A Conversation with Bart Scott About What Is Next for the Jets (1/4)

empathize with our pain today. So where do we start, Bart? Uh, the Jets are embarking on one final game here in the regular season, when just a few weeks ago it sure looked like this team was headed for the playoffs for the first time. So that's two thousand ten. Yeah, and unfortunately that street continues, Uh, fifteen or twelve years, I believe, and you know, we're you know, it's not

even close. Um, And it's unfortunate because the future looks bright, but you know, the future was also now, and the opportunity to get to the season, to have an opportunity to get that type of necessary experience with a young

team and a young rostery ahead of schedule. You know, it all kind of feels a little bit bitter sweet now because you see the potential, but you know, you don't want to have to carry this for an entire year to kind of get that, you know, monkey off your back, you know, and and to walk around and it's just it's just one of those tough things that they're gonna have to grow from, learn from, and understand the consequences of not making it to the postseason. You

talk about turnover. You know, it's gonna be some unfortunate familiar faces on this roster that won't be here next year. And you know, really the future begins now, right. You look at all the scouts and now how important Bowl games become in the process, and it's a daunteam long road, you know, and worrying about how get guy's health. There's a lot to digest, and these guys gonna have to get away from it. Even the administrator is gonna have

to get away from it. Management is gonna have to get away from it and try and digest it and take a breath and say, Okay, it is what it is, and how do we move forward. So what do you point to in terms of a backbreaker? You're seven and four your Minnesota, you got a big deficit, you come back, looks like it's gonna be the fourth quarter magic Again, you're not able to convert in the red zone in that game one of six. We can go back to that sequence where it's second and goal from the one.

Jets aren't able to get it done. The following week their game in Buffalo, lose the turnover battle, but it's a one possession game. Is it, Detroit, though? Is it when you have that seventeen thirteen lead at the two minute warning, fourth and one, Golf gets his tight end wide open, fifty one yard touched on pass. What was the backbreaker? What changed? Because what has happened here the last two weeks has been really surprising for this team.

I think if you look at their body of work over the course of the season, but against Jacksonville, against Seattle, not really in those game tames at all well understanding how to finish, and this team don't understand how to finish. The mentality and the preparation when everybody else was fighting for their playoff lives and we're able to step up, they weren't able to answer the bell. And you know

that should be the mantra going into next year. You know, it's okay to start fast, but you have to finish and it's a lot of teams that caught the Jets because they finished strong, right, And you know, you can't just get out to fast, and that's usually the sign of a young, inexperienced team. They get out fast, but as the pressure builds up, they can't handle and answer the bell. And you know, you can ask a lot

of factors and consist at the quarterback position. You know, the defense seeming like they you know, didn't have the same pop. And you know, one of the uh strength of this team was the fact that they did rotate ten ten ten pass rushers and then when they were able to make sure that guys can stay fresh, but guys really wore down and you know, they became bad tacklers. And yesterday was an example of a team that it's more physical, right, and they struggled with that type of

back and those type of backs the entire year. Guys that you know were you know, not slightly built. That was kind of you know, bigg around the trunk, much like Science Sean Green. They struggle and being able to take those guys down. So they have to figure out, how do we become a better tackling team, How do we attack this type of back because Stevenson did the same thing to them, right, and then you think about

Jamal Williams, same type of deal. You gotta be able to figure out, you know, when the pads get you know, when you take the pads off as a defense and as a team, how do we still learn how to tackle and be professionals to make sure our fundamentals are together, because all of a sudden they became a bad tackling team, and all teams take off the pad usually after November because just about over Trich and you can't beat each

other up and had the physicality and practice. But when you're inexperience as a unit, those type of things and those bad habits happen. You know, sometimes you gotta put the pads back on just to know how to be physical, how to take down guys who are running for their lives. We expect you guys who play in between the white lines on Sundays to be superman like White taken off, you know, coming back to the lineup, re inserted as

a starter after taking those vicious shots in Buffalo. He did not look like himself against the Seahawks, did he not at all? Man? You talk about how many balls were inaccurate. How many balls were just coming up short. You know, you think about the one that mems, You think about the one to Garrett Wilson just not really having really touching rhythm. You know, not only was he rusty, I don't think he had the ability physically to be able to put the the torque on the football that

we had seen from him earlier in the year. And he won't make an excuse and talk about you know, the rails weren't ready. But as soon as you're clear from the doctors, if you're Mike White, you know you're playing for yourself and you're playing for your team, and this was an opportunity. Rarely do you know, players get multiple opportunities to kind of show what they can do in this league e spread sheet in those type of situations.

