The Day

Jets will try to end an 0-12 drought vs. Eagles

- By DENNIS WASZAK Jr.

East Rutherford, N.J. — Breece Hall was unfazed by the brief history lesson shared by a reporter this week about the New York Jets' next opponent.

The undefeated Philadelph­ia Eagles are coming to town and the Jets are 0-12 against them — the only team the franchise has never defeated.

“I mean, before right now, I had no idea, so I could tell you I don't really care about that,” the Jets' second-year running back said. “Every game, you're looking at coming out and winning, so just because they're undefeated or whatever doesn't really play a factor in motivating us to win.”

And this week it's an Eagles squad that's looking to win its first six games in back-to-back seasons. Meanwhile, the Jets (2-3) are coming off a win in Denver and looking to head into their bye week at .500 — regardless of the history they're up against.

“What's cool is the NFC champs are walking into our building and it's an opportunit­y for us to get after them,” coach Robert Saleh said. “We've played some good football teams. We took Buffalo and Kansas City down to the wire. We've got another great one coming in.

“So, hopefully it's a fun game for everybody, and hopefully we're on the right side of it.”

Nick Sirianni and the Eagles would respectful­ly disagree with that last part.

Philadelph­ia could join the 1981, 2004 and 2022 squads as the only Eagles teams to start 6-0. Sirianni could also join Tony Dungy (2005-07, Colts), Mike Martz (2000-01, Rams), Mike Shanahan (199798, Broncos) and Mike Ditka (1985-86, Bears) as the only NFL coaches to accomplish the feat in consecutiv­e seasons.

And guess what? Like Hall and the Jets' drought, the historical significan­ce wasn't very significan­t to Sirianni.

“That was the first I heard about it right there, so you just broke the news to me,” Sirianni said. “It's a journey, right? It's a long journey. I guess when I was 1-0 after we played Atlanta (in his 2021 debut), when we were 1-0, I had the best winning percentage, too, right? I've gone down since then, whatever it is. A lot of the season to play.”

Iron man

Let younger brother Travis handle the Taylor Swift headlines. Jason Kelce just continues to go to work as the Eagles' always available center.

Kelce, who turns 36 next month, has served as the burly, bushy-bearded stalwart of the offensive line since he was drafted and is set to start his 145th consecutiv­e game Sunday, the longest streak in franchise history.

“It's big,” quarterbac­k Jalen

EAGLES AT JETS

4:25 p.m., MetLife Stad., Ch. 61

Hurts said. “He shows up. He does what needs to be done to be ready to play. He's a mentally tough person.”

Kelce, a sixth-round pick in 2011, is a five-time All-Pro and has been a staple of a Super Bowl-winning team and another that lost the Super Bowl last season. He's tied for the franchise's fifth-longest streak of consecutiv­e games played, trailing only Jon Dorenbos (162, 2006-16), Harold Carmichael (162, 1971-83), Randy Logan (159, 1973-83) and Bobby Walston (148, 1951-62).

Too pushy?

The Eagles' nearly unstoppabl­e “tush push” or “brotherly shove” quarterbac­k sneak play has been the talk of the NFL. Hurts lines up under Kelce with two or three players behind him and then everyone surges forward.

The Jets are the latest opponent who'll try to stop it — and one New York player thinks Philadelph­ia might be getting an unfair edge.

“I don't know, man, if you ask me, it looks like the center's in a four-point stance and his head is over the ball,” defensive lineman Quinton Jefferson said. “Like, he's damn near offside. I really don't know. I guess we'll have to see and figure it out on the fly.”

Hall of a start

After having his promising rookie season ended by a torn ACL in Week 7 at Denver last season, Hall emphatical­ly showed he's back less than a year later on the same field.

Hall ran for a career-high 177 yards, the ninth-highest total in franchise history, and a touchdown on 22 carries — also a personal best — after having his snap limit ended last week. He said the long months recovering helped prepare him to burst out of the backfield again.

“The workload you get in the rehab process is harder than what you get in the game,” Hall said. “I've gone through days where I've done way more just throughout rehab with my knee, just doing a whole bunch of stuff with my knee than I would in a game. So when you come back and start playing, you know that you're ready.”

Swift running

The Eagles boast the No. 2 rushing offense in the NFL, led by D'Andre Swift (434 yards) and Hurts (206), and they'll face the Jets' 29th-ranked run defense.

Swift ranks fourth in the league in rushing yards and has the most by an Eagles player through five games since LeSean McCoy's 514 in 2013. The 24-year-old spent his first three seasons in Detroit after being a third-round pick out of Georgia in 2020.

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