Jets' only plan is to fight for the rest of the season
Jets head coach Todd Bowles looks on during the third quarter against the Bills at MetLife Stadium on Nov. 11. Credit: Jim McIsaac
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The message that embattled Jets coach Todd Bowles delivered to his players when they returned from their bye week Monday could be the approach he takes in the final six games:
Don’t go down without a fight.
“You either fight or you fall,” Bowles said after practice. “All we know how to do is fight. I trust the guys in the locker room and the coaching staff to fight.”
The Jets (3-7) might need a miracle finish for Bowles to return for a fifth season. But their schedule is rough, starting with Sunday’s game against the AFC East-leading Patriots.
It’s the first of two games against New England. The Jets also host the Texans and Packers and are at Tennessee and Buffalo. The Bills (3-7) beat the Jets, 41-10, on Nov. 11, a loss that helped put Bowles’ seat on fire and had the players talking about showing fight in the final six games.
“It’s either be eaten or you got to eat somebody,” tackle Kelvin Beachum said. “Right now, we got to take the mentality to go out and fight. No matter what that takes. It doesn’t have to look pretty. It doesn’t have to be pretty. We got to find a way to go fight.”
Safety Jamal Adams said he’d like to see the Jets “just fight. Keep fighting.”
Bowles promised to evaluate himself and the team during the bye and consider changes on his staff and to the lineup. On Monday, he said he wouldn’t change the coaches’ roles “at this time” and that he still was considering player changes. As for himself, Bowles knows he needs to improve.
“I can do a better job coaching and putting guys in better position,” he said, “and coaching the coaches, helping them put guys in better positions. I can always get better. It always starts with me.”
Adams quiet. Safety Jamal Adams didn’t want to discuss his comments last week on WFAN, when he said the losing culture that affected the Jets last year still exists.
“Anything I say makes headlines,” Adams said. “It’s nothing. I don’t want to get into it . . . Just is what it is. I never try to say anything that’s going to hurt the team or make me come off as a selfish guy.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
