TODD ALMIGHTY
Bowles gets kudos after debut
TODD Bowles is the calm before the storm. He, too, is the calm during and after the storm.
That evenkeel headcoaching trait has a chance to bring a sustainable success to the Jets that has been missing for a long time.
You could have excused Bowles for being jacked up after Sunday’s 3110 win over the Browns in the season opener at MetLife Stadium on Sunday and showing it. It was, after all, his first win as a fulltime head coach and it took place about 20 minutes up the Jersey Turnpike from where he grew up in Elizabeth.
But public displays of emotion are not a part of Bowles’ repertoire. Sunday’s victory was a perfect reflection of Bowles as a head coach.
“No nonsense, get to the point, get after it,’’ is how guard Willie Colon described it.
“I call him ‘Triple C’ — cool, calm and collected,’’ said backup linebacker Trevor Reilly, who had a stripsack of Browns backup quarterback Johnny Manziel in the fourth quarter.
“You reflect who your leader is,’’ said receiver Eric Decker, who caught a 15yard touchdown pass to give the Jets a 1410 secondquarter lead they would never relinquish. “Todd has a very calm, quiet demeanor, and you can see that confidence [reflected] in the locker room that is a quiet swagger.’’
Sunday’s debut as Jets head coach — after which left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson presented him with the game ball in front of the team to cheers — represented a condensed version of what Bowles has overseen since the start of training camp in that the day was overloaded with adversity.
The first time the Browns got the ball on offense, they methodically marched down the field on the defense — supposedly Bowles’ strength
— 78 yards in 17 plays in 9:59.
What looked like it might be a long day for the Jets’ defense with that Browns’ possession became a turning point when Calvin Pryor separated Cleveland quarterback Josh McCown from the ball and then his senses; he left the game with a concussion.
Creating more turnovers on defense has been one of the things Bowles has emphasized to his players more than anything since he arrived.
In the second quarter, Bowles lost starting cornerback Antonio Cromartie to a left knee injury that could mean the end to his season. Backup Marcus Williams replaced Cromartie and had a huge interception and played better than Cromartie, who was torched by Travis Benjamin for the Browns’ only TD on a thirdand20 play.
Things hit a low point in the fourth quarter when rookie linebacker Lorenzo Maudlin was carried off the field immobilized on a stretcher with a head injury and rushed to the hospital. There was still 12:49 to play in the game and, with Maudlin’s teammates shaken, Bowles helped calm them to finish the job.
This was a lot to deal with for a single game, let alone his first with the team. But Bowles should be used to this by now given the offseason issues he had to power through.
“So far, he’s been able to stare adversity in the face,’’ Reilly said. That’s not likely to change. “He’s never too up and never too down,’’ veteran linebacker Calvin Pace said. “That’s just his personality. I’m not going to say it’s refreshing … but it’s different.’’
When it was all over Sunday and Bowles spoke to reporters, his tone was so lowkey you had to lean in to hear his words.
“I drove to the game peacefully,’’ Bowles said. “It was kind of nice and quiet, just trying to keep everything under wraps. And for the most part I did that … just keeping my emotions under wraps and understanding it’s about the team, go ahead and coach the game and not make it about me.
“I just went about my business.’’