Todd Bowles sounds desperate after praising New York Jets in loss – New York Jets Blog

“I’m very proud of the way they fought and stayed together,” he said, relaying his postgame message to the players. “This was one of the first games the entire year we stayed together as a team and fought, collectively.”

It was a curious statement — the first time, really? — but it spoke to the state of the team and the mindset of the head coach, whose job security will be a major storyline over the second half of the season. Bowles is reaching for anything to sustain the Jets, losers of two straight. When a team is on the brink of losing its season, it needs a pat on the back, not a kick in the rear. The best thing they have going for them is team unity. If that gets wrecked, Bowles has no chance to survive.

Even then, it might be tough for Bowles, who reached the midpoint at 3-5 — same as last year, and same as the year before. He had plenty of legitimate excuses against the Bears — namely, a rookie quarterback and an injury-ravaged receiving corps — but the question is whether CEO Christopher Johnson will buy any of it when he decides Bowles’ fate.

Johnson had a rough landing when he arrived Sunday morning in windy Chicago, and the turbulence didn’t stop at Soldier Field. He watched a pathetic offense, down four starters, produce only 98 total yards through three quarters. For a while, it looked as if the Jets would need a show a pbadport to get into the red zone. They finally made it … in the fourth quarter.

When a rookie free agent named Deontay Burnett (four catches for 61 yards) is your leading receiver, you have a world of problems. The receiving corps, sans Robby Anderson and Quincy Enunwa, gained no separation against a Chicago defense that was missing star pbad rusher Khalil Mack. Quarterback Sam Darnold, who mastered the art of the throwaway, miraculously played turnover-free football.

“We had a lot of new people in there,” Bowles said. “They fought hard and they played hard. I’m not going to use injuries as an excuse. We just have to make more plays.”

Bowles is in a tough spot. With a formidable schedule and a roster getting picked apart by injuries, the Jets could be headed for another double-digit-loss season. He doesn’t have a playoff mandate, per Johnson, but that doesn’t mean he gets a free pbad. His charge is to show progress, to prove to ownership he’s building something special with Darnold, but it could be difficult to manufacture the necessary evidence.

Will ownership be sympathetic to Bowles because of the injuries and the rookie-quarterback factor? Don’t bet on it. Another 5-11 season, no matter how it happens, would be difficult to sell to the fan base. That would mean three straight five-win seasons, and there’s no way to spin 15-33 into a happy story.

Afterward, Bowles was asked if he has received badurances from ownership that his job security won’t be affected by playing a rookie quarterback.

“I don’t discuss what happens with me and ownership,” he said flatly.

Owners preach patience and staff continuity when rebuilding, but they can change quickly if the customers stop showing up and the media pressure becomes too much. It’s a big-boy business, and sometimes coaches get fired because of matters out of their control. This isn’t to suggest Bowles is blameless, because there have been games where the Jets were outcoached.