A day after finding out he’d be back with the Jets in 2014, head coach Rex Ryan began talking to his team about next year. Players said the message of his season-ending team meeting Monday was simple.
“Come back ready to make a run for the playoffs,” wide receiver Jeremy Kerley said.
Ryan has to know he won’t survive another season with no playoffs. Owner Woody Johnson and general manager John Idzik decided to keep him after the Jets finished a surprising 8-8 this year, but missed the postseason for the third straight year.
The NFL Network reported Ryan will be given a one-year contract extension that would run through 2015 despite his desire for a longer contract. Neither Ryan or Idzik addressed reporters Monday. They will conduct a press conference Tuesday morning.
Ryan did not spend time talking about his contract with the players. Instead, he made it about their offseason and making sure they are not packing up their bags again next year at the end of the regular season.
“It was really a very positive message,” wide receiver David Nelson said. “He talked about how at this time next year we don’t want to be sitting in this same position; we want to be getting ready for a game at this time next year. He talked about needing to find an edge and using the offseason to our advantage to get ready for next year.”
The Jets feel like they have a lot to build on from this season. They were a very young team with seven new starters on defense and five on offense. Most preseason predictions had them winning four or five games. But they managed to win eight, including wins over the playoff-bound Saints and Patriots.
Idzik enters this offseason with plenty of resources. The Jets are expected to be about $40 million under the salary cap and they should have around 10 draft picks once compensatory picks are decided.
It was an upbeat locker room Monday as players cleaned out their lockers for the offseason.
“It kind of starts again, the plan begins again,” tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson said. “We all take pride in this organization and remember that we don’t want to be home during this time next year. I think we have a good makeup, good materials, a good foundation, and it’s about building on top of that.”
The Jets have 17 unrestricted free agents and the futures of veterans Mark Sanchez, Santonio Holmes and Antonio Cromartie are uncertain. Ryan told the team that the nature of the NFL means not everyone will be back next year. He stressed that the team stay out of trouble in the offseason and look out for one another.
Ryan was in tears on Sunday night when Johnson informed the team he would be back as head coach. But players said he was back to himself Monday.
“Today he was back to his old jolly self,” Nelson said, “back to being Rex and being that funny charismatic guy that he is, always making jokes. Back to the head coach that we know and that we’re used to. You could tell there was a little extra swagger to him today.”