BUFFALO — The Jets spent Saturday night preparing for their game with the Bills on Sunday by … playing video games?
According to a source, Rex Ryan canceled the team’s normal pregame offensive and defensive meetings and the team went to “Dave & Buster’s,” the chain arcade/restaurant a few miles from the team’s hotel.
It is highly unusual for a team to skip their preparation the night before a game and could be perceived as a lack of respect for the Bills. Ryan still conducted the full team meeting where he gives his motivational talk, but the team skipped its final game-planning sessions.
Team outings are common during training camp, but not the night before a game. It will be interesting to see how the Bills react when they hear this, particularly Bills defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, formerly a Jets assistant.
Jets wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal met pupil Stephen Hill at midfield after the team’s win over the Patriots last month. Hill had just one catch in the game and had been a non-factor.
“He gave me a big hug. He was so genuinely happy,” Lal said this week. “That struck me that he doesn’t care, in a good way. He just wants to win. He doesn’t care about stats. Every receiver would love to catch 10 every game, but he’s been patient, hanging in there. He knows it’s cyclical. It will come around. It might be this week.”
The Jets sure hope so. Hill, the second-year receiver from Georgia Tech, has just 23 catches in the team’s first nine games for 340 yards and only one touchdown. The stats are not there, but Lal said he sees encouraging signs from Hill.
Lal complimented Hill’s toughness for taking some huge hits this year and getting back up — like Troy Polamalu crushing Hill in the Steelers game but Hill holding onto the ball to set up a Jets field goal. He also sees him running better deep routes and improving his form.
“He’s on the right track,” Lal said.
This week could be a big one for Hill, because the only big games of his career have come against the Bills. In two games against Buffalo, Hill has 197 receiving yards — or 33 percent of his career total. Three of his four career touchdowns have come against the Bills, too.
Lal said teams have paid attention to Hill because at times he has been the best-known receiver on the field. With injuries to Santonio Holmes, Jeremy Kerley, Jeff Cumberland and the suspension of Kellen Winslow, some teams have focused on Hill.
“There have been some schematic defenses that have taken him away,” Lal said. “I’ll turn that into a positive because this guy’s unselfish. He keeps busting ass the whole game long, trying hard, blocking, never complaining. When it’s his turn he takes advantage of it.”
One thing you can’t knock Hill on this year is dropping the ball. That was a problem for him as a rookie, but Hill has made some tough catches this season.
“He’s done a good job catching the ball,” Lal said. “He’s worked at it, too. He’s homed in on that.”
If the Jets lose Sunday, they will have alternated wins and losses for the first 10 games of the season, the longest streak in NFL history, according to Stats Inc. … Rex Ryan is 1-3 after the bye week as Jets coach. The one win came in Buffalo in 2011.