No Joshin’: A winning Jet formula
USA TODAY/AP JOSH McCown has seen a lot during his NFL career.
The veteran is now with his eighth team, but his Jets tenure has been somewhat different: There’s actually a decent amount of winning involved.
In fact, McCown’s four wins in 2017 are already the second-most of his career, behind his six victories with the Cardinals back in 2004. But from 2005 through 2016, the 38-year-old was known far more for his struggles, especially in Tampa Bay.
“Well, that was a really rough year,” McCown said of his 1-10 season with the Bucs in 2014.
But now he’ll get a chance to go up against one of his many former teams, squaring off against the Ryan Fitzpatrick-led Buccaneers this Sunday.
“For me, it’ll be like just another trip,” McCown said. “I’ve moved on past that at this point, and obviously I’ve done that with different stops and different places in my career.
“I’ve kind of had some practice at it, so it’ll just be another game. I’m looking forward to competing against (them). I know some of those guys and I appreciate those guys and that friendship and the kind of men that they are.”
And this reunion comes rather surprisingly near the peak of McCown’s NFL career. The veteran wasn’t sold on calling this year his best, but it certainly is up there with his 2013 season in Chicago.
“I don’t know. It’s two different years. It’s the best to me because it’s right now, and that’s all that matters,” McCown said of his Jets success. “I think there are some similarities, but there were three seasons since then and this is the fourth, and so I would like to think that I’m a better player, that the year in Tampa and the two in Cleveland weren’t for naught, that I grew during that time. “So I would say yeah, I’m playing better ball now than I was then, but that’s the thing I face is just growing as a player and getting better, and so hopefully I can continue to do that.”
And now McCown is aiming to continue that growth with the Jets, both individually and teamwide with the offense.
“I think we can do better. It’s just continuing to improve in the areas that we’re not playing as well, and maintain what we’re playing well in,” he said. “We’ve done good things, the thing we’ve been striving for is putting a complete game together, and I think we’ve done that to a degree at different times. We just have to shop for better consistency.”
And sure, the team’s 4-5 record isn’t spectacular by any means. But considering the preseason expectations of both the Jets and their quarterback, it’s better than anticipated. “I enjoy it just because I get to be part of our team and function as part of the offense within a good system,” McCown said. “And so that’s the thing I enjoy is just teambuilding and working with these guys to put together good offensive football on tape. I think we’ve done that, but like I said, we’re not done yet.”