Much the way the Jets did a week ago before they went to San Diego to play the Chargers, they believe they can physically beat the Colts in tomorrow’s AFC Championship game with their offensive line and relentless rushing attack.
“There’s no reason we can’t do to them what we did the first time,” reserve tackle Wayne Hunter said yesterday. “They know we’re going to run the ball. Everyone in the stadium is going to know we’re going to run the ball. We’re not going to back down from that.”
In the teams’ Dec. 27 meeting, a 29-15 Jets win, the Jets rushed for 257 yards on 57 carries. But those numbers are a little misleading, considering 57 of them came on Brad Smith’s touchdown run and rookie Shonn Greene gained a lot of yardage after many of the Colts’ starters were removed.
Nevertheless, the Jets’ offensive line, which outweighs the Colts’ front seven, believes it can wear the Colts down.
“That’s the mentality you have to have,” Hunter said. “That’s why we’ve been able to run the ball so successfully. The running game starts with mentality and it ends with execution.”
* Mark Sanchez said he recently bumped into Giants center Shaun O’Hara, who said he was rooting for the Jets to go all the way.
“He was just excited, he said, ‘Dude, it’s so cool. Keep it going, win it for New York. We are all pulling for you,’ ” Sanchez said. “That was pretty cool.”
* Ryan was asked if he ever gets nervous before a game.
“I always say this: ‘Whatever you guys do, just d-d-d-don’t don’t panic,’ ” Ryan said jokingly. “We are not going to panic. No. Never. There might be some concerns, but I never feel like that. I mean, I’m excited.”
* Count Ryan as one person who doesn’t believe in the so-called “same old Jets” theory.
“No, the ‘same old Jets’ thing to me is like, it was hilarious, like, what are you talking about?” he said. “That’s like a bad karma or something. To me, the same old Jets would be like, my dad [Buddy Ryan] came here as a rookie coach and won a Super Bowl. That’s the kind of karma I’m talking about. So it’s a good thing.”
* Ryan and Sanchez said the rookie quarterback has done away with the color-coded wrist bands to remind him of when to be aggressive and when to be conservative.
Sanchez has relied more on veteran running backs, Thomas Jones and Tony Richardson, to quietly remind him of situations.
“It’s been great and the best part was, they weren’t talking down to me,” Sanchez said. “They were talking to me like I’m one of the guys, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do at every level playing quarterback, be one of the guys. It wasn’t them just hammering something to me and not letting me talk about it. Stuff like that just opened the door of communication, and it’s been awesome.”
* For the Colts, starting CB Jerraud Powers is listed as questionable with a foot injury that has kept him out of practice all week.