FLYING HIGH: Why is Jets coach Rex Ryan smiling after an 0-4 preseason? Because he said yesterday he believes “this has a chance to be the best team that I’ve had since I’ve been the coach here.” (
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The Jets scored 31 total points in the preseason, lowest in the NFL. They scored one touchdown — with their third-string quarterback. They finished 0-4 for the first time in 19 years.
You think that has coach Rex Ryan pondering doom and gloom?
“Overall, in my opinion, I think this has a chance to be the best team that I’ve had since I’ve been the coach here,” Ryan said.
Welcome back to the old Rex. Though it was not quite a Super Bowl guarantee, it was as bold a statement as he has made this year.
For those scoring at home, Ryan’s first two teams went to the AFC Championship. His 2010 team went 11-5 in the regular season, and his 2009 defense was No. 1 in the league. So, predicting a better 2012 team is saying something.
It also flies in the face of everything the experts are saying about this Jets team after its lost August. Ryan said it may not be the best offense, best defense or best special teams, individually, he has had here, but he thinks the overall team is better.
“I say that because I think we understand complementary football,” Ryan said. “Sometimes your offense is going to be rolling. Sometimes you’re going to ask your defense to, that old hockey term, stand on your head. Certain challenges that teams present out there, I think we understand that. Our coaching staff, I think we’re all like this, everybody understands it’s all about winning. It’s not about stats. It’s not about anything else but trying to find a way to win. I think our team understands that.”
The offense has been dissected and ripped for not having enough playmakers. The players have heard the doubts, but remain confident things will be fine when the regular season starts next week with Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow and Co. rolling out the offense they have been working on since April.
“We’ve got to go out and prove it,” right guard Brandon Moore said. “I feel confident in [offensive coordinator Tony] Sparano. I feel confident in the system. I feel confident in the guys next to me, on the side of me and behind me. We’ve just got to be able to go out and put in a great week of practice and nail these things down.”
If anyone wants to say preseason stats matter, then the AFC East, not just the Jets, should be terrible. The four teams went a combined 1-15 in the preseason with the Patriots notching the only victory. The AFC East teams were the four lowest-scoring teams in the NFL with the Bills (59), Patriots (55), Dolphins (43) and Jets (31) getting outscored by everyone else.
Ryan said he knows one defense in the league that already believes the Jets offense can pose a threat.
“I can tell you this — our defense is excited about our offense,” Ryan said. “I understand we scored one touchdown in the preseason. I understand that. But we know the body of what’s been out there, what we’re trying to develop. I think we’re excited to see it.”
The players have heard the doubts, but say they’re not worried about the noise from outside the locker room.
“That’s not one of my concerns,” wide receiver Santonio Holmes said, “[and] neither should it be [a concern for] anyone else that wears a green jersey. It’s not how many people [are] doubting us, it’s about what we believe in, in this locker room, how hard we’re going to go out and compete every week and how badly we want to win every ballgame this season.”