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#Jets are hungry to ‘prove a lot of people wrong’

#Jets are hungry to ‘prove a lot of people wrong’

September 8, 2020 | 12:11am

The Jets are aware of people’s expectations for them.

They know they are near the bottom of everyone’s rankings. No one is picking them to go to the playoffs. Fans are preparing to talk about the 2021 draft shortly after the 2020 season kicks off on Sunday in Buffalo.

“Our guys don’t live in a bubble,” Jets general manager Joe Douglas said. “We see the things that are said. We see the things that are written. It angers a lot of people.”

Expectations are lower for the Jets entering this season than they have been since 2017, when people thought they were tanking for a good draft pick. When people discuss the AFC East, it is about the Bills potentially taking over the division, the Patriots finding a way to hold on without Tom Brady and the Dolphins preparing to make a push after a splashy offseason. The Jets are mostly an afterthought.

It is understandable after the team traded its best player, Jamal Adams, this summer and then had its highest-paid player, C.J. Mosley, opt out of the season over COVID-19 concerns. There are few big names left on the Jets. Le’Veon Bell, Frank Gore and Joe Flacco all have impressive résumés, but there are questions about how much each of them has left. The rest of the roster has much to prove.

“Obviously, there are good players that were on this team last year that aren’t playing this year,” Douglas said. “Just going through this camp, I can tell you that there are some guys on this team that might not be household names but they’re good football players. They’re mission is to go out and become a household name.”

That mission starts at 1 p.m. Sunday when the Jets face the Bills. Douglas was reluctant to put any sort of number on expected wins or say this is a playoff team. The Jets are trying to end a nine-year playoff drought and a four-year stretch of losing seasons. Relevance in December would be a major step forward for this team.

Coach Adam Gase is back for his second season after finishing 7-9 in Year 1. Both Gase and Douglas spoke about this team’s chemistry as a reason to believe.

“I’m really excited about this locker room,” Gase said. “I love the way this group operates as a unit, the entire team.”

Douglas and Gase seem to feel that this group has a will to win that can overcome its lack of star power.

“I know there’s a lot of hungry guys that want to go out there and just prove a lot of people wrong, frankly,” Douglas said.

Veteran running back Frank Gore, who signed with the Jets this offseason after a year with the Bills, said he senses that feeling, too.

“I feel that,” Gore said when told of Douglas’ comments. “We’ve got a bunch of great, hard-working men in that locker room. This camp, every day we went out and worked hard. Nobody complained. We all want to play for each other. We’re going to do whatever it takes to win.”

Douglas mentioned the rebuilt offensive line as one part of the team he was happy with. The Jets will have five new starters on the line from last year’s opener against Buffalo.

Jets
The Jets walk on the field for practice.Corey Sipkin

While the Bills traded for receiver Stefon Diggs, Douglas spent conservatively on Breshad Perriman and drafted Denzel Mims in the second round. Both have had injury issues during training camp, but Douglas and Gase sounded optimistic that they will be ready for Sunday.

“We’re excited about the playmakers we have,” Douglas said.

Douglas, who was hired in June 2019, knows the rebuild of the Jets is far from done.

“I’m not going to be happy until we win a Super Bowl,” he said.

The Super Bowl is not happening this year, but the Jets believe they are better than most people think. We’ll begin to find out Sunday.

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