Head coach Robert Saleh and his team capped a stretch of 3 games in 11 days on Thursday night, improving to 2-1 with a rousing 24-3 victory over the Patriots. After a late night at MetLife Stadium and with the team's next game not until Sept. 29 at home vs. Denver, Saleh & Co. will use the weekend to rest, without losing sight of their long-term goals.
"To get through these three games everybody will get well-deserved rest over the weekend," Saleh said. "But it wasn't easy. We're going to do it again. We got another stretch coming up here in a few weeks. We just got to keep our thumb on it, keep our thumb on our regen and attack each week like it's our last."
During training camp, Saleh and QB Aaron Rodgers set out to build an offense that would have long, sustained scoring drives with a mix of the pass and run. They saw glimpses in Week 1 against the 49ers when Rodgers led a 12-play 70-yard TD drive in the first quarter.
Thursday, versus their AFC East rival, the offense exhibited growth from that season opener, conducting 3 touchdown drives that each spanned 8-plus plays. Rodgers completed 27-fo-35 throws for 281 yards and 2 touchdowns, looked in control of his unit and got a complementary performance from the run game. RBs Breece Hall and rookie Braelon Allen combined for 109 yards rushing (4.1 YPC) and a score.
"We felt like, during training camp, anytime we did move the ball periods, whenever the first unit was up against our defense, it was 10-to-12 play drive," Saleh said. "I think we even had an 18-play drive in there one week. We've done a great job of it over the first three weeks not really having negative plays. We're not in second-and-long, third-and-long, like a year ago. It has been fun to watch from the efficiency standpoint."
The Jets finished the game with 27 first downs, their most in a game since Week 9 of 2021. They had 13 and 12 first downs in their two matchups with the Pats last season.
"There's nothing fluky about the production of the offense has had from a scoring standpoint," Saleh said. "It's just a matter of being able to do it more consistently, drive in and drive out, and, you know, I think it's, it's only going to get better as the year goes on.
"We're not going to overreact, just like we didn't overreact in Week 1. We'll properly react. There's still a lot of things that we need to get better with, but obviously, it's great to get a win."
The mini-bye and added time off will also allow for a few of the Jets' key players to get healthy, including captain LB C.J. Mosley. Mosley missed the game with a toe injury that he sustained in Week 2 vs. Tennessee.
"I feel like if this injury was later in the year during a got to have a game, he would have been able to go," Saleh said. "But it wasn't worth it to make such a small injury worse in the long run in the grand scheme of things."
Late in the third quarter Thursday, RT Morgan Moses had his left leg rolled up. He left the game with a knee injury. Saleh told reporters Friday morning that Moses would undergo further testing over the next few days to determine the extent of the issue.
Tackle Olu Fashanu, the Jets first-round pick in April's draft (No.11 overall), played 14 offensive snaps Thursday, the first of his career, and will be Moses likely replacement if he needed misses extended time.
"It is kind of luxury that when Moses got hurt, you are sending out a first-round pick," Saleh said. "He's been getting a lot of reps in practice, obviously, with the plans that we have for those two tackles, and he is one of those guys we are looking forward to getting better each week."
