Not long after Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie said he thinks his team is heading to the playoffs, Jets coach Rex Ryan said he thinks that, too. And so does everyone else in the Jets’ locker room.
Ryan told reporters today that he shares Cromartie’s confidence and wants a roster with 53 players who believe that they can go from 3-5 to the playoffs.
“I feel as an entire football team that we should all feel like that. And I think we do feel like that,” Ryan said, via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “Nobody wants to hear it, but who cares? That’s really how we feel. That’s our mentality. Whether you like it or not, that’s our mentality. I would think the Jets fans and the Jet community, obviously, they would want us to feel that way. And we do.”
Although Ryan stopped predicting the Jets would get to the Super Bowl after his prediction last year fell flat and his team missed the playoffs, he’s still not shy about expressing his confidence in his team, even after the Jets’ rough start this year.
“We’re not happy with where we are with that 3-5 record,” Ryan said. “We know it’s tough to get into the playoffs especially when you back yourself up with that 3-5 record. But again, we’re going to keep swinging until they tell us that we’re out. All of us, in my opinion, believe we can make it.”
That’s the attitude you’d expect from the Jets’ locker room. Not many people outside the Jets’ locker room agree.