The Jets have spent training camp getting excited about the additions they have made this offseason.
Tyron Smith has looked like a massive upgrade at left tackle. Morgan Moses and John Simpson have come over from the Ravens and fortified the offensive line. Mike Williams gets healthier by the day and is expected to play Week 1. Rookie running back Braelon Allen has been a beast all training camp. On defense, Javon Kinlaw looks ready for a big year and Chuck Clark has returned from the ACL injury that cost him last season to give the Jets a thumper in the back end of the defense.
Then, there is Aaron Rodgers. The 40-year-old quarterback is not exactly a new addition to the team but it has felt like it after only seeing him for four snaps last season. Rodgers’ return and his brilliant play in most of the training camp practices has optimism overflowing in Florham Park.
But there is a question about whether the Jets can count on one more addition this fall. Will this team finally add Lady Luck to its side?
It is fun to break down the NFL season and try to make predictions about how things might go. You can use analytics or your gut. You can project statistics or study the schedule. But one thing you never know in August when you are going through that exercise is how lucky a team will be. Can they make it through the season without any major injuries to a key player? Will they get the benefit of a bad call or be the victim of one? Will the schedule line up where they end up playing 12 backup quarterbacks or will they catch teams coming in on a hot streak?
Around here, it is always a safe bet that things won’t go the Jets’ way. That is why even the most optimistic Jets fans still feels pangs of doubt right now. Cautious optimism is a phrase you hear often right now around the Jets.
“If they stay healthy,” punctuates nearly every sentence about what to expect for the Jets this season.
When you watch the Jets practice every day, there are reasons to believe. Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall look like absolute studs. Sauce Gardner, D.J. Reed and Michael Carter II might be the best cornerback group in the NFL. Quincy Williams and C.J. Mosley are two of the best linebackers in football. This is the best Jets roster since 2008.
But Jets fans know the pain of rooting for this team all too well. They know how unlucky the Jets can be. Call it a curse if you want, but I think it’s just incredible bad luck that usually derails this team.
You can go back to that 2008 season when another former Packers MVP was under center for the Jets. Brett Favre had the Jets at 8-3 and thinking Super Bowl after road wins in New England and Tennessee. Then, the most durable player in the history of the NFL injured his right arm and the Jets lost four of their last five games to miss the playoffs.
You don’t have to go back that far, of course. Rodgers sitting on the MetLife turf, staring at the sideline with angst on his face is still so fresh in everyone’s memory that Jets fans will celebrate when the team gets to the fifth offensive play in Week 1 against the 49ers.
And Rodgers’ injury was not even the first time the Jets’ Super Bowl hopes were scuttled by a torn Achilles. Vinny Testaverde was the original.
This is the organization that has brought you a quarterback sidelined by mono. Who can forget the starting quarterback getting his jaw broken in the locker room by a teammate?
The bad luck last year started with Rodgers sitting on the MetLife turf and continued through 13 different offensive line combinations and a 99-yard interception return off a Hail Mary on Black Friday.
I’m sure other fan bases feel snakebitten, too. The Browns and Lions certainly have a case that they have had at least as tough an existence as the Jets. But the Jets always seem to lose more dramatically than everyone else.
Can the juju be different for the Jets this year? Will Lady Luck finally smile upon them?
The Jets have plenty of talent on this roster. Now, we’ll see if they can get a little luck to go along with it.