And I'm sure that you know, he probably won't admit it, but he wasn't ready, and you know, he didn't have enough time to get a rhythm. What's disappointed this fact that this team came off from many by they just couldn't figure out how to get her done. And you know, one of the recurring things from the last three opponents was heavy shifting motions, getting the defense. I have to move and shift and rotate and change strengths. And they just ran back to the open side. And it's that's tough.

You know, you look at the big run. You know they shift motion, get the defense, E over over, adjust and moved to the left and then they running back to the right and you know they make make it where you know, okay, we're gonna let one guy go and if that guy misses with our big backs, then you know, eight eight and out of the gate. And that's that's that's kind of what teams have been doing.

Jacksonville did the same thing. They ran man beaters and crossed people up, and you know, unfortunately the defense wasn't able to answer the belt. And they after go back to the drawing board and figure out how do we finish strong and put put together seventeen great performances. Man. Obviously White didn't look like himself. He was clear for contact, uh twenty three or forty six, was sacked four times. I can't even believe I'm asking this question. It's Monday morning,

but I'm gonna ask it again. Uh. Robert Salas said last week that White is going to be the starter for the remainder of the year. Now you go into a game against Miami that means everything for the Dolphins, where you know Sunday night you're going home and that's it. Do you stick with White here, uh this final game? Or do you give him a breather because he's not himself? No? I mean, I mean, I'm sure Mike White want to shot at it. Right, he wasn't hisself, but he should

be stronger next week. And you don't want to go back and put put Zack Wilson in that position. He needs a heavy reset and offseason, being able to put his head in the books, get stronger work on his craft, you know, so you you you stay with Mike White because also Mike White is auditioning for thirty two thirty two football teams including you, right, because he's going to be a free agent, and you give him an opportunity to not have that be the lasting image of himself.

You know, go out and try and put a good performance together, and you know, if you're the Jet, you can't finish five. You know, you just gotta go back and see what you can do. What's the message? What's the take away from watching a guy like Geno Smith have a career year with the Seahawks. Obviously he was very good, very efficient again on Sunday against the Jets. But if you're a young quarterback and you look at Geno Smith's career arc that started here with the Jets,

what's the takeaway? It ain't over towards over right, and opportunities are far in and few in between. And you know he had to wait. Just imagine he didn't he didn't answer the bell. He would say he had a lot of mature to do. He maybe wasn't ready for the moment. He wasn't ready for the market. And it lost some six years of his career to be able to get another opportunity. You know how rare is that?

And if you're if you're a quarterback, you know sometimes you know, you get that scarlet letter and they in the in the league defines who they believe you are. You never get an opportunity show otherwise, at least to ever be a starter again. You know, Geneo is a

unique story. I can't recall a story where a player didn't play a start somewhere and then takes itself to the Pro Bowl and potentially takes his team to the playoffs, but you know, late in his career, after not starting for six years, able to get potentially a hundred plus million dollar contract. I mean, outside of rich Gannon, I can't think of somebody who had a better redemption story. Someone who didn't play, you know, at a high level,

didn't really get opportunity. They went to the Raiders and took that team to the super Bowl. I think one m v P. It's a wild situation because Seattle, now, you figure, is gonna give him some sort of an extension because it looks like first round draft picks. Yeah, they have four picks in the first two rounds next year, and then in the first round from Denver as the top five pick exactly. So you're looking at that and you know they thought that first five that uh, that

number one pick was going to be a quarterback. But now you can say, Listen is young enough, we can go with Gino for the next three to four years.

