New York Jets (Neil Miller)
The first clue it was not going to be a good day for the Jets came after special teams coach Mike Westhoff was honored ahead of his upcoming retirement by being introduced with the starting lineups before yesterday’s game with the Chargers.
Less than two minutes after the hand slaps and hugs, the Chargers scored their first touchdown on a 63-yard return past Westhoff’s punt coverage team. It was as head coach Rex Ryan would later say, “a horrible way to start a game.”
The rest of the game was just as horrible. After vowing to play for pride and display their true character, the Jets looked every bit like a team ready to quit on their season. A 27-17 loss to the Chargers was yet another uninspired effort that made the thousands of no-shows at MetLife Stadium feel good about staying at home.
The 11 sacks allowed illustrates the Jets’ futility, but they also lost to a team that converted just 2 of 12 third-down situations and earned just 223 net yards. Greg McElroy, getting his first start as the Jets quarterback, failed to spark an offense that gained only 225 yards and converted just two of its 11 third-down situations.
It left some Jets speechless.
“There ain’t [nothing] to talk about,” Antonio Cromartie said. “This is embarrassing.”
The Jets lost their chance of making the playoffs with a loss at Tennessee last Monday night. Yesterday, they assured themselves of their first losing season of the Ryan era. The season finale at Buffalo on Sunday offers the Jets (6-9) a chance to finish the year on a more positive note, but there was nothing in their body language to suggest they have any fight left in them.
Perhaps it’s telling the player who has been with the team the least, wide receiver Braylon Edwards, seems to have the best insight. Maybe it’s because he hasn’t been disillusioned by all the false promises and confusion that has wrecked this season.
“The big thing for us is developing an identity,” Edwards said. “Even though there’s one game left, we have to develop an identity of who we’re going to be on offense. Who do we want to be? What do we want to put on film? What do we want to show this league that we are?”
Right now, the league sees the Jets as a team that has butchered its quarterback situation to the point Mark Sanchez isn’t a viable starter and a slighted Tim Tebow asks not to run the Wildcat. While Sanchez held a clipboard for the whole game, Tebow watched from the sidelines as Jeremy Kerley took all the snaps in the Wildcat.
Ryan talked around Tebow’s request by portraying it as some sort of trickery to catch the Chargers off guard, particularly when Kerley completed a 42-yard pass to Clyde Gates to set up the Jets’ first score.
“We knew they weren’t expecting him to throw the ball and that was the case,” Ryan said as if he’d somehow outsmarted the Chargers.
What it did was cast confusion on why Tebow was activated in the first place, if not to run the Wildcat. The Jets might be the only team in NFL history where three quarterbacks gave separate press conferences after losing a game.
Offensive guard Brandon Moore is out of words.
“I really don’t know,” when asked where the Jets go from here.
At this point, the season can’t get over fast enough. The Jets must now realize they face a huge rebuilding job during the offseason, starting at quarterback. A win at Buffalo salvages little other than to show which players they might want to keep and which ones to get rid of.
“The true professionals will come to the forefront,” Edwards said. “There’s going to be some guys that aren’t in that category. All we want is their best effort until [the clock] says zero.”
It has been a while since the Jets have given their best effort.
george.willis@nypost.com