’ve got the players and I think we’ve got the
coaches. Am I disappointed? Absolutely.”
And for good reason. Ryan pumped up his team the moment he
became coach in January, and the players followed suit,
declaring themselves a force to be reckoned with. The bravado
has been tempered a bit because of the recent struggles,
combined with season-ending injuries to running back-kick
returner Leon Washington and nose tackle Kris Jenkins.
The Jets have also been a wildly inconsistent Jekyll and Hyde
bunch. They’ve given up six touchdowns without their defense on
the field, and lost their last three games by a combined 11
points.
“We lost games that we shouldn’t have,” safety Kerry Rhodes
said. “It’s just one of those things where you have to look at
yourself in the mirror and see that we’re 4-4 and try to right
that in the second half.”
That might be a lot easier said than done. Ryan has made some
questionable calls – befitting of a rookie head coach – and
Sanchez is still learning how to be an NFL quarterback.
“I’ll say the positive fact is we still control if we go to the
playoffs or not,” Ryan said. “Our expectations haven’t changed.
I know mine haven’t.”
Ryan pegged this team to make the playoffs, and expects to
someday bring a Super Bowl title to a franchise that hasn’t won
one since 1969. All of his big talk, echoed by many of his
players, raised the hopes of a fan base desperate for a change
in culture. But for now, that breath of fresh air has turned
into a bit of hot air.
Other than a 38-0 rout at Oakland two weeks ago, the Jets have
failed to put a complete game together.
“It’s a little frustrating to look at what’s happened this year
and just can’t really piece it all together,” wide receiver
Jerricho Cotchery said.
Sanchez single-handedly gave away two games with poor decisions.
The normally ironclad special teams unit allowed not one, but
two 100-yard kickoff returns for touchdowns by Ted Ginn Jr. in a
loss to Miami last Sunday. Even the defense, ranked No. 2 in the
league, couldn’t come through in New York’s first meeting in
Miami as the Dolphins ran wild with their wildcat formation.
“I still believe that we’re a good football team,” Scott said.
“We’re not going out there and stinking it up. It’s a little bit
more exciting than we would’ve liked, but we’re out there making
plays and we’re just coming up a little short.”
While the defense has been a strength, it hasn’t been the
overpowering force most people – Ryan included – expected.
“We need to start scoring on defense,” Ryan said. “We need to
start getting the takeaways and start scoring when we get them.
I’ve actually been on both sides, but I think that’s when you
start winning.”
The top-ranked running game, led by the solid if unspectacular
Thomas Jones, has followed through on Ryan’s ground-and-pound
philosophy. Sanchez has been pretty good at times, too, but the
flashes of brilliance have been offset by downright terrible
performances. For instance, there was his five-interception game
against Buffalo three weeks ago, and his three-pick performance
two weeks earlier.
“A lot of people will say, ‘Hey man, you’re a rookie and you’re
playing really good for a rookie,”’ Sanchez said. “But I don’t
want to play like a rookie. I want to play like a 10-year vet, a
Pro Bowler, a Super Bowl champion.”
He has a ways to go before all that, but his last two games have
been encouraging with three touchdown passes, two TD runs and no
interceptions.
“For a rookie quarterback to play in this league, I think he’s
done a heck of a job, especially these last two weeks bouncing
back from that poor performance against Buffalo,” Ryan said.
“Obviously, he’s only going to get better. I’m excited about
that.”
And so are Ryan’s players, intent on putting it all together.
“Right now, we have to realize that there’s no margin for
error,” Cotchery said. “It’s very slim right now. Every game is
important. We still have a good shot at getting it done.”
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