LONDON — After Sunday’s 23-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, the Jets enter Week 6’s Monday Night Football game against the Buffalo Bills with a below-.500 record. The 2-3 mark has everyone searching for answers. For the Jets’ young stars, like Garrett Wilson, the equation is very simple.
“We need a win,” Wilson said.
Much has been made of Wilson’s early-season attempts to get on the same page with Aaron Rodgers. And while there were more issues in Week 5, the pair did have its most productive game of the season. Wilson ended up with 13 catches for 101 yards and a touchdown. However, while Wilson knows how important this is, it’s not the most important thing.
“At the end of the day, it ain’t about me and him being on the same page — we gotta win games,” he said. “Do I think I can help us win? Yes. Do I think I need the ball to help us win? Yes.”
However, he added that the team’s goal is to do whatever it takes to get the win.
Running back Breece Hall had a similar mindset, despite a second-straight game where he was unable to get anything going on the ground.
“At the end of the day I just want to win,” said Hall, who now has just 27 rushing yards on 19 carries over the past two games. Despite his low production, Hall knows where his main priorities lie.
“If you don’t run for 100 yards, people will think you suck or whatever, but it is what it is,” he said. “We almost had a chance to win a game.”
Hall said that he understood why the team went away from the run, because “if you get down by 17, you don’t have much choice.”
However, he noted that he still has a role to play when they throw the ball and that he takes pride in keeping Rodgers upright and healthy. Rather than get frustrated with his role or production, Hall says. “I just come out and try to be the same guy every day and just do my job.”
Wilson echoed those sentiments when asked how he and Rodgers will work towards a more consistent output.
“We’ve just got to keep playing, keep going about our practices the right way and find a way to win,” Wilson said.
Rodgers said in his postgame news conference that he still believes the Jets are “a team that’s going to make a run,” and he’s “confident we’ll get this thing straightened out.” One thing that could serve the Jets well is the resolve that saw them battle back from down 17, with the game ultimately going down to the wire.
“We’re not gonna quit, that’s mandatory on this club,” Wilson said. “There’s no excuse to quit. If we were to have fold to them when we were down 17 to nothing, some of us wouldn’t belong here.”
“Just knowing that that’s our mentality, that we’ve got that never-die mentality, that’s one good thing,” Hall added. “At the end of the day, you know, we still lost. So, it is what it is.”
Wilson once again echoed his teammate’s thoughts, as he said, “We’re not going to take any moral victories here. We’ve got to show up and win a game.”
As the Jets look to get on the same page going forward, Hall and Wilson certainly are in terms of their collective mindset that New York must start finding ways to win. If the Jets can maintain a healthy mindset, hard work and the determination to keep fighting, then perhaps Rodgers is right — and the team is primed to make a run soon.
