Darrelle Revis looked up at the ceiling over his head in the Jets locker room and smiled after being asked what the ceiling is for the 2016 Jets.
“Higher than this one,” he said jokingly.
But then Revis turned serious and made a bold statement.
“We feel like we are a playoff team,” Revis said. “We didn’t make it last year, but we had a chance. We’ve got most of the guys back and we feel very confident going into this season.”
The Jets begin that quest for the playoffs Sunday against the Bengals at MetLife Stadium. Revis may have a big assignment in that game … or maybe the Jets are moving away from Revis Island.
The expectation is Revis would match up with Bengals star wide receiver A.J. Green. In his career, Revis has usually taken on the other team’s No. 1 receiver, but Jets defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers made it sound like the Jets will take a cover-by-committee approach to Green.
“As we look at it, it won’t be just Revis,” Rodgers said. “It will be a lot of people. A.J. is a tremendous player. We’ve got to have 11 sets of eyes knowing where he is. Looking at the way we’re playing, it’s not necessarily a one-on-one matchup.”
Is that a sign the Jets coaches no longer trust Revis to lock up a No. 1 receiver?
“I’m not saying he can’t,” Rodgers said. “Darrelle is a tremendous player, a tremendous player. I’m glad he’s with us.”
Revis did not reveal the game plan, obviously, but he backed up Rodgers’ comments, making it sound like Revis won’t be on Green alone.
“We’ve got to be cautious a little bit because we have some tough games coming ahead,” Revis said. “I think the game plan this week is very comfortable for everybody. I think everybody is just trying to do their job. We’re going to switch things up a little bit to maybe just wear [down] some of their key guys on offense. That’s just mixing guys in and out.”
By moving guys around, it could create some problems for Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton.
“It might be difficult for an offense to ID guys or see where guys are at. It’s a lot of confusion,” Revis said. “It could be to our benefit. That’s one of the things coming into this week trying to accomplish.”
Revis has faced Green just once before in the regular season. That meeting came two years ago when Revis was on the Patriots. The Patriots won 43-17 that night and Revis followed Green for the entire game. Green ended up with four catches for 64 yards against Revis, along with a fumble and an illegal-contact penalty. Green scored a touchdown when Revis left the game with a hamstring injury.
“I didn’t feel like he shut me down. I had steps on him,” Green told ESPN this week. “I didn’t feel like he did anything special that I had never seen before.”
Revis was complimentary toward Green when asked what types of challenges the 6-foot-4, 210-pounder presents.
“Every challenge possible,” Revis said. “I’ve definitely got a lot of respect for the guy. He’s one of the top receivers in the league.”
The 31-year-old Revis is entering the season with doubters circling around him. The questions about Revis grew loud last season when he struggled in games against the Bills’ Sammy Watkins and the Texans’ DeAndre Hopkins. In March, it came to light that Revis played most of last season with a torn tendon in his wrist that required surgery. Despite the perceived struggles, Revis allowed completions on only 46.5 percent of passes thrown his way, the lowest in the NFL.
Revis said he is now at 100 percent after the wrist surgery, which will allow him to punch receivers at the line of scrimmage again in man coverage.
“One of my biggest traits is probably playing the bump-and-run in recent years, just getting back into that mold and that mentality,” Revis said. “It’s definitely good to feel good and to be able to strike at the line of scrimmage and to be able to jam guys. For me, it just took time and patience. Now, I’m finally at a point where I can do that.”