Jets’ Bowles: Titans loss will stick ‘for rest of my life’
NEW YORK (AP) >> The mood around the Jets’ facility was predictably somber, a mix of disappointment and disbelief after another brutal loss.
New York blew a 16- 0 lead at Tennessee on Sunday before falling to the Titans 26-22, the team’s sixth straight defeat in what has spiraled into another lost season. New York is 3-9 with a game at AFC East-rival Buffalo next Sunday, and this latest loss hung like a dark cloud for everyone involved.
“Frustration, obviously. ( Ticked) off, obviously,” coach Todd Bowles said during a conference call Monday. “It’s one of them games you’ll remember for the rest of your life, as a player or a coach, and you’ll never forget about it. It can propel you to be better at your job or it can make you go in a shell. I don’t think we have those kinds of guys, but of
course everybody’s frustrated and (ticked) off.”
Bowles has come under heavy criticism in his fourth season as the losses have piled. While management has not commented on the coach’s future, it seems unlikely Bowles will return after this season. He has a 2337 record and will fail to reach the playoffs in any of his seasons.
It appeared the Jets might get a surprising win on the road Sunday, controlling most of the game against the Titans. But Marcus Mariota and Tennessee whittled away at New York’s lead before connecting with Corey Da- vis for an 11-yard go-ahead touchdown with 36 seconds left.
The Jets had a chance — albeit unlikely — to answer back, but Josh McCown was intercepted by Malcolm Butler to end it.
“Like I said, this game will stick with me for the rest of my life,” Bowles said. “I’ve been in about three of them, and this will go right up there with them games. You’re at your wits’ end for a second and then you come back — How can we get better? What do we’ve got to do? How can we improve? — and you go X, Y, Z and you keep on moving, keep grinding.”
A few Jets players were relayed Bowles’ comments, and they echoed the sentiments of their embattled coach.