DENVER — It has been a long week for the Jets.
Coming off their disappointing loss to the Patriots in their home opener, the Jets (0-2) are eager to get back on the field.
“Super anxious,” is how rookie quarterback Zach Wilson, who was intercepted four times last week, described it.
They get to return to the field Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High against the Broncos (2-0). Jets head coach Robert Saleh said the team is dying to play a game after last week’s disappointment.
“I think we all are, I know I am,” Saleh said. “It felt like we played a really good brand of football. We just turned it over four times, which in the history of football you’ll never win. But I think I speak for the entire organization that we’re just champing at the bit to get back on the football field and try to showcase who we are.”
It won’t be easy. This will be the home opener for the Broncos, who have beaten the Giants and Jaguars to start the season. The stadium will be rocking, and the Broncos are near the top in the NFL in both offense and defense.
After a tough loss, Saleh’s team can show its character with how it comes out Sunday.
“Every time you step on the field, you’re creating your identity, you’re establishing who you are,” Saleh said. “Right now, these guys have shown resolve, they’ve shown to be able to bounce back and to take coaching and to be engaged and to ask questions, so that hasn’t stopped. You’re seeing a group of men that have shown no signs of quit and, we shouldn’t, it’s our first two games of the year. Yeah, the deeper we get, the more the identity is going to shape itself and our style and the way we respond to negative things.”
The spotlight will be especially bright on Wilson, who played terribly against New England. The coaches have emphasized for him to play smarter and it’s OK to be “boring,” as Saleh said.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily challenging,” Wilson said of playing boring. “It’s just being smart with the ball and then understanding sometimes those situations in games like, there wasn’t check downs in some of those interceptions, right. It’s not just, ‘Hey, check the ball down.’ It’s, ‘Hey, be smart with the ball, how can you throw it away or get rid of it?’ That’s what I’m applying to this next week, it’s just trying to learn and get better.”