Give him a four year deal, four year extension that locks him under you know contract, and you know, they really recouped a lot of that stuff that they got that they lost in the jamal Um Adams trade as well, which you know, Jamal Adams turned into Garrett Wilson and also turned into your A b T. That's right, what changed in Denver when A v T went out in Breece Hall. Now, looking back, the season is not over.

You got one game left. But this team started five and two, it started six and three, it started seven and four. Right now it is seven and nine heading into that final game. And since the buy bar, this offense has eight touchdowns. Wow, I mean the easy scores right, and you look at you know a couple of games where they were just run blitz and Darren the quarterbacks to make plays and whether it was Mike Wider or Zach Wilson and Joe Flacco, they just couldn't get it done.

And you know, A b T created so much balance. He was so valuable. His ability to be able to be whatever you needed him to be was vital to this team. And they also lost a lot of the athleticism being able to get you know, a guy who can pull get to the next level, cut off linebackers and and utilize it that way. I mean it would

be a Ciphers sore eyes. Hopefully Beckton can finally stay healthy and we can have a team, but they know that the strength was depth, and they lost that depth really quickly, and eventually they just couldn't overcome the lack of you know, fundamental starters or players would experience. Yeah, we wheels totally fell off an offensive line, right. It was a miraculous job John Benton was doing. For a while. It felt like no matter who came in a lineup,

they were gonna come in and they we're gonna play. Well. We go back to that Buffalo game when the Jets had that drive at the end to win it, where they just ran it down their throat and you're thinking, this can go on forever. But those guys are fresh, and then what happens is when you overextend backups. You know they don't have the experience, they don't have the dourability to continue to play at a high level. I

think Dwayne Brown started to break down. It was admirable what he was doing, but you asked way too much trouble. I mean, at this point, you you know you probably should have used something like Dallas Cowboys, use Jason Peters coming in, spilling guys out, playing on the pitch count.

You know this count got up too high and you asked way too much of him, especially going against the best athletes on every team you know at the left tackle position, and you're, like I said, you know you you you would expect their hope that you can have a time where Beckton can stay healthy for a whole season, a BT can stay healthy for a whole season, and you can have what you expected, you know, three Pro

Bowl caliber type of lineman. When you think about lengthen you think about, you know, a v T and you think about Beckton. That should be your bail cous and that's what you hope that you can get and be able to get good play from the other two positions. Win bet is bringing the excitement of wind Las Vegas to online sports betting and casino play. Get in on all your favorite teams, players, and sports, from boosted parlays to live in game odds on every major sport. They

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to participate. Please visit wind bet dot com to view welcome offers available in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New Or, Tennessee, and Virginia. Yeah, you know what I was thinking about watching Kenneth Walker on Sunday. Damn. It's a shame that the Jets don't have Breese Hall out here because it would have been fun to watch both of those backs on the same field. But for the Jets, it was not in the card. Sauce Gardner four p d s yesterday,

first time Pro Bowler. He is going to be the defensive rookie of the year. He should be in All Pro. Where does he rank in terms of cornerbacks right now? Just take away the rookies like throughout the National Football League? How good is this guy? I mean, I think he's definitely top five independent who you who you favor? You know,

it changes up and down. Um, But for me, the best corner in the league to me all year in my opinion, it's been um josr Alexander and I think he came in from last year as the number one guy, and you know, because their team wasn't winning a lot, I think he got overshadow. But you know, you know, you can make a case for Patrick Shortan who's a young guy as well, to make a case for Sauce. You can make a case for Tyreek when you know he made some outstanding plage yesterday too, dropped a couple

of picks. Um, he's his future as bright as well. You know Latimore came back. He's been that dude, he's been injured, big place Sleigh. You know, it's it's it's it's it's some time the guys out there that that's capable being on islands. You started your career in Baltimore, multiple playoff appearances there. Then he came here and you had oh nine and ten, so you weren't in this situation a ton. What what do you think it's gonna be like for these players in these coaches this week?

And how do you go about your business knowing what slipped through your fingers? But you still have a game against the division rival on tap. When you're young, you just you don't know, you're just excited to be playing football.

