If you had listened to Joe Flacco over the summer and into September, you knew something special was coming for the Jets.
The veteran quarterback repeatedly spoke of how talented the team was and how the young players just needed to gain some confidence by doing it on Sundays to start realizing how good they can be.
After a four-game winning streak, does Flacco think everyone sees what he did?
“We’re there,” Flacco said. “Guys truly believe we’re a good team. I think you can see that over the last couple of weeks. We’ve found ways to win games as opposed to finding ways to beat ourselves. We’ve kind of grown to the point where we’re allowing other teams to do that. You can see the confidence.”
Flacco said he could see the talent on the team in the spring and summer, but he knew the Jets were young. Now, he thinks that youth may have helped with their rapid rise.
“I think some of the young guys in certain ways kind of help that because they haven’t been around here the last couple of years,” Flacco said. “I think you can kind of feel when you have some talent and have a good team that if you put it together, you can be pretty good. I think I’ve been around enough teams to feel that we were getting better. It was just a matter of actually going out there and doing it. You don’t want to talk about it too much until you actually go out there and do it.”
After starting the first three games, Flacco has been on the bench watching second-year quarterback Zach Wilson. The Jets recently have relied on their defense and running game to win. Wilson has not thrown a touchdown pass in the past three games and has barely topped 100 yards passing in each of the past two weeks. Flacco said it can be tough to be the quarterback and not throw 40 passes a game.
“There’s definitely tough things about it,” Flacco said. “You want to be able to show what you can do, too. You have to always manage those things, when you’re losing for sure. But when you’re winning you have to remind yourself this is a team sport and that’s all it’s about is winning the game. You can do a lot of good things within what he’s doing. It’s not to say you’re not contributing. It’s NFL football. This is what you do to contribute.”
Flacco said the toughest part is when you throw just 20 times a game. It is hard to find a rhythm, and if you have to make three or four throws in critical moments, those moments get magnified. But he believes this will be good for Wilson’s growth as a quarterback.
The Jets made an interesting roster move on Saturday. They elevated QB Chris Streveler from the practice squad for the game Sunday.
Streveler was the star of the preseason, but has been on the practice squad all year. You wonder if the Jets will use Streveler in some kind of special package on offense against the Patriots. He also played on special teams in training camp. The Jets also elevated OL Conor McDermott from the practice squad.