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For Jets fans spending their Sundays in session with incense candles lit in the hopes of pushing the Jets to a 0-16 finish to secure the No.1 pick in the draft, turn this page. Go on to the next story, because you’re not going to want to hear what I have to say.
I have no skin in the Jets game against the Dolphins on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. But there’s a part of me that wants the Jets (0-10) to win the game, get off the schneid, and escape the ignominy of being part of the conversation that includes the 2008 Lions and 2017 Browns as the only ones. NFL teams to run. the 16 game table the wrong way.
You are what your record says you are. Of the myriad sayings to the perfect perspective that Bill Parcells has spoken during his years as the Hall of Fame head coach, this one is the most perfect.
No one is supposed to feel sorry for anyone in the NFL. It’s a tough league, a tough business.
So go after me for pity on the Jets. I see too many Jets players breaking their butt to end the losing streak that becomes more of a burden with each failure on Sunday. I don’t see any guys betraying him. I see players determined to end the loss.
I see linebacker Jordan Jenkins lashing out at quarterbacks as if the lives of his family depend on their sacking. I see Frank Gore, 37, the NFL’s third all-time seed in his 16th season, running around with the desperation of an undrafted rookie trying to stick to the final roster of 53 players. I see quarterback Sam Darnold ready to let whatever is left of the AC joint in his right shoulder at the 50-yard line to play in one more game.
I see a team so hungry to win and disgusted to the point that players feel physically sick after losing another game.
Gore, on a Zoom call with reporters following the Jets’ latest loss, a 34-28 loss to the Chargers last Sunday, spoke with heart from the reality that this could be his last run and how he “does can’t go out like this. ”
“When Frank speaks, you listen because he’s going to be in Canton [in the Hall of Game]. He is one of the most accomplished football players to ever play this game, ” Jets goalie Greg Van Roten said. “If he has something to say, he has a perspective and an insight that you need to listen to. ”
Maybe Gore’s words will resonate with his teammates on Sunday. Maybe they’re helping the Jets cross the finish line for the first time this season and end any discussion of them becoming the third team in NFL history to finish 0-16. .
“When … when we win it will be a relief for sure,” said Van Roten, with a slight but distinctive emphasis on the word when “You never expect to lose so many games in a row in this league. ”
With six games to go, all against teams that will be favored to beat the Jets, it is human nature for players to allow terrible thoughts of 0-16 to creep into their minds.
“When we are in practice we did a good job focusing,” said veteran quarterback Joe Flacco. “It’s even more the case when you’re sitting in the locker room, going to meetings and doing those kinds of things where your mind has a chance to wander and you start to think about it all. ”
Asked if the players in the locker room had spoken about the prospect of going 0-16, Van Roten replied: “No, why would you want to be in this group? The hunger is there. Guys want to win. Especially if you’re an older man, you don’t want one of your last seasons to be historically bad. ”
What might the home locker room look like if they won on Sunday, beat the Dolphins and ended the discussion on 0-16?
“Every victory in the NFL is different, has different emotions behind it,” said Flacco, who has won 108 games in his career, including a Super Bowl, and lost 82. “You don’t want to act like it was a Super Bowl or whatever. But look, we want to go and win and … when that moment comes I’m sure it’s going to be raw emotion. ”
Without any apologies to the Jets fans dressing their voodoo dolls in green and white on Sunday, this is something I would love to see.
Sorry. Not sorry.
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