The Jets have been here before.
Twelve years ago, they were struggling mightily and staring at a trip to San Diego to face a tough Chargers team that was 6-1 and featured an explosive offense. That is when then-Jets coach Herm Edwards delivered his most famous message.
"This is what the greatest thing about sports is. You play to win the game. Hello? You play to win the game ," Edwards said in a press conference Oct. 30, 2002. "You don't play it to just play it. That's the great thing about sports: You play to win, and I don't care if you don't have any wins. You go play to win. When you start telling me it doesn't matter, then retire. Get out. 'Cause it matters."
The Jets were 2-5 that year and Edwards had fielded a question about whether he needed to speak to the team about giving up on the season. They beat the Chargers 44-13 that week and won seven of their final nine games to finish 9-7 and win the AFC East.
Maybe current Jets coach Rex Ryan needs to break out a tape of Edwards' famous rant. These Jets are at a similar crossroads at 1-3, having lost three straight games, and heading to the West Coast to face the 3-1 Chargers and their explosive offense.
Ryan said he is not worried about his team getting bogged down by the losing streak. In Ryan's six years as Jets coach, the team never has lost four games in a row.
"I understand the question, because in most cases I have been on some teams where it is a huge concern," Ryan said of allowing the negativity to fracture the team. "But, in my heart, I don't believe that is this team. This team wants to win. They are not focused on all that type of stuff like, 'Woe is me.' Getting them to practice hard, getting them to prepare to the utmost of their ability, that is not the issue here, that is not this team. We feel good about ourselves, we believe we are doing the right things, and we believe we are going to come through this."
Ryan did not break out any memorable motivational speeches Wednesday or give any quotes that are destined for a beer commercial. Players said his main message was to "stay the course."
That is kind of what Edwards was trying to say, too.
"That was spontaneous," Edwards, now an ESPN analyst, said in a phone interview Wednesday. "That was never intended to be one of those deals where I had sat and thought about it. The question was asked, were we going to pack it up? My mind-set was when you sign on to do something, you finish the job. We weren't going to cut our hours for coaches or players."
Edwards said he knew the 2002 team was good and that it just wasn't playing well. The 2014 Jets have said many of the same things.
"Going on that plane, I never thought we were not going to win that game," Edwards said. "I just knew it. I just had that feeling the way we practiced. Maybe what I said kind of galvanized everybody, kind of shocked everybody, the way I did it, and went off. The coaches said, 'Are you OK?' I said, 'I'm fine.' "
Edwards can relate to what Ryan is facing with his team. His advice to Ryan is not to change what he's doing.
"I thought what the players appreciated was that all through that my personality never changed," Edwards said. "What we did in practice, we did. I didn't all of a sudden start hollering and fussing at players. I just stayed who I was. They watched me go through all this and they thought, 'Coach has our back. He's not changing his personality.' I think when you do that, you gain the respect out of your players."
Edwards also faced a quarterback decision that season, making the change from Vinny Testaverde to Chad Pennington in Week 5, a move that turned the season around. Edwards said this time, though, he would not pull the plug on Geno Smith for Michael Vick.
"If you go to Vick, what basically you're saying is Geno is not your future," Edwards said. "That's why I think it's too early. You look at your division, and my goodness. If you win this game, you're 2-3 and you're going, 'Wait a minute.' To me, this division is a race to 10. Whoever gets to 10 wins the fastest, wins it. It might be a race to nine."
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