The Jets know that winning is paramount in their quest for the playoffs, but that does not mean they aren’t keeping one eye on their competition for postseason berths.
Several Jets and coach Rex Ryan said they watched Thursday’s game between the Colts and Jaguars with extra interest. The Jaguars entered the game tied with the Jets, and owning a tiebreaker over them.
“I was a Colt fan,” Ryan said. “[Jacksonville coach] Jack Del Rio is a personal friend of mine. I love you Jack, but I was hoping you got beat. I was happy to see the Colts win. Of course you’re going to watch it, but none of that matters if we can’t beat Atlanta.”
The Jaguars’ 35-31 loss dropped them to 7-7 and gives the Jets a chance to leapfrog them tomorrow with a win. They will enter the day tied with the Ravens and Dolphins for the final wild card slot, but would lose a tiebreaker to both of those teams at the moment.
“We’re getting plenty of help,” safety Jim Leonhard said. “You can’t ask for much more from anybody else. We need to win. We need to go out and play well. At the end of the day if we keep winning you let the chips fall where they may. We’ve put ourselves in this position. All we can do is go out there and get some Ws.”
*Jets fans should root for the Cowboys to beat the Saints tonight. A Dallas victory would eliminate the Falcons from playoff contention and could influence Atlanta coach Mike Smith‘s decision on whether to play quarterback Matt Ryan (turf toe) and running back Michael Turner (sprained ankle). Both practiced on a limited basis yesterday.
Smith said tonight’s game has no bearing on whether Ryan and Turner will play, but if the game is meaningless for the Falcons, they would be less inclined to risk the long-term health of two star players.
*Center Nick Mangold missed his second straight practice with an illness, but Ryan expects him to be ready for the game. Rookie Matt Slauson is his backup. . . . LB Bart Scott bought game balls for every defensive player after his personal foul penalty cost the team a shot at a shutout last week. The NFL also fined him for knocking the helmet off the Buccaneers’ Adam Hayward.