Bill Parcells knows what Robert Saleh is feeling this week.
In 1999, with Parcells in his third season as the Jets’ head coach, he lost starting quarterback Vinny Testaverde in the first game of the season to a torn Achilles tendon.
All of the team’s Super Bowl hopes vanished as Testaverde clutched his leg on the Meadowlands turf.
Parcells was watching the Jets-Bills game on Monday night when he saw Aaron Rodgers go down with his own Achilles tear, lowering expectations for this year’s team.
On Tuesday, Parcells spoke to The Post about the situation.
“I think a coach’s challenge is your team has to have hope,” Parcells said. “You have to have hope. If the nucleus they built up there, if that was good enough to win, I think you’ll see a highly competitive team.”
Parcells emphasized while everyone is talking about how big of a loss Rodgers is for the Jets now, that soon people will forget and just expect the team to win regardless of who is at quarterback.
“People, the media and fans, are going to say, ‘Oh you lost your quarterback, there goes the season,’ ” Parcells said. “What I will tell you [is] sports are very current. Three weeks from now they’re not going to be talking about Aaron Rodgers. They’re going to be talking about who dropped a pass or who fumbled the ball or who missed a tackle or who gave up a big pass play as the reason why the Jets lost.”
The Hall of Fame coach who led the Giants to two Super Bowls said that when Testaverde went down, he had to get the team to refocus.
“You are charged with winning games under any circumstances that exist and that’s what you have to try to do,” Parcells said. “I said, ‘They’re not canceling the games.’ They’re not canceling them. You’re coaching them. It’s your job to get your team ready to play to the best of their ability. It’s a player’s job to prepare and play to the best of their ability. If they do that, then they should have a chance to win.”
The 1999 Jets started 1-6 after Testaverde’s injury before rallying to finish the year 8-8.
Parcells started Rick Mirer for the first six games after Testaverde went down before turning to Ray Lucas, who the team rallied behind.
“If I would have put Ray Lucas in two weeks earlier, we would have made the playoffs,” Parcells said. “It was just my mistake.”
Parcells said he watched the Jets-Bills game on TV on Monday night and was sad to see Rodgers exit the game.
“I personally was saddened by that turn of events,” Parcells said, “because it takes away some of the enthusiasm that the Jets had built up this offseason.”
