Jets get day off to reset after latest crushing defeat
Jets head coach Jeff Ulbrich speaks during a news conference after an NFL game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday in Miami Gardens, Fla. Credit: AP/Lynne Sladky
The frustration could be felt inside the visiting locker room after the Jets were officially eliminated from playoff contention with Sunday’s loss to Miami.
Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich felt it from his team, too.
Garrett Wilson said the Jets have to “stop being losers.” The third-year wide receiver also said it feels as if they “have a losing problem, like a gene or some [expletive]” while discussing this season’s failures.
Ulbrich decided the players needed a break. He gave them the day off Monday — from him and essentially their coaches.
The players came to the facility, lifted weights, got treatment and met with their position groups. Ulbrich didn’t hold his usual team meeting the day after a game. The players could meet with their coaches, but nothing was scheduled. Ulbrich wanted the Jets to exhale and come back refreshed on Wednesday.
“It thought it was an opportunity to take a second to just reset because there’s some real frustration obviously on both sides of this, from coaching, playing, the whole thing,” he said.
“It can get suffocating, especially when the pressure gets as high as it’s been and the negativity can get real on all of us. So an opportunity to take a deep breath, get a fresh approach and hit this thing with a fresh approach on Wednesday.”
At the very least, the Jets were expected to contend for a playoff spot this season. The return of Aaron Rodgers, who missed all but four snaps last season with a torn Achilles tendon, and new additions who seemingly bolstered the roster were supposed to snap the Jets’ long playoff drought. It didn’t happen.
They won’t be in the playoffs for the 14th consecutive year — the longest active streak in the four major professional sports.
“When you stack those Ls, that’s not a place where anybody in this building wants to be,” right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker said. “That’s not anybody’s standard at all. So we got this Monday off to kind of reflect on things we need to fix, kind of get away from it a little bit and come in Wednesday ready to work.”
It’s been a soul-crushing season for the Jets (3-10). Their slim playoff hopes vanished with Sunday’s brutal 32-26 overtime loss to the Dolphins.
The Jets have lost three straight games by a total of 12 points. They led in the fourth quarter of each game. Rodgers has gotten a lot of the blame for not lifting the Jets to wins in close games, but the defense has been a major disappointment.
“That’s mostly been the whole season in each game that we lost, it’s been one drive,” linebacker Jamien Sherwood said. “When you know that you have the men in the room to win these types of games and you don’t come out with it and you don’t close them, that’s the frustrating part.”
Rodgers had his best game as a Jet on Sunday. He led the offense on five straight scoring drives to start the game and threw for 339 yards. The Jets were up 23-15 in the fourth quarter but were outscored 17-3 in the final 13 minutes of regulation and overtime.
That’s been a recurring problem. In the three consecutive narrow defeats, the Jets have been outscored 39-13 after the third quarter.
“There are a lot of people on our team that are All-Pro, Pro Bowl-caliber people, and I feel like we should be able to finish these games,” said Sherwood, who had 18 tackles Sunday. “That’s what’s frustrating.”
The defense has nosedived since Robert Saleh was fired after Week 5. Ulbrich remains the defensive coordinator, but now he’s overseeing the entire operation. The late-game lapses on defense have been devastating to this team.
This was the Jets’ best offensive showing from start to finish, but they continue to lose close games because they don’t play complementary football.
Anders Carlson was instructed to kick the ball out of the end zone after his field goal put the Jets ahead 26-23 with 52 seconds left. He didn’t, leading to a 45-yard return that set up the Dolphins’ tying field goal with seven seconds to go.
“It hurt a little bit more because we felt like we had the momentum the majority of the game,” Vera-Tucker said. “Offense was clicking, so I felt like it’s a game we should have won. But it was another game that didn’t swing our way.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
