CORTLAND — The time for talking finally is over.
The Jets take the field here Thursday for their first practice of training camp. It’s time to see if the confidence coming from them is misguided or if they actually are ready to be a playoff contender.
You know how coach Rex Ryan feels.
“I feel great about this team,” Ryan said. “I don’t know wins and losses. We’re going to find out, but I’m certainly not afraid of that. I feel incredible about this team.”
The Jets feel like they have improved from the 8-8 team they were a year ago. Even though they finished with their third straight non-winning season and third year out of the playoffs, the Jets were encouraged by a strong finish, particularly from rookie quarterback Geno Smith.
Then, they added wide receiver Eric Decker and running back Chris Johnson through free agency to provide some punch to an offense that finished 25th overall last season.
“[It’s] night and day [from last year] for our offense,” defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson said. “We’ve got a few key weapons added on. Going through OTAs against them they made a whole lot of plays against us.”
The biggest question about the offense remains quarterback. Smith is coming off a rookie year in which he had 25 turnovers and was the lowest-rated passer in the NFL.
The team signed veteran Michael Vick in March, but it has become clear there will be no true competition for the starting job. It is Smith’s job unless he falls on his face in the preseason.
Though Ryan still pretends there will be a competition, Vick reiterated his stance that the job is not open.
“I think that’s already been addressed as far as who the starter is,” Vick said Wednesday. “No more speculation about that. It’s all about trying to get better from this point.”
The defense will be led again by the line. The team added veteran pass rusher Jason Babin on Wednesday to further strengthen that unit.
The question on defense is how the secondary will hold up with rookie safety Calvin Pryor, second-year cornerback Dee Milliner and journeyman corner Dimitri Patterson all starting.
Even with a shaky situation in the defensive backfield and a giant question mark at quarterback, these Jets arrived at camp confident they are better.
Defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson, who is in his fourth year, was asked if he thinks this is the best Jets team he has been a part of entering camp.
“I can say I believe so,” Wilkerson said. “We look good on paper right now. We’ve got to prove to everybody that we can do these great things on the field. We’ve got to put the pads on and show that week in and week out we can make plays and get Ws.”
Ryan has been touting his team recently, telling The Post the rival Patriots need to be worried about the Jets and saying 8-8 will not be good enough this year.
Even with his bluster, Ryan acknowledges it will take more than his mouth to get the Jets to the playoffs.
“We understand there are so many steps to get there,” he said. “We have to improve as a football team. If we could talk about it and get there, it would have already been done. We know that talking won’t get it done. We have to earn it and we have to take every step. Tomorrow will be our first step. I look forward to it.”