Young Jets relish chance to face the G.O.A.T., Tom Brady

The Jets will open the new year against an old foe.

Tom Brady will visit MetLife Stadium on Sunday for what could be the last time. You can’t say that definitively, though, because the 44-year-old Brady doesn’t look as if he’s slowing down.

He leads the NFL in several passing categories, including touchdowns (37). You know Brady wants to get to 40 against a team he has terrorized for much of this century. He owns a 29-7 regular-season record against the Jets during his New England years.

This is Brady’s first time playing the Jets as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whom he led to a Super Bowl win last year. Many of these Jets have never faced Brady. No team has more rookies or second-year guys playing than the Jets do.

The Jets’ defense has sprung leaks throughout this season and certainly could be exploited by the quarterback many consider the G.O.A.T. But the Jets are looking forward to the challenge of facing the seven-time Super Bowl champion.

"It’s exciting, especially for a young defense like ours," defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. "Go and see what you’re made of against the best. They’re excited about it, which is crazy. But they’re excited about it."

The Jets (4-11) have two games left in their season, and both are against playoff teams. They will close out their 2021-22 schedule next week in Buffalo.

The Jets’ young defensive players, still trying to prove themselves or cement spots on next year’s roster, are in no hurry to end this season. They’re looking to prove themselves against Brady.

"It’s going to be a great opportunity," linebacker Quincy Williams said. "I don’t back down from no competition. It’s a guy that I look up to, Mr. NFL, you can say."

Rookie Jason Pinnock, who got his first NFL start last week at safety, said it’s a dream of every young defensive back to pick off an all-time great such as Brady.

"I think I was in the womb when he was in college or something like that," Pinnock said. "It’s Tom Brady. It’s a tremendous opportunity. I’m a young guy that gets to go up against the wise old G.O.A.T. Looking forward to it."

The veteran Jets who have experienced playing against Brady over the years have some sage advice for the young players on the team.

Linebacker C.J. Mosley said trying to trash-talk Brady to somehow get him off of his game doesn’t really work.

"I think you’ve seen the history," Mosley said. "Once you talk a little trash to him, he gets more fired up."

Defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins cautioned that young players can’t look across the line and get star-struck by Brady. Rankins said he’s seen it happen.

"If guys are going to sit up here and say it never happens, they’re lying to you, and I’m not in the business of lying to you all," Rankins said. "It happens. But at the end of the day, that’s why you got guys like myself, like C.J. to bring guys like that back in. Do that after the game. Worry about that after the game.

"You’ve been a fan of football for so long. You see guys play at the highest level. Tom Brady has won seven Super Bowls. To be able to witness as you’ve grown up watching him win no matter the circumstance or situation and to line up across from him, that’s something a lot of people dream about, and then to be able to do it.

"For a split second, split moment, guys can sit there and be like, ‘Wait a minute, that’s really Tom Brady.’ It will happen to somebody. But at the end of the day when the bullets start flying, it’s football. It’s time to go win a game."

Rankins remembers the first time he played against Brady. It was a joint practice between the Saints and Patriots during Rankins’ rookie year in 2017.

He said he intercepted a screen pass intended for James White and started running as if he were going to get a pick-6. Rankins said he looked behind him and Brady was chasing him, running as fast as he could.

"I was like, ‘Oh,’ " Rankins said. "That’s a different level of competitive nature. This is practice. At this point in his career, he already is Tom Brady. He’s not trying to prove anything to anybody. He didn’t have to do that."

That competitive fire is the reason Brady is still playing — and at an extremely high level — at 44. He hasn’t lost it. By all accounts and measures, he has gotten better with age.

"It’s going to be a fun game," Mosley said. "It’s going to be a fun experience, especially for the guys who haven’t played against Tom Brady. Not just Tom Brady, but we’re playing against a Super Bowl team. We can really put ourselves in a good situation, a good spot by going out there and playing good team football."