New Jets wide receiver Eric Decker has been with the team for just four months, but he likes what he sees.
Speaking at his youth football camp on Saturday, Decker said he believes the Jets have the pieces to be a playoff team this year.
“I really do,” Decker said when asked if he thinks the Jets can qualify for the postseason. “Obviously, we’re younger in spots. We lack some experience. But [with] young players you see a tenacity, you see the want–to. I think with the great coaching staff we have, they’re going to put them in the right position. They just have to make plays. Offensively, the last couple of years hasn’t been how we want it to go, and that’s something that we’re working to change.”
Decker signed a five-year, $36.25 million deal with the Jets in March after playing in the Super Bowl with the Broncos in February. Decker saw first-hand in Denver what it takes to make a run at the Lombardi Trophy.
“For us, the chips are there,” Decker said. “It depends on how we work and how we get to the point and what the leadership is like in the locker room. The coaches get us organized, but the players make it go.
“That’s what I really learned the last couple of years being around Peyton Manning, being around Champ Bailey, some of the leaders in the Broncos locker room. If we find our identity as players, if we chip and work … that’s all you’ve got to do really is give yourself a chance to win in any game and you have a chance to make a playoff run. You’ve seen in the past the New York Giants stumbled around, got hot in the end and won a Super Bowl.
You’ve just got to find your identity and work toward that goal and have fun doing it.”
Before leaving for training camp this week, Decker held his ProCamp at Boonton High School in New Jersey with around 225 children attending.
“It reminds you why I play the game,” Decker said of working with the kids. “These kids just love football. One kid is out here in a boot. I was like, ‘What are you doing?’ He said, ‘I broke my leg but I can’t miss football.’ It’s an innocent passion for the game. That’s why it’s so great. That’s why athletics are so great. It reminds me to enjoy what I’m doing. This is my career. There’s a lot of pressure. There’s a lot of expectations, but the reason why I do it is I love the game so much.”