Cromartie: I'm not looking for redemption

Redemption is the furthest thing from Antonio Cromartie’s mind.

After just one game, albeit a dismal one, his confidence isn’t shaken, nor is Cromartie worried that he -- and the rest of the Jets' cornerbacks not named Darrelle Revis -- are the weak link on one of the league’s best defenses.

“I don’t know who I’ll be facing and honestly, I really don’t care who the receiver is,” Cromartie, who committed four penalties (three in the first half) in Monday night’s 10-9 loss to Baltimore, said of the New England Patriots. “...I just got to go out and go play my game. ...You can’t go out and change your aggressiveness on the football field. That’s one thing I’m not going to do. I’m just going to try to play a little smarter and just try not to use the hands down the field.”

That may be easier said than done, however, against a Patriots team that features a hard-throwing, accurate passer in quarterback Tom Brady and a receiving corps, headlined by Randy Moss and Wes Welker, that’s as elusive as it is talented. And if Rex & Co. expect to win Sunday, the same lack of discipline the Jets displayed against Baltimore can’t happen.

The Jets committed 14 penalties (for 125 yards) against the Ravens, and the biggest offender was the Jets secondary -- namely rookie cornerback Kyle Wilson.

“Obviously, the defense wants to go out and play a lot better and do whatever it takes to win,” said the first-round draft pick, whose 22-yard pass-interference penalty just before halftime Monday night helped set up the Ravens' for the game’s only touchdown.

Head coach Rex Ryan was so frustrated by the defense’s lackluster performance on Monday night and in practice Thursday that he forced the entire unit to do push-ups and up-downs whenever a defensive player committed a penalty. The goal was to make his players more accountable. And apparently, it did the trick.

“I think none of us were pleased with the practice yesterday,” said Cromartie. “As a team, we started off slow, but we picked it up at the end. Today, was a lot quicker, faster, up-tempo kind of pace. We know what we have to get prepared for with New England coming in.”