Oct
Jets Focused on Improving
Two years ago, the Jets entered their bye week in a state of chaos and at a serious crossroads. They were coming off an ugly home loss to a bad Browns team that left them 4-4 at the midway point and with some players grumbling about the new coaching staff.
After a week off and what coach Eric Mangini called “self-scouting” from everyone (players and coaches), the Jets came out of that bye week and upset the Patriots 17-14, a win that propelled them to go 6-2 in the second half of the season en route to a playoff berth.
Last season, the Jets entered their bye week riding a six-game losing streak and a 1-8 record.
After a week off and more self-scouting, they came out of that bye week and shocked the Steelers, 19-16 in overtime, winning two of three, and three of their final seven games.
This year, the Jets’ bye week didn’t come after a calamity or a long losing streak.
It came after a 56-35 victory in which Brett Favre threw a career-high and franchise-record-tying six TD passes.
So, the $64,000 question as the 2-2 Jets returned to work yesterday following their four-day bye week hiatus, is this: What lies ahead this year after the bye week?
“Hopefully,” Jets LB Eric Barton said yesterday, “we can keep that trend up.”
That trend under Mangini includes marked improvement for the last two seasons, particularly on defense.
Consider these telling numbers:
Defensively, the Jets entered their bye week in 2006 ranked 24th in points allowed and finished the season having allowed the sixth-fewest points in the league. They, too, entered that ‘06 bye week ranked 29th in overall defense and finished 20th.
Last season, they entered the bye ranked 27th in points allowed and finished 17th and they entered it ranked 30th in total defense and finished 18th. They had nine sacks in the first nine games of the season and, after the bye, had 20 in the last seven games.
What’s the secret?
“During the course of the season you can kind of lose sight of the things you do well and the things you do badly, and they kind of wash away,” Jets S Kerry Rhodes said yesterday. “But after [the] bye you get to look at everything. I think we’ve done a nice job of focusing on the things we want to work on, that we want to be our core things.
“The biggest thing after the bye is we came out and did what we do best and not let other teams dictate what we do.”
Jets TE Chris Baker said: “We just really focused on the things we did well and haven’t done well and started to hone in on the things we did well and eliminated some of the things so we’re not so multiple.
“There’s always self evaluation, looking at certain things like, ‘I can do this better,’ or, ‘If I do this, it will make this play go better.’ ”
Music to Mangini’s ears.
“The thing I stress to the players is the importance of going back and looking at things individually, starting with yourself and being brutally honest and saying, ‘What can I improve and have I worked on those things that I need to improve?’ Am I where I should be at this point and, if not, how can I get there?’ ” Mangini said. “Unless you are objective, unless you are honest, then you don’t make much progress.”
