Following their Black Friday loss to the Dolphins, the Jets returned to 1 Jets Drive on Monday. With a 4-7 record, the Jets have six games remaining and will be home Sunday for a date with the NFC South co-leading Atlanta Falcons. The Jets will play three of their next four games at MetLife Stadium and HC Robert Saleh wants his players to focus on their own grass as they enter December.
"You want them to enjoy this time with their families and take a deep breath," HC Robert Saleh told reporters Saturday of the long weekend. "But on Monday, there's a tell the truth moment that needs to happen and happens every week — whether you win or lose — and being able to look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself whether or not you're putting your best foot forward.
"And as I said, I challenge the coaches, too. Challenge the player, challenge everyone in the organization — are you putting your best foot forward or are you looking over the fence at someone else's grass? That sometimes can happen when you think you have answers for everybody. You start looking over the lawn, but the main thing is just make sure you're keeping tabs on yourself and finding ways to get better and telling the truth on where you can be better to help this team win football games."
It's been tough sledding for the Jets since their improbable comeback OT win over the Giants in Week 8. The Jets have lost four consecutive games, and the offense continues to struggle to find any rhythm. After Brandin Echols' pick-6 and D.J. Reed's INT late in the second quarter Friday, the Jets trailed by 10-6 when Tim Boyle uncorked a Hail Mary. In a play that symbolized the unit's scuffles, Dolphins S Devon Holland intercepted Boyle and took the INT back 99 yards for a score. Momentum vanished. While Saleh knows his club is frustrated, he wants every player to go back to the basics this week.
"There's a lot of frustration all over the place, especially on the offensive side of the ball and guys are searching, they're reaching," Saleh said. "And sometimes you just got to go back to understanding who you are and what your style of play is. Every once in a while, you need to be reminded of that. That's going to kind of be the message this week. When you try to do more, it usually comes out worse. It's not about trying to do more right now — it's about trying to lock into who you are and what your style of play is. Hopefully, that turns into the results that we're all seeking."
While the Jets are in third place in the AFC East, the Falcons jumped into first place in the NFC South with Sunday's 24-15 win over Saints. They ran for 228 yards and rookie RB Bijan Robinson totaled 123 yards (91 rush, 32 receiving) and 2 TDs. Fresh off a 3-takeaway performance against the Dolphins, the Jets rank tied for seventh with 18 takeaways, and they'll face a young in QB Desmond Ridder who's battled inconsistency. On the other side of the ball, the Jets may get some offensive line reinforcements back against the Falcons when Boyle takes the ball for a second consecutive game.
"I think what you see is frustration, guys don't quit on tape," Saleh said. "The idea that guys stop playing hard because they've lost motivation, these men are showing tape for 31 other teams. … They do not want to step on the field and put on bad tape because at the end of the day that is their résumé. What needs to happen is the level of frustration that's happening and leading to guys trying to make more plays — that's leading to frustrations on all three phases. That's leading to this idea that someone has to do something more and it's doing is it's leading to some sloppy football, so just reconnecting.
"As I said, we have to reconnect to each individual style of play. Coaches need to come up with a game plan that gets these guys in a position to showcase that style, but I know our guys are going to continue to work hard, play hard. They're going to put on tape the best thing they know how to put on tape and that's their style. The frustration that's building does nobody any good."
