Some of the New York Jets’ team leaders spoke after their Monday Night Football defeat.
In their post-game media availability, the players spoke about what went wrong and how they can improve their performances going forward.
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Quarterback Aaron Rodgers spoke about the offense sputtering out of the gate and not getting into a rhythm, as well as what could be built upon in Week 2.
“We were just bad on first and second down for a lot of the game. We had a couple of drives where we converted third downs. Overall, I feel like we didn’t have any third-and-10 pluses tonight, so that’s always a good thing when you look at the stat sheet. But we didn’t convert those third-and-mediums. We had a drop, a couple of penalties, and a bad throw. We have a lot to correct, but overall, I feel good about our guys and thought the protection was really good tonight. We were just a little bit off in the run game. We couldn’t get [RB] Breece [Hall] going and couldn’t give him enough space. We have a lot to build on.”
Rodgers said the running game “missed some targets” during plays and that he “missed” a couple of throws throughout the course of the game. He also spoke about how it felt to return to the field in 2024.
“Yeah, it’s been a while. I felt great. I have a lot of gratitude just to be back in pads. So many people helped me get to this spot. I’m really thankful for my surgeon, my PTs, my loved ones, my friends, the staff here, and the training staff to help me get back. It was really cool. Obviously, I wanted to take a shot and feel the physicality of it. Once I threw a couple of balls and took a shot, it felt good and like I was into the game.”
Cornerback Sauce Gardner spoke about how it felt for the defense to allow a lot of yards in the running game.
“Oh, obviously, we don’t want to allow that. We got to continue to get better. They’re a good football team. They just played in the Super Bowl. So obviously, they’re not going to want the drop-off to be that huge when it comes to Christian McCaffrey and their backup. But at the same time, we know we are capable of doing that. Just got to execute.”
C.J. Mosley spoke about something similar when asked about the defense giving up eight straight scoring drives.
“Well, it’s not shocking because we got to get off the field on third down. So, sometimes they had good runs or good drives on first second down. Sometimes, we know we put them back on first, second down. But at the end of the day, good teams extend drives, and at some point, they’re going to score where this field goes a touchdown,” said Mosley.
“So we just have to look at the tape, figure out some of the schemes we need to improve at and the things that we did well. We will keep getting better.”
Quinnen Williams said that the 49ers “ran the ball well today” and that the team’s run defense is “something that we got to get fixed.”
On the offensive end, Garrett Wilson spoke about the offense when it is at its best and how the Jets can reach those levels again.
“Yeah, You know, like when we’re rolling. I know what that can look like. We weren’t rolling throughout the game but found it in spurts there. And you know, we must find a way to bottle it up and take it to every drive. But yeah, maybe that’s what it can look like. I feel like it can look 1000 ways, you know, a million ways to skin a cat, but you know, it felt good at the time. We got to get back to that.”
Running back Breece Hall spoke about his confidence in the offense going forward.
“Just because we know that this isn’t our standard, and we know that that’s not how we need to be playing. So I know we’re going to, you know, I’ll come back tomorrow, forget about it, watch the film, take the constructive criticism, and just get better from it.”
It seems that, even in light of the bad game, the Jets are still feeling optimistic. They know they need to improve but are not panicking over one game.
With the opening loss, the Jets’ Week 2 matchup against the Tennessee Titans becomes very important. If the Jets can rebound and win on the road, they will be right back on track for playoff contention in 2024.