So like the young guys on the team are excited, the older guys they want to go out and they want to go out with a win because they know, you know, quite frankly, it can be their last opportunity to play on this team because decisions are going to be made, and clearly this team wasn't good enough to get to where they needed to go. So the consequences are they're gonna have to upgrade some positions and guys

gonna start looking at their cap numbers. And this is gonna be the first time for these young guys to see the consequences of falling short of your goal, Like falling short of your goal cost people their jobs, and you know, it's gonna be gods, that's gonna understand. They got high cap numbers. It's gonna be decisions are gonna be made. It's gonna be contracts that has to be

extended or added. And you think about Quinny Williams, think about c. J. Mosley, you know, but you know, tough decisions like you know, Dwayne Brown, tough decisions like Carl Last, and tough decisions like Corey Davis, right, And I think this is important for young guys to understand that you take advantage of every year because you just never know like who you're gonna lose, or when it's your time to to to maybe be a decision that was made

in a different light. Yeah, but to that point, and that's why I was mad if you weeks ago where people are saying, well, the Jets are had a schedule, but you just said it right there. Yeah, maybe people outside didn't expect them to be where they're at and the opportunity at hand, but they didn't have the opportunity at hand. And you never know what changes year to year. Yeah, I mean, you don't know if you're gonna be healthy

next year. You don't know if the other teams in your division are just gonna get that much better, right, You don't know what decision they're gonna make, and you could be a better team, but they can, you know, pass you. And then you find yourself in on that perpetual you know, treadmill where it's like, man, we're better, but man, we got a tough schedule this year. We lost some tough ones. That's why every year you gotta take advantage of but you just don't know if you're

gonna get the opportunity you have another chance. You laiter all out there, and these guys are laying on all out there. But when Mosley says after the Jacksonville game, and god, he's spent so good throughout the year, that we didn't match the intensity of the Jaguars, And then Tyler Conklin says after the Seattle game, which the Jets lose twenty three to six, that we were flat. As a former player, when you hear things like that, what

goes through your mind. Flats an excuse, right when you say flat, that's just that's another word for execution and them being able to You know, I thought that Seattle once again had a tremendous scheme. They blitzed early in the down once they realized and figured out, hey, man, Mike White ain't Mike White, and you know he ain't really been he's coming up short on these balls, he's missing. He's rusty, man. There's no need for us to sit

back and play coverage. Let's light them up. And so early in downs they run blitzed, much like the Lions did. The Lions run blitzed early and down to get you behind the sticks. And you know, the Jets didn't make enough place to make them respect. They didn't have enough balance. And I thought they were running the ball really good, but the defense came out and they gave up a touchdown first drive. And that's that's not the recipe for success.

But the Jets they're not built to put up a bunch of points, and they were putting up the field goals and not putting up touchdowns. They didn't answer, and when you don't answer, you know you have to you have to pay the consequences. And the consequences was that you walk away with not what you want. It hit the nail and I hide with this Jets defense. Right, Can you speak to that a little bit, because you know,

I think it processing everything. When you look at this system and the way Solo wants it built, it's to come after the quarterback and a lot of that is predicated on the lead. So if you don't have the lead, then you're not playing the strength of your system, obviously,

and they need some fat boys. Right when you look at you look at Seattle in the same system, right, you know that you would think they got the same philosophy I mean I saw you know read you know that you know, used to play with Willie used to be on the on the on the on the Stillers. It was about three sixty, right, you know number nineties seven, he was about three sixty. The Jets don't have a player like that. The only player they had that was close to that last year was Fatakazi, and it's a

it's a hole in the gap in their system. They need a big, massive man. They eat up double teams. So then now it's you know, it's five on five because then you can't double quinnin and double you know, big Fatty. Right when you look at Dexter Lawrence, you know, we don't have that type of player, and that's a gap in our system. We have to find us a three fifty plus pound massive man that can eat up

double team because this invito is important. When you only rush four, you can get away with it with penetration and stuff like that. When you have when you probably potentially have like a three four, when you're a four three team, you gotta have you a big anchor in there. It just always works that way because you have to have somebody to eat up gaps. Because even though Quinny Williams,

