It’s still June, minicamp is over, and a long, hot summer awaits the Jets. Can you hear the opportunity looming? The AFC East is in hot water this season.
“Obviously the division is going to be good,” DJ Reid said Wednesday, “Miami is going to be a good team. Obviously Buffalo lost some key players but they’re still going to be a good team because they added Josh Allen.”
“But I definitely feel like we can win the division. I feel like we’re a good team that can win a lot of games here.”
For the first time in a while, there’s been no mention of the Patriots, who are coached by Jerrod Mayo instead of Bill Belichick. The Dolphins are a warm-weather offensive team, but their speed has yet to prove it can win against the big boys. Allen has kept the Bills a favorite to win four straight AFC championships, but the secondary lost a key veteran with rookie Keion Coleman taking over for Stefon Diggs.
When Aaron Rodgers returns from Mars, or wherever he is, he owes the Jets and their fans their first division title since 2002.
Mandatory minicamp no-shows aside, Woody Johnson, Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh have all entrusted their green and white eggs to Rodgers, and he is charged with making sure they don’t get screwed, as the Jets have lost the yolks over the past 13 seasons without a playoff berth.
History continues to remind us that nothing is set in stone with the Jets. They are the home of Murphy’s Law, where if something bad can happen, it will. Even Rodgers couldn’t escape a four-snap, one-torn Achilles situation in his first experience with the Jets.
Hope rises endlessly every June for the 32 franchises, and Reid yearns for what Broadway Joe Namath gave Jets fans on Jan. 12, 1969, and what every Jets general manager, coach and player has sought ever since.
“I really want to help win a championship here,” Reed said, “which is why I’m practicing every day and making all these sacrifices away from my family.”
“I really want to support Lombardi for the Jets.
“It’s something I really envision and dream about.”
Reid will be entering his third season with the Jets after two seasons with San Francisco and two with Seattle.
“Winning in New York is different,” he said.
So are losses in New York: Reid is 14-20 with the Jets.
“I remember my first year here, I think we started out about 5-2. The atmosphere in New York, the energy … Honestly, winning in New York is just different than other places with the media and the fans. … Winning here means everything.”
The Jets’ world revolves around a 40-year-old future Hall of Fame quarterback reliving the days of Aaron Rodgers and trying to get back on his feet, at least until backup Tyrod Taylor can hold down the fort.
“What he does is impossible to replicate,” Reid said. “He literally makes everybody around him better. It’s something I’ve never seen before. When you have AR at quarterback, the receivers are a little better, the tight ends are a little better, the running backs…everyone raises their level of play when he’s there. He has confidence, he has talent. Very talented, very smart, very calculating. That’s why he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer.”
If Rodgers can stay healthy (and clear the trash talk from the locker room) and perform like no other for a 40-year-old quarterback recovering from a torn Achilles. …If injury-plagued 33-year-old LT Tyron Smith can stay healthy. …If injury-plagued WR Mike Williams can stay healthy and create opportunities for Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall. …If injury-plagued RG Alijah Vera-Tucker can stay healthy. …If Haason Reddick’s contract situation gets in the way. There are a whole host of conditions.
But above all, if Rodgers can stay healthy and play his defense and kicking prowess, the beleaguered twins Douglas and Saleh will have no excuses.
When asked about Rodgers’ absence, Reid said, “Saleh said AR has an important appointment he needs to attend to. It’s our quarterback. If it’s important to him, it’s important to us. It’s really not a big deal.”
Maybe Rodgers is trying to hypnotize everyone in the room. Of course, beggars can’t be picky. The Jets made their bed. Of course, ending a 55-year Super Bowl drought would be a bigger deal. That seems too far away for now.
Ending a 13-year streak without a playoff appearance.
It ends a 21-year drought for a division title.
If not now, when?
