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“Playoffs” has become a curse word around the Jets headquarters.
Mention the Jets still have a chance at making the postseason at your own risk. They don’t want to talk about it.
Same old Jets? Not the chatty ones we’ve gotten used to under coach Rex Ryan, who himself goes mum when the topic of the playoffs comes up.
“I’m not going to guarantee a playoff spot if that’s what you mean,” Ryan said yesterday. “I think part of it is, look, the fact that we’re one game under .500. I think you’re probably not in the playoff conversation. So, to me, we just need to keep our head down and keep winning games. We know the only way we can affect it is to win our games and then we’ll see what somebody tells us.”
After beating the Jaguars 17-10 on Sunday, the Jets have a glimmer of hope. The Jets are 6-7, one game behind the Steelers and Bengals for the race or the final AFC wild-card spot. The Steelers essentially hold a two-game lead since they beat the Jets earlier this year and hold the tiebreaker. The Bengals currently win the tiebreaker against the Jets, but they could lose it if things go the Jets’ way in the final three weeks.
The Jets have a cupcake schedule the rest of the way, playing the 4-9 Titans, 5-8 Chargers and 5-8 Bills. Running the table is a possibility. But the Jets swear they are not thinking about three games — just the next one Monday night in Tennessee.
“We’re not really worried about the playoffs right now,” safety Yeremiah Bell said. “We’re worried about the Tennessee Titans. That’s who we’ve got. In this locker room, we know we started off slow and we’ve got some room to make up. As soon as we start thinking ahead, that’s when things are gonna go wrong.”
Ryan clearly delivered a message to his team not to worry about January. The phrase “one game at a time” was uttered more than once to reporters yesterday.
“Our next ‘playoff’ game is Tennessee,” defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson said. “All we can focus on is the next game. We can’t worry about any playoff pictures. We’ve just got to worry about our next opponent, and that’s Tennessee on Monday night.”
The Jets’ last visit to the national stage was not a good one. They were embarrassed by New England, losing 49-19 on Thanksgiving in a game that featured 21 Patriots points in 52 seconds.
The Jets are anxious to show they are not that team this Monday.
“We definitely were embarrassed the last time we were on national television,” Bell said. “We feel like we’ve got something to prove. We didn’t play good football the first time, but this time around, it’s gonna be different. I think all the guys are focused on that.”
The Jets have faced long odds before under Ryan. In 2009 the team was 7-7 and even Ryan counted them out of the playoffs. They beat the Colts and Bengals, who both rested starters in the games having clinched playoff berths themselves, to sneak in. Once in the playoffs, they made it to the AFC Championship Game.
Most of the players from that team are gone, but a few remain. This team is not as talented as that one, but they have a shot at pulling off a miracle again. It is remarkable considering they were viewed as a disaster two weeks ago after the Patriots loss.
“Being here in New York for six years, it’s something that I find myself doing, watching other teams now. It’s like, ‘Oh, one loss, it’s the end of the world and one win, they’re going to win everything,’ ” defensive lineman Mike DeVito said. “It’s kind of the way the atmosphere is around here and you have to recognize that and realize that the worst thing you can do is when things like that are happening is to pack it in and really believe that either way, you just have to continue each week to be consistent and get better.”
brian.costello@nypost.com