After another crushing defeat, this time at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets players gave their thoughts on what went wrong and if there is any way to get things fixed.
Cornerback Sauce Gardner spoke about the last drive of the game when the defense allowed Anthony Richardson to drive down the field to score the winning touchdown.
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“Obviously, we got to be better, like I said. It came down to us as a defense; that’s why they kicked that field goal because they trusted the defense to go out there and end the game. We just have to be our best; that’s a requirement, and we didn’t do that.”
Gardner also spoke about his mindset as a player going into the team’s Week 12 bye.
“We just got to love on each other, man. The outside world is going to keep pointing fingers. What we say is don’t point the fingers; that’s just what it is, and the outside world is going to do that anyway, no matter what’s going on. They are going to point the fingers, and we just got to continue to be close. Continue to love on one another as players, as coaches.”
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he is “disappointed” with the team being 3-8 and spoke about how he felt about the team’s decision to kick a late field goal on 4th and short.
“Brick (Jeff Ulbrich) felt good about Anders (Carlson) kicking it and the
defense stopping it, but yeah, of course. I felt like we needed to get to 30 just to be in the game. Now, obviously, the way we played, we still needed to get to 30 to win, but yeah, if we were a great team, we would have scored seven there.”
The quarterback also spoke about why the Jets did not push the ball down the field in this game.
“They played Cover 2 most of the game. So, there are two safeties in the middle and the MIKE running down the middle. You’ve got to be patient.”
Additionally, Rodgers provided an interesting comment when asked if he was “shocked” by the 3-8 start.
“I mean, that’s a buzz word so I’m not going to touch that in response to what you just
said. I’m just going to echo that I’m disappointed.”
During his media availability, wide receiver Garrett Wilson praised the performance of running back Breece Hall.
“Like I said, man, he’s one of one. To see him be able to share that with the world because we all know that, and it comes together on Sunday. It always does with him it seems like. He does his part to make it come together.
On the other hand, Hall himself provided a blunt assessment of where the Jets are at in their 2024 season.
“It is just frustrating when you can’t get the job done. If the losses went the other
way, we would have probably four or five more wins, but I don’t really know what to tell you. There’s no more time for making excuses; we got to win football games at the end of the day.”
D.J. Reed offered the same type of assessment on defense, saying that he has “noticed” the defense regressing after Robert Saleh’s firing and that the unit is “just not executing the plays like we’re supposed to.”
It is clear that the Jets are searching for answers. However, New York also has no means of fully solving the problems.
New York’s wholesale changes will not arrive until after the season. Until then, the team will have to struggle and grind through a season in which it has no true answers for its problems.
