Jets worried about Jets, not Patriots, after loss

Share

By Mary Paoletti
CSNNE.com Staff ReporterFollow @mary_paoletti

FOXBORO -- You heard about this game all week: Patriots versus Jets. Rivalry week. The week Rex Ryan's crew returns for the first time since booting New England from the playoffs and jet-planeing triumphantly through the tunnel and into the AFC championship game.

The implications escalated along with the media chatter.

A Patriots loss would put them at 1-2 in the AFC East; a Jets loss would put them at 2-3 overall. It isn't just divisional football, it's Jets Week.

But if you go by New York's postgame reaction, this was Just Another Week. Almost every Jets player interviewed after the 30-21 loss at Gillette Stadium spoke about . . . the positives.

"We're going to take this game and learn from it as best we can and just move forward," said defensive back Darrelle Revis. "Hopefully, catch them the second time around when we play them later on in the season."

Yes, that was Revis. New York's talented, trash-talking cornerback was in move-on mode after the loss and couldn't be bumped off course. The whole locker room was set to a mellow simmer if not soaking in ambivalence. The Jets dressed quietly but weren't sullen; they talked with the media, but weren't provocative.

The Patriots took Week 3's loss to the Buffalo Bills harder.

"We had a great game plan coming in," Revis shrugged. "We knew a lot of things that they were doing, but . . . they executed. Tom Brady is an unbelievable quarterback. He made some great throws and those guys ran some great routes."

Revis spoke good-naturedly about his much-hyped coverage match up against Patriots receiver Wes Welker. Welker is a man on fire in 2011 and has recorded more receiving yards (740) through the first five games than any player in NFL history. But the Chargers did limit him to 81 yards on seven balls in Week 2. And his average per game over the last six seasons is 61.5 yards.

Holding Welker to 124 on five catches isn't exactly a shutdown night. But if the Jets are bothered, they're hiding it well.

"We stressed this week of playing tight coverage. The one out route that Welker did on me, I had him blanketed and the ball . . . " Revis laughed softly and shook his head. "I don't even know. It's like he shot-putted it up and it went straight down in to his hands."

Antonio Cromartie, Revis' other half, was also undaunted.

"It's frustrating, but it's football," he said. "You have your ups and downs. You've got to take the negative with the positive. The biggest thing for us is that we just stay together and build on the things we're capable of doing good. We actually played pretty good, we just didn't play good enough to come out with the win today."

But Revis had to be one guy salivating for the rematch, right? It would only be right, considering he's the very vocal President of the 'I Hate Brady' club.

"Definitely," he said of the November 13 game. "But that's further down the line. My concern right now is getting ready for Monday night against Miami."

Can you believe him? Can you believe these bright-side Jets?

Sure.

This isn't Week 13 with both teams tied at 9-2. The Jets weren't embarrassed in excess of 43 points -- they hung within six until the last minute of the game. And Sunday night certainly wasn't anywhere close to a divisional title game.

Pride will always factor into this rivalry, but the Jets say they're more concerned with the bigger picture right now. It's really not so crazy considering this game follows an ugly 34-24 loss in Oakland and an uglier 34-17 loss in Baltimore.

"It's a lot of frustration; we lost three games in a row. It's tough," Revis said. "It's tough right now, but we got to stop committing mistakes out on the field. We've got to be consistent in our game play. It was a tough game tonight."

There's just too much work to do. Quarterback Mark Sanchez balked a la Jim Mora when asked about grinding it out to the playoffs.

"Forget about the postseason right now,"he said. "It's not like we're out of this thing, but we need to just win."

The thing about the Jets is, you know they'll do the work. Whether they're up or down, there won't be any shrugging at New Meadowlands after Week 10.

Mary Paoletti can be reached at mpaoletti@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Mary on Twitter at http:twitter.comMary_Paoletti.

Contact Us