Jets need to fight off negative mentality after 1-3 start, or season could nosedive

Garrett Wilson said negative thoughts and a here-we-go-again mentality found its way into the Jets’ locker room in the past. He doesn’t expect that to be a problem with this group.

“Not too worried about that,” Wilson said after the Jets' 23-12 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday. “We’re trying to weed all that out. We’ll see how that goes this week. That shouldn’t happen. We know with the leaders we got, we should all squash that.”

The Jets had better hope it doesn't happen, because 1-3 could quickly devolve to an even more unseemly mark if they don’t stay together and work on addressing what has gotten them to this point.

They won their first game in Tennessee easily, gave away their second game against Green Bay and showed fight last week in Detroit to erase a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit. There was optimism that maybe the Jets were close to being a competitive team that could win its share of games.

The Chicago loss certainly changed that thinking and had more of a Jets-Here-We-Go-Again feel to it. (We’re choosing that expression over Same Old Jets.) No one is blameless for what happened in Chicago.

Except for one explosive play — a 58-yard touchdown pass from Geno Smith to Isaiah Williams — the Jets did nothing to inspire confidence. They totaled 99 yards on their other 31 offensive plays. How can Wilson have only three catches and Kenyon Sadiq none one week after they recorded a combined 212 yards and two touchdowns?

The defense allowed the most yardage (492) in the 21 games in which Aaron Glenn has been the Jets’ coach. They gave up 10 plays of more than 16 yards and had two 15-yard penalties. The defense committed eight penalties in total, and three of them wiped away interceptions.

“That's tough to live with,” Glenn said.

There was more, so much more, that led to this loss. How they respond to this latest bout of adversity that they’ve created will determine the rest of the Jets’ season.

“We got to dig ourselves out of a hole,” Wilson said. “I look at it as an opportunity. Nothing easy is worth it. I’m excited to dig ourselves out of this hole.”

Glenn brought in Smith, Demario Davis and Minkah Fitzpatrick for moments like this. They’re the leaders of the team. They have to continue to preach the Glenn gospel and make sure they keep everyone focused on not letting this loss define this team or this season.

“I have been a part of locker rooms where negativity seeps in,” Davis said. “Anybody that’s associating our team with a negative mindset, they’re not on board what we’re trying to get accomplished, and that ain’t going to help us.

“Adversity happens. It’s all about how you respond to it. I think we have the right guys, we have the right coaches, we have the right administration to respond the right way.”

We’ll hear all about what a great week of practice they had and how everyone still believes. Those are words that have been spoken plenty by Jets coaches and players over the years, but their actions are what matters.

The Jets will play the new-and-improved Browns on Sunday. Cleveland is a surprising 3-1 and playing with a lot of confidence. Beating the Browns won’t fix everything, but it would boost the Jets’ confidence and belief, both of which might be shaky after what happened in Chicago.

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.