Seeking Answers, Relying on Character

09/23 ? There were mea culpas aplenty in the Jets' cozy locker room beneath the Qualcomm Stadium stands Monday night after the 48-29 defeat suffered at the hands of the rejuvenated Chargers.

There was also a lot of talk about the character contained in that room.

No better vignette captured both those perspectives than what happened in the middle of Jerricho Cotchery's quiet interview with a handful of reporters.

QB Brett Favre had just taken the podium in Media Room 1 at "the Q." Favre was asked, among other things, about his overthrow of Cotchery that produced safety Eric Weddle's interception with 9:07 left in the half, which led to the Chargers' fourth touchdown of the half.

"I thought J-Co was actually going to run up the boundary," Favre said. "That falls on me. I'm not saying it's J-Co's fault. It's just a bad play on my part."

Cotchery was telling a different story.

"It was just a misread on my part," he said, adding about the offense that moved in fits and starts all night, "I felt like we kind of turned a corner as an offense a little bit. Favre is getting into the groove and into a good flow throughout the game."

At that point, a hand came into the small group and sought out Jerricho's hand for a show of solidarity, camaraderie ? a shake. The shaking hand belonged to none other than Favre.

This story won't convince everybody on the outside that the Jets turned any corner on Monday Night Football. The first three turnovers, in the first half, led to three of the Chargers' TDs and their AFL-style (Arena Football League or American Football League, take your pick) 31-14 lead, or the 357 yards the Jets defense allowed (most of it after NT Kris Jenkins exited with a back injury in the first half) or San Diego's 9-for-16 third-down conversion rate or ...

But the Jets don't care. They know who they and their teammates are, and they know what they've got to do.

"The guys didn't give up. We were still trying to score points," said RB Thomas Jones, who said he thought he was down when the ball was ripped out of his grasp for a lost fumble in the first quarter that started the turnover shortfall. "We have a lot of character on this team. Unfortunately, it didn't get us the win."

"It did surprise me," tackle Damien Woody said about the solid defeat. "But it is what it is. There's no use crying over spilled milk. We've just got to get better. We are what our record is, but we're a better team than what's going on out there on the field."

Head coach Eric Mangini included himself in the group of Jets who struggled this night.

"You can't have the turnovers that go for touchdowns or field position," Mangini said. "Giving up long plays on defense, not getting off the field on third down ... we can't do that and expect to win games, especially to win games on the road.

"We all made mistakes. I made mistakes. It was my decision to call for the onsides kick [that San Diego recovered and converted into a TD and a 24-14 lead]. It felt like a good one. It didn't work out.

"Self-inflicted wounds. That's the best term to describe it."

Those are the wounds that sting, that prevent players from savoring the good moments in a long game: Leon Washington's career-high 217 all-purpose yards (198 of them on kickoff returns, including longs of 94 and 45 yards), Chansi Stuckey's third TD catch in three games, rookie Dustin Keller's first TD of his young pro career, Cotchery's career-high 10 receptions, David Barrett's first start as an NFL safety and his interception-return TD 3:33 into the game.

But again I digress. The Jets know the rules of the game. They didn't just fall off the equipment truck. No one will be getting on their bandwagon until they show they can turn it around in time to overcome their 1-2 start with the losses coming against two of the teams they want to compete with this season.

"We can bounce back from this or we can self-destruct," said LB David Bowens. "But with the character on this team, that's not going to happen. Something positive is going to come out of this."

http://www.newyorkjets.com/blog/posts/703-seeking-answers-relying-on-character

 

plus no one gets arrested like the Bengals players, and no one is going to pull a shockey or Barber on this team and feed the NY media.