Calm down. Chill out. Put away the crystal balls, pay attention and focus on what’s right in front of you.
This was the essence of the message Jet coach Herman Edwards delivered yesterday as marching orders to his 3-0 team.
The premature hysteria of a potential showdown of the undefeated Jets and Patriots on Oct. 24 in Foxboro already is well within people’s radar.
After all, the Jets next play Sunday at Giants Stadium against the 0-3 Bills. Their following game is another one at home against the 0-4 49ers.
Edwards is well aware of that kind of vibe, and he was quick to put an end to it yesterday – at least in the minds of his players.
“We’ve got Buffalo this week,” Edwards said. “Don’t waste your time asking [the players] questions about other teams. They’ve been told. We’re going to play Buffalo this week. Here I go again. I said this last week [before the Jets beat the Dolphins]. I’m telling you, it will be a dogfight. We know what’s coming around the corner. These guys play excellent defense, they really do.”
Edwards’ words didn’t fall on deaf ears. Most important, his leaders will pass his words onto the younger players who might think that 3-0 is supposed to happen every year.
That, of course, has hardly been the case with the Jets, who are 3-0 for only the third time in franchise history.
“The usual pattern around here is we dig ourselves a hole to dig out of,” Curtis Martin, the heartbeat of the Jets’ locker room, said yesterday. “This year, we’ve dug a foundation instead of a hole.”
That foundation has been based on a singular focus.
That’s why any talk of a Jet-Patriot showdown – as tantalizing as it is to get charged up about – will only prove to be counterproductive.
“We’re not good enough to start marking wins down on the schedule,” quarterback Chad Pennington said.
“In this league, you can’t do that. You’re a fool if you start doing that. You have to take them one game at a time. If you can learn from one team in the league it’s the Patriots. That’s how they do things. We’ve only won three in a row. They’ve won 18 in a row, so we haven’t done much.”
The message seemed to have permeated the locker room.
“We can’t think about the New England week,” defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson said. “It’s going to be a great game. I can’t wait for it. But if we start looking forward to that and overlook everyone else we’ll be in trouble.
“We’ve got to play the game we’ve got to play the week we got to play them. We’ll play the Patriots when we got to play them. We’re not looking forward. Buffalo is on our schedule this week and that’s who we play this week.”
Running back LaMont Jordan has already heard the breathless talk about a Jet-Patriot grudge match from forces outside the locker room.
“Everybody wants to talk about the possibility of being 5-0 and playing New England,” Jordan said. “But the reality of being 5-0 when we play New England is that we have to go through Buffalo and San Francisco first. The coaching staff has done a good job making sure we stay focused and keep it week to week.”
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Next!
Sunday – Bills at Jets
4:15 – CBS; WABC (770 AM) and ESPN radio (1050 AM)
Line: Jets -7