JETS: BRING ON PATRIOTS
With Revis, Richardson anchoring defense, N.Y. is confident it can stop New England
Darrelle Revis stuffed his postgame meal into a plastic to-go bin and slipped past the throng of family members, media and New York Jets executives congregated outside the locker room.
“We’ve got a big one next week,” called out a fan who stood behind a roped-off area, hoping for an autograph, a nod, anything.
Revis didn’t flinch. He never broke stride. He didn’t even shift his eyes.
And, wearing his noise-canceling headphones, odds are Revis didn’t even hear it.
New York’s 34-20 victory Sunday against the Washington Redskins wasn’t even an hour old, but the one man on the Jets roster who knows as much as anyone about the amount of focus needed for next week’s opponent set the tone.
Bring on the New England Patriots.
“They’ve run this division for a while, so we have to get after it,” defensive end Sheldon Richardson said.
Run the division, they have. The Patriots are not only the defending Super Bowl champions, but they also have also won 11 of the last 12 AFC East titles. They have been big brother to the Jets in the last decade.
New York (4-1) now sits comfortably in second place in the AFC East, and Sunday’s game in Foxborough, Mass., should have playoff implications with the Buffalo Bills (3-3) reeling and the Miami Dolphins (2-3) still in an early-season hole.
And New York’s team, specifically its defense, is built to compete against the Patriots. Revis is the main reason. The 30-year-old cornerback earned a Super Bowl ring last season with New England, after the Patriots signed him to a one-year contract with an option for a second season. When the Patriots declined that option in March, Revis returned to New York, where he was a part of the Jets-Patriots rivalry from 2007 to 2012.
Revis picked off his third pass of the season Sunday.
He has been on the other side. He knows how the Patriots and Bill Belichick operate. He now has that championship fiber.
And it’s something he’s trying to replicate in New York in coach Todd Bowles’ first season with the Jets.
And in his best Belichick impression, Revis didn’t give an inch when asked what feelings he had about returning to the place where he reached the sport’s greatest achievement.
“No thoughts,” he said, almost without emotion. “It’s an away game for us. It’s a conference game and it’s a tough place to play, and we’ve got to try to go there and win the game.
“I’m not going to harp on last year.”
Next week, New York will have to be nearly flawless, and Sunday was anything but that.
Facing a Redskins squad that no one thought would compete in their division, New York came out flat in the first half.
The Jets turned the ball over three times in the first two quarters and allowed Washington to score 13 points off takeaways.
But one big boost that will bolster New York is the return of Richardson, who had been serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.
Richardson’s return allowed the Jets to generate pressure on quarterback Kirk Cousins despite bringing just four or five pass rushers for the majority of the game. Another thing he brings is swagger.
After New York’s disappointing first half, Richardson said the team entered the locker room at halftime and engaged in constructive criticism — delivering a clear message that inspired the team to rip off 24 unanswered points in the first 15:42 of the second half.
“Pick it up,” Richardson said of the halftime message. “We’re a better team than that and we know it, so go out there and be who we are. Our best is not their best.
“Just meaning we’re better than them. It’s just that simple. We should be playing better. It shouldn’t even be close. Just leave it at that.”
Confidence can go a long way, but the Patriots have looked like one of the NFL’s best offenses in the first quarter of the season.
And if New York has any shot to upset the Patriots, the defense will have to lead the effort.
“Well, they are the Super Bowl champions,” Richardson said. “We’re licking our chops.”
Game on.
“It’s an away game for us. It’s a conference game and it’s a tough place to play, and we’ve got to try to go there and win the game.”
Cornerback Darrelle Revis, on the Jets’ upcoming game vs. the Patriots in Foxborough, Mass.