Jets' ugly win doesn't satisfy demanding Jenkins-Bob Glauber October 27, 2008 At last, a refreshing voice in the Jets' locker room who calls it as he sees it. No rationalizations or sugarcoating. No gobbledygook. Just some much-needed straight talk after another unacceptable performance against another woefully inadequate opponent. After the Jets barely escaped with a 28-24 win against a 1-6 Chiefs team without its blue- chip running back and down to a third-string quarterback, nose tackle Kris Jenkins said what every self-respecting Jets fan was feeling during a mostly abysmal performance. Asked if this was a nice bounce-back win, Jenkins shook his head and said: "No." Huh? "I'm glad we pulled it out, but we need to find a way to correct the holes," the 349-pound defensive tackle said. "Our focus needs to improve. We need to tighten it up." OK, so maybe not the kind of vitriol that Jenkins had every right to express, but rest assured, the tone of his remarks was firm and the message unmistakable: This can't go on. He is right about that. For the second straight week against an inferior AFC West opponent, the Jets were miserable. Coming off an overtime loss to the Raiders in Oakland, the Jets nearly lost to a Chiefs team without deactivated running back Larry Johnson and with a quarterback that not even the most ardent fantasy football geek had ever heard of coming into this season. Sure, Brett Favre led a fourth-quarter comeback for the 41st time, but only because he nearly blew it with a 91-yard interception return for a touchdown with 7:48 to play. The Jets nearly lost to a quarterback by the name of Tyler Thigpen who is playing only because the Chiefs' top two passers, Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard, are injured and out for the season. Thigpen shredded the Jets for 280 yards, two touchdowns and a passer rating of 110.9. And Brandon Flowers had two of the Chiefs' three interceptions against Favre, who threw a red-zone pick for the third time this season and for the second time in the last two weeks. Although his teammates and coaches went easy on the performance in light of the result, Jenkins needs to see more, and he's not shy about saying it. "That's part of my responsibility," said Jenkins, acquired in an offseason trade with the Panthers. "We have to coach the younger guys up sometimes. That's the responsibility of the veteran leadership. Sometimes it's giving the tough love. It's showing by example, so you can give the best on Sundays." If that's the best the Jets have got on Sunday, then it's going to be a long year. "They had a chance to win the game," Jenkins said. Given the circumstances, the Chiefs should never have had that chance. The Jets gave it to them. Over and over again. And who knows? If linebacker Derrick Johnson doesn't drop another errant Favre pass deep in Chiefs territory late in the third quarter, maybe we're talking about one of the most egregious flops in the Jets' long and sordid history since Super Bowl III. Wonder what Joe Namath, Don Maynard and all those other icons from the Jets' only championship team, on hand yesterday for a 40-year anniversary celebration, would have thought about that. Good thing Favre was able to deliver after nearly blowing it. His 46-yard touchdown drive, capped by a 15-yard pass to Laveranues Coles, kept the Jets from completely embarrassing themselves. "All is not lost," Jenkins said. "I'm not saying we're a bad team. We have the potential. But I'm not satisfied, and that should be the mentality of this team. We need to take it to the next level." They'd better start soon. As in next week. They're at Buffalo, where the 5-2 Bills are tied with the Patriots atop the AFC East. For all the helter-skelter of the Jets' first seven games, they're only one game out of first, with two games left against the Bills and another against the Patriots. If the Jets are going to be a factor in December, there is no better time to start playing the way a contender is supposed to play. Start with smart, disciplined play on offense. Throw in a more dynamic effort on defense. And show the kind of emotion that's so essential to success. The Jets can start by taking their cues from their no-nonsense nose tackle. "We've got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot," Jenkins said. "We need to tighten it up across the board." Paying attention, fellas?
I'm glad to hear this urgency from Jenkins. I have to admit the post game press-conference was the first time this season I've seen Mangini a little mad at some of the things that went wrong. For me this is what he is so often missing. We need more urgency and fire from not just the senior players but the coaching staff as well
Jenkins unhappy = Jenkins not being a beast. Hey CS, pull your head out of your ass and keep him happy by winning in a convincing fashion.
There is something that rings true in this. "Our focus needs to improve. We need to tighten it up." I can't help but think that most of this team just "expects" Favre will find a way to win and they can take the day off. This seems especially true on offense. Everybody seemed to play harder last year. Too bad there was no talent on the team last year like there is now. Blame the coach.
I love Jenkins and his attitude towards the team/game. He was getting the crowd pumped on the late (especially the last) defensive stand in the 4th quarter. Not sure if they showed it on t.v., but seeing him do it from the stands and all of us getting louder and louder, backing up the defense, was great. Jenkins really changes this defense.
Mandoofis wasn?t mad at what went wrong or the fact that Herm outcoached him ? he was starting to panic because Wapner was about to start Ten minutes to Wapner. We're definitely locked in this box with no TV Uh oh, fifteen minutes to Judge Wapner 'Course, three minutes to Wapner Yeah. It's definitely very small in here
i wish we could hear some of that shit from the coach.instead of the usual we did some things well we stuck with the gameplan we saw somethings this week we wanted to exploit.i hate that shit.and anyway what the fuck did you see that made you want to air it out.cause last week i saw them give up 330 on the fraking ground.(sorry i little carried away)but nice to see jenkins at least see there needs to be improvement hope it carries thru the locker room
And there were those who questioned Jenkins' attitude coming into the team. At the moment it is nearly all of the rest of the team that needs their attitude straightened out. Jenkins always works hard for the team, I think Harris does too, and also Kenyon Coleman, Revis and possibly Lowery. Guys like Ellis, Barton, Eric Smith and alot of our offense need to turn it around. Thomas, Rhodes and Pace are pretty good but could do with a bit of a boost.
yeah we need some voice on this team, so many teams out there might have too many loud mouths and malcontents, sometimes I think we need one, such a vanilla bunch. A voice like chad johnson might be well recieved on a team like this.
Jenkins is our leader and i agree with him. Nice to get a W but against that team in there current situation at home is pretty shitty.
I'm satisfied that the Jets don't have a losing record and may tie for first place. I don't like anything about the win though.
