Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall wants Todd Bowles back on the sideline next year, no matter how poorly this season ends.
To Marshall, getting rid of the second-year coach, following Bowles’ 10-win debut season, isn’t a solution. It’s the problem with the league.
“Sometimes you blow up stuff and you feel like that’s the answer and it’s not,” Marshall said after Wednesday’s practice. “That’s one of the reasons football is so terrible in the NFL these days is because there’s so much turnover. … People expect guys to win right away. You bring in a new regime and they say you have a year or two to do it. You need time to build things.”
Despite the Jets’ (3-9) struggles, Marshall said the locker room remains as united as ever — unlike his final season with the Bears in 2014 — and he believes Bowles is the reason why, adding that he doesn’t think the team is playing to save the coach’s job.
“I would hope not. How did that work out for Chicago?” Marshall said of his former team, which fired coach Marc Trestman after two seasons and has won nine games in the two seasons since. “I’m not trying to say anything bad about previous employment, but I’ve been in a locker room in 2014 in the same exact situation and it was 100 times worse because the locker room was divided. There was a division between players, a division between players and coaches and we don’t have that. We’ve had some tough conversations, we’ve held each other accountable but we’re still together and that’s promising.
“[Bowles is] supposed to [take criticism]. He’s the head coach. That comes with the territory and that’s why we respect coach so much. That’s why we’re still together because he’s real. He tells it like it is and he’s a man of his word. … The best way that I can describe coach is he’s a mix between Bill Parcells and Lovie Smith. … Total opposite ends of the spectrum from the outside, but great guys to play for.”
Center Nick Mangold (ankle) did not practice, along with defensive linemen Muhammad Wilkerson (ankle), Leonard Williams (illness) and Steve McClendon (hamstring), tackle Breno Giacomini (back, calf), wide receiver Jalin Marshall (concussion), linebackers Lorenzo Mauldin (ankle) and Julian Stanford (ankle) and safety Antonio Allen (concussion). … Matt Forte (knee, foot) was limited, along with Calvin Pryor (concussion).
The Jets re-signed running backs Khiry Robinson — who was waived with an injury designation in the preseason with a leg injury, which prevented him from practicing Wednesday — and Brandon Wilds. … Defensive lineman Claude Pelon was added to the practice squad. … The Jets claimed linebacker Arthur Brown off waivers and waived linebacker Julian Stanford.