New York Post - 06.08.2019

New York Post, Tuesday, August 6, 2019

nypost.com

I

F YOU peeled the paint in the

meeting rooms at the Jets’ training

center, you could trace all of the re-

cent attempts by Jets coaches to es-

tablish an identity and culture for the

team.

When you peeled back the first

layer, you would find Todd Bowles’

slogan of “One Team, One Goal.”

Keep digging a little and there

would be “Play Like A Jet,” from the

Rex Ryan era.

Now, you’re almost down to the

Sheetrock.

But first, you’d find Eric Mangini’s

old “Core Jets Values — Trust, Com-

munication, Focus, Finish” that was

painted when the Jets first moved to

Florham Park in 2008.

Each of those sayings and slogans

sounded good at the time, but all of

them ended up being hollow words

in the end.

That is the challenge facing Adam

Gase as he takes over the Jets. This

has been a franchise without a true

identity for too long. The 41-year-old

coach must find a way to do what his

predecessors did not — establish a

winning culture.

Gase is coming here without any

catchy phrases.

Instead, Gase is counting on the

coaching staff he put together and

some veteran players to teach a team

that has experienced mostly losing

how to win.

Most of the holdovers from the

Bowles era have only known losing.

The team went 14-34 over the past

three years. There are only six play-

ers left from the 2015 team that went

10-6. No one on the Jets roster has

ever played in a playoff game with

the team, the playoff drought sitting

at eight seasons.

Gase had to import some experi-

enced winners.

“It started with a lot of the guys we

brought in in free

agency,” Gase said.

“I think that is a

big thing. There

are some good ex-

amples. C.J. [Mos-

ley], Le’Veon

[Bell] has been to

the playoffs every

year except one, I

think. There’s playoff experience

that came through free agency.”

The Jets gave Mosley a five-year,

$85 million contract partially be-

cause he is a great linebacker. But the

other part is they hope he can bring a

little bit of the Ravens with him

north to New Jersey. Teams like the

Ravens, the Steelers and the Patriots

have expectations and standards that

are passed on from veterans to

young players. There is an under-

standing of what it takes to play for

those teams.

The Jets?

They seem to

change identities

every two years.

Mosley got to

learn from Terrell

Suggs in Balti-

more, who

learned from Ed

Reed, who learned from Ray Lewis.

“It starts before you step on the

field,” Mosley said. “When you say

building a winning culture, you have

to talk about it, you have to express it

and you definitely have to believe it.”

Mosley said when the defense

gathered for the first time in April to

begin the spring program, defensive

coordinator Gregg Williams did not

install any plays for the first three

days.

“Coach Williams only talked about

our culture, our mindset and how we

were going to have an attitude step-

ping onto the field,” Mosley said. “I

think as far as a defensive standpoint

that got us going from the begin-

ning.”

Leonard Williams has never seen a

playoff game as a Jet but he was here

for the 10-6 season as a rookie in

2015. Since then, he has lived through
      the misery of the last three seasons.
      “I’m definitely sick of losing,” Wil-
      liams said. “I had success my first
      year here and I thought things were
      going to turn around. We’ve been
      losing a lot since then. I try not to
      harp on the past, but at the same
      time I’ve been on talented teams be-
      fore that didn’t have much success.
      The thing I love about this team right
      now is we have a lot of talent, but
      there’s a lot of unity and competi-
      tion. It feels like we’re a team right
      now.”
      Ultimately, the only way to truly
      have a winning culture is to win
      games. That is the challenge. But be-
      fore the Jets take the field, Gase can
      lay the groundwork. Gase said he
      senses these players are ready to
      win.
      “You can tell by the way they work
      that whatever’s been going on,
      they’re done with that,” Gase said.
      “They want a different experience.”
      That should be more powerful
      than any other words he could paint
      on the walls.
      [email protected]

KICK IT UPA

NOTCH

KickerChandler

Catanzarohas hada

rough training camp,

but he hada solidday

Monday, hitting5-of-6

field-goalattempts. His

onlymisswas from 42

yards and went off the

upright. Hislongestof

the day was from 53.

‘O’ NO!

The offense looked really

lethargic. Maybe itwas

the day off. Maybe itwas

GreggWilliams’ defense.

QBSamDarnoldstruggled,

going 6-for-14 in team

drills with an interception,

his secondof camp.

CAUGHT MY EYE

Undraftedrookie

CBKyronBrownhas

climbed the depth chart.

Brown is working with

the secondteam and

got somefirst-teamre ps

whenTrumaineJohnson

was out last week.

Brown, who played at

Akron, is a sleeper to

make the roster.

MEDICAL REPORT

DLLeonardWilliams

was heldout of practice

with hip“irritation,”

according tocoach

AdamGase....LTKelvin

Beachum(ankle)

returned to practice

after missing Saturday.

— BrianCostello

TRAINING

DAY

By ZACH BRAZILLER

Jordan Jenkins’ best season as a

Jet opened his eyes. Not for what

he accomplished. But what he

could do if he really dedicated

himself.

“It’s the [adage], you get what

you put in,” the outside linebacker

said. “If you want to be a pro, [act

like] a pro.”

That meant getting in the best

possible condition of his life. It

meant eating better, lowering his

body fat to 9 percent, and then

seeing what he could really do. He

began getting meals prepared by a

personal chef, completely chang-

ing his diet.

“To me, I want to go as far as I can

take it,” said the 6-foot-3, 259-pound

Jenkins, who posted a personal best

seven sacks a year ago, along with

two forced fumbles, two fumble re-

coveries, 35 tackles, 15 quarterback

hits and six tackles for loss.

“There’s a lot of guys who I played

with throughout my entire lifetime,

whether it be in high school, col-

lege or even now. A lot of guys that

didn’t make it to this level and I’ve

been honored to make it to this

level. I’d be a fool if I didn’t try to

take it as far as I can go and put in

as much work as I can.”

As the Jets enter this season

with heightened expectations,

Jenkins is a key to their pass rush

from the edge. The hope is he can

build off last season and be even

more of a factor under new defen-

sive coordinator Gregg Williams.

Jenkins, a fourth-year pro from

Georgia, wouldn’t say how he

will be used differently in Wil-

liams’ variety of blitz-happy, ag-

gressive packages. There will be

similarities and differences. But

the 25-year-old said he can’t wait

to see what playing for Williams

can do for his career.

“I love the guy. He’s intense.

He’s loud. He’s an aggressive guy.

He’s a take-no-s--t type of guy,”

Jenkins said. “He says what guys

need to hear. He’s not going to su-

garcoat you. He’s not going to

baby you and he’s not going to

belittle you. He’s going to treat

you like a man and you have

to respond like a man.

“He can draw the

best out of me in my

mind. He’s a coach

that’s not going to let

me slack off. He’s the

type of coach who will

push you. Gregg brings

the aggression out in guys.”

Jenkins seems to be ready for

it — just look at his offseason.

[email protected]

Jets LB Jenkins dedicated to building off career year

Brian Costello

More Jets / Page 37