GANG GROWTH
McCown loves seeing team develop identity, maturity
THE quarterback who led the Jets to a 3-3 start last year said this year’s 3-3 Jets are in better shape, even though he’s not the starter anymore.
Josh McCown had the Jets at 3-3 after losing to the Patriots in Week 6 of the 2017 season. The 24-17 defeat after taking an early lead ended a three-game winning streak. It also started a three-game losing streak and a stretch in which the Jets would win just two of their final 11 games. About the only benefit was being able to eventually move up in the draft and select USC quarterback Sam Darnold with the thirdoverall pick.
McCown, 39, is in his 16th season and started 13 games last year. But Darnold won the starting job in training camp and the rookie has the Jets at 3-3 entering Sunday’s game against the Vikings (3-2-1) at MetLife Stadium. There are no guarantees, but McCown said he thinks the Jets are in a better place than they were at this time last year.
Why? For starters, he points to experience and maturity.
Several key players, including McCown, went through the tailspin last year, and hope not to repeat it. You can include in that group wide receivers Jermaine Kearse and Robby Anderson; offensive linemen Brandon Shell and Brian Winters; defensive contributors Jamal Adams, Darron Lee, and Leonard Williams.
“We’re one year older as a group,” McCown said. “Having been through that, a lot of the core guys are still here. I think that’s important because when you go through those things and look at the result and think, ‘What do we have to do to make it different?’ It’s hard to do that when you have a bunch of different players.
“But when you have a good core group that’s gone through that and then goes through the offseason, then training camp and then these first few weeks, the message that Coach [Todd] Bowles is sending is, ‘Let’s change it this year and make it better.’”
There’s a more positive feeling surrounding the .500 Jets this year, mainly because of Darnold. The offense is finding a rhythm after posting back-to-back wins over the Broncos (34-16) and the Colts (42-34). The defense is aggressive and opportunistic with 15 takeaways.
“We’re finding an identity and that’s critical,” said McCown, who serves as the backup quarterback and mentor to Darnold. “The defense is doing a good job of taking the ball away and we’re protecting the football. Sam grows every game and our offense grows. That’s what Coach [Jeremy] Bates keeps push-
ing to us — keep chasing improvement. When that’s your goal you’ll be on the right side of the scoreboard a lot.”
Focus is another reason for optimism.
“When you’re a young unit coming together, you can get caught up in the ups and downs,” McCown said. “We’re much stronger emotionally. As a unit I think that’s what we’re doing better this year than we did last year.”
This team is also a more closeknit group. The Jets feel like they’re building something. A .500 record after six weeks is a start.
“The best feeling is the unity and the chemistry of this group feels tighter,” McCown said. “It gives us a good chance to make it different than it was last year.”
And then there’s Darnold, who will do his part to make the next 10 games better than they were last year for the Jets.
“Sam has put in the time, to his credit, and the coaches have been awesome with him,” McCown said. “His maturity and his character have been great to where it’s almost as if he went through that with us last year. A lot of those conversations that he and I have are talking through things like, ‘This is what it felt like last year; this is how we have to focus; this is the message we need to keep hammering home.’ He’s doing a great job of handling that. So it’s credit to Sam.”
These aren’t the same ol’ 3-3 Jets.