Two prominent media members with ties to the New York Jets had some strong thoughts about the team.
Appearing on “Get Up,” Damien Woody and Rex Ryan discussed New York’s latest disaster defeat.
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Woody took issue with Rodgers saying that to “stop listening to the media” is one way for the Jets’ to keep belief in the locker room.
“That’s the thing that just frustrates me so much. This organization has basically given you the keys to the kingdom. And at the end of the day, you are going to talk about the media like we had something to do with that piss poor performance you guys put out there? You are the same guy who talked about you guys being flat before the game and at halftime. Why is that?” said Woody.
“You know the stakes of that game, and now you are sitting here at 2-5. How the hell are you flat? It is because of you and the other players in that locker room. Where is the leadership in that locker room? I’m not seeing it…At some point, we have to start talking about the players. That is a roster, not a team.”
The former head coach did not hold back in his remarks, either. Ryan said the players need to play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the one on the back.
“Be proud to be a damn New York Jet. Right now, I don’t see it. I see, ‘I’m proud to be Aaron Rodgers,’ ‘I’m proud to be this guy,’ ‘I’m proud to be that guy.’ How bout being proud to be a friggin’ New York Jet? Where is the passion for it? And I think it starts from the top.”
Woody and Ryan may not be 100 percent correct, but they are by no means wrong in their statements.
From the outside looking in, the Jets lack the cohesiveness and camaraderie of a winner. Their leadership has seemingly evaporated, along with their trademark energy. Adversity, instead of motivating the team, has become something that crushes them.
As Ryan and Woody said, leadership starts with the coaches and players. They need to find a way, despite all the outside circumstances, to buy back in, “lock arms,” as Jeff Ulbrich says, and bear down for the rest of the 2024 season. Otherwise, the Jets will not be able to overcome their poor start.
