SEATTLE — An emotional Rex Ryan delivered a message to his team after the 28-7 loss to the Seahawks: “Believe.”
It might be hard for anyone at this point to think the 3-6 Jets can make the playoffs, but that is what he’s preaching even though he knows they are running out of time.
“I don’t know how many more losses you want to spot somebody before you think you can make the playoffs,” Ryan said. “What is it about a two-percent chance to make the playoffs or something like that with the record that we have? But again, we’re going to take that shot.”
The odds are long for the Jets. Since the 1970 merger, only four teams that started 3-6 or worse have made the playoffs, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. None has made it since the 1996 Jaguars.
Cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who predicted the Jets would make the playoffs last week, stuck by his words.
“I’m still confident,” he said.
Players said Ryan was extremely emotional during his postgame speech. He appeared to be teary-eyed when he came into his postgame press conference.
“It was tough to see,” guard Matt Slauson said of Ryan’s frustration level.
Many of the Jets players said they share Ryan’s feelings of frustration with their performance in the loss and the way this season has gone.
“We’re all emotional,” linebacker Bryan Thomas said. “If this loss don’t affect anybody, they have no [bleeping] heart.”
The Jets promised not to let the in-fighting that sunk their season last year crop up again.
“We have faith in each other,” Cromartie said. “We have to have each other’s backs. When there’s a change of possession we’ve got to try to get the ball back or at least hold them to three points. That’s something we’ve got to do. We know what we have in this locker room and we believe in each other.”
With seven games left, the Jets know they have left themselves with no margin for error.
“Week after week we continue to do the same thing, self-inflicted wounds, take ourselves out of great position and just hurt ourselves,” safety Yeremiah Bell said. “The season ain’t getting no longer. It’s getting shorter. If we continue to do this, we’re continuing to put ourselves on the wrong path.”