“It’s Jets Week.”
That’s how Bill Belichick started his Wednesday morning press conference before getting into the challenges ‘Gang Green’ will present on Sunday afternoon in New Jersey.
As worrisome as things have been early on this season, Pats fans have always been able to fall back on the Jets being the Jets to make themselves feel a little better. New England heads into this matchup having won 14 straight against their AFC East nemesis, including seven straight games in the Meadowlands.
From the Tuna Bowls, to Mangini’s burning of bridges, to the playoff loss against Rex in 2010, to the Butt Fumble and everything in between, this rivalry always seems to provide a different energy when one of the two meetings comes around. Despite the recent dominance, New England is in absolutely no position to overlook anyone at this point, even if it is Zach Wilson at QB.
“A team that we’re pretty familiar with here, but still got a few changes, new faces and all. Joe Douglas and Coach [Robert] Saleh have done a good job of building this team from where it was a couple years ago when Robert got there,” Belichick said in an opening statement on Wednesday. “It’s an explosive team, obviously they’ve got a very explosive returner, a good special teams unit. [Xavier] Gipson’s given us some explosive plays. [Thomas] Morstead is one of the best directional punters in the league. [Justin] Hardee’s a good player. They’ve got a good core group of players. Defensively, they’re aggressive. Certainly, [Sauce] Gardner has been a great addition for them last year. They have a real good front, disruptive front. [Jermaine] Johnson’s playing well. They drafted [Will] McDonald [II], obviously [Quinnen] Williams, [John] Franklin-Myers, those guys are tough. They play about nine guys up there and they all play, and they’re all disruptive. But, I think [C.J.] Mosley is really a key guy for them on the defense. He’s one of the best, most instinctive players in the league, always a problem, a really hard guy to fool or to get on anything. He makes tackles on the line of scrimmage, and he breaks up passes 15, 20 yards downfield. So, really, really good player, again, one of the best we’ll see all year. One of the best in the league for sure. Offensively, it’s a big offensive line, a lot of talented guys up there. Four first-round picks, they took [Joe] Tippmann this year. So, pretty talented group. Good running backs – obviously, we didn’t see [Breece] Hall last year, but he’s a really good player. [Zach] Wilson, [Allen] Lazard, obviously Wilson is a really athletic quarterback, we’ve seen him before.
“So, very talented group, great win for them against Buffalo. Four turnovers, punt return, big win, so looking forward to having a good week here and then we’ll head down to New Jersey.”
For Mac Jones, the inability to finish off two potential game-winning drives the first two weeks has to be frustrating, but the third-year QB is doing his best to focus on the task at hand. This Jets defense can pose as many – if not more – problems than Philadelphia and Miami did and if the offense can’t finish drives again, the possibility of coming home 0-3 is very, very real.
“Obviously, I’ve had a chance to play against this defense a lot, but they’ve done a great job,” he said during his Wednesday presser before practice. “They affect the quarterback. They push the pocket. They’re relentless. They run to the ball. They do everything right. So, it’s a big challenge. For me, like I said, I’m going to focus on each play, regardless of the situation. I’m going to go out there and execute my job, and hopefully bring everybody with me.
The results haven’t been there, but the confidence is still high inside the Patriots locker room. If there’s one jersey across the field that can provide an even bigger boost on Sunday, it’s the green and white ones.
“Yeah, definitely just moving on to the next game, the most important game, against a really good defense, for us,” Jones said when asked about the team’s overall mindset. “They have a lot of talented players who have played a lot of football in this league. They present challenges – physical, mental, and all that stuff. So, really just focused on that and doing my job.”