Jets back to face Packers
For those who enjoyed less noise and trash talk than usual in the NFL last weekend, forget about it. The New York Jets are back. Coming off a bye with a five-game winning string and tied for the best record in the league, the Jets have every right to brag. While they praise Sunday’s opponent at the Meadowlands, the Packers, there’s been no drop-off in confidence among the Jets since they were away.
Asked about defending the run against a pass-heavy team such as Green Bay, which ranks eighth through the air but 20th on the ground and is without starting running back Ryan Grant, Jets coach Rex Ryan’s eyes lit up.
“We’ll allow you to run it. If that’s what you want to do, go for it,” Ryan says. “If you think you can beat us that way, I’m all for it.”
Naturally: New York ranks seventh against the run, and even that isn’t so accurate, Ryan claims.
“We gave up a couple big runs to their quarterback,” he says of the Jets’ win over Denver before their bye, “which I think is a little bit misleading when you look at it statistically. That’s fine. We’ll take the same game plan. Let them run it. That doesn’t bother us one bit.”
Not much seems to bother the Jets, who won against the Broncos despite their sloppiest game of the season, one in which Mark Sanchez threw his first two interceptions of the year.
“Especially this last game, I was just getting away from some of the fundamentals, holding the ball in one hand, getting my feet set,” Sanchez says. “I was pleased with the way we rallied and won the game, but just ball security issues last game, because up to that point I was doing pretty well. You get right back on track and this is a good week to start.”
The Packers, 4-3 and tied for the NFC North lead with Chicago, hope they got started on a long run of success by beating Brett Favre and the archrival Vikings last weekend. QB Aaron Rodgers expects it, starting with himself.
“I’m always confident as far as doing fine,” Rodgers says. “Obviously, I’d like to play a little bit better as we move into the second half of the season here. Last week was a big win for us. We did some better things on offense. Obviously, we’re still not exactly where we want to be yet. … I just think that there is a sense of urgency personally. I need to start to play a little bit better.”