you know, should be an all protest here. He's not that massive Chris Jenkins, Helodi Nada, Casey Hampton, Ted Washington type of guy, and you need that type of guy if you're only gonna rush three. Yeah, you bet, you bet a big proponent of having a big fatty for a long time. That's nothing new coming out of your mouth. But it is interesting that heading into the season, if you had a question mark about the Jets defense, it would be about the rush defense, and they held up

very well. But your point about the tackling, you've seen some of that road here down the stretch, right, Yeah, because you think about it that they're just double team and getting movement. You know, you love Solomon Thomas and his effort, but he's just not a big man. So if you can get movement up there, then it makes it more difficult. And listen, everybody, whether they admit it or the on the injury report or not, are beat up and hurt, and it's just it's just a matter

of physics. You know, the bigger man, stronger man, the guy that's that's fresher usually is able to win those matchups. When you get to these late games. I mean, hell, how can you explain in Carolina how they running downhill? No, I mean because they got big, powerful outfit, and you when you run downhill, you know right now, guys just aren't equipped to hold up physically. Everybody's put together with

duct tape and glue right now. Yeah, I'll never forget what your training room looked like downstairs heading into that FC Championship game against Pittsburgh. I don't remember what the injury report was, but I mean it was something else like it looked like an infirmary. Guys walking out of the training room at that point of the season. Yeah, man, and you're just hoping that you've got enough. You just

hope that you're not injured. You're you're less injured than your opponents, that's all you It's like one of those things. You just want to be fresher than your opponent and you do all your best, but sometimes it's unfortunate. Okay, so we got to add in a second, but can can the Jets You said this could be a lesson for them that they could take moving forward. Can they really take something from these games? Or you look at more like the Buffalo the Minnesota game, where these couple

games is. It's like he didn't have much. You just saw that, you know, Seattle On Jacksonville took it to you for sixty minutes. Good good team. Good teams find a way to win, to finish. And as these younger players mature into their body and learn how to be a professional, they'll learn how to build their body to be successful and to stay fresh. And that's that's that's important too, right, being able to know how you invest

in your body. What's your routine is going to have to be, how do you stay strong throughout the season. How much cardio do you do? How much extra lifting do you do? How much cardio mean, how much chiropractor? Uh? Personal mussus. That's all investments that come out of your pocket, that's away from the facility. You know. You you hear about the great athletes like Lebron James and how much money he invested in his body throughout his career, Chris Paul,

even Russell Wilson. It's about how much money you how important it is to you, and you find it out what makes you stay healthy and play at a high level for all seventeen. If you're solid this week, do you take a long look at some of those young guys that and I don't have the roster in front of me. I don't have anybody top of mind right now. But Dan, you saw guys like that everything out there. Um'm so yeah, yeah. I mean, you get my opportunities to play, but I mean I think you also want

a chance to maybe not Miami out. If I can't go, you can't and go either, especially with the comments of Tyreek Hill early in the process when he made made made light of oh who the Jets, you know, like, okay, yeah, we you know you ain't going either. If I can't go, you can't go. Take that with you, Yeah. Is that something they talk amongst themselves in the locker room that we want to be spoiler. We don't want the Dolphins

go if I can't go. I'll be damned if somebody within my division is about to have have a good time and they have extra game and get that type of experience. What if you're solid, what do you say to them this week early in the week, once you get back here onesday, let's finished from because no matter what, everybody's not gonna be here, So put your best effort out there. So that you can play for somewhere else because people see how you finish when there's nothing to

play for. And we're gonna get to the quarterback bit once we break down the season next week. But man, it's been something else for the Jets of the quarterback position this year. Yeah. I mean you look, you look at like a team like the Giants and what they've been able to do, but they've had consistency at the orterback position. So I mean, it's so different for everybody. This guy five step drop is different, this guy ball

is different, this guy Caten's and rhythm is different. You know, the one place where you gotta have consistency at and gotta have you know, you know the same person is the quarterback position. Yeah. Um, who are you liking the FC right now? And who you like in NFC? I like the Bengals right now. Uh so you got them winning, You got them winning tonight at home, I do, which could be bad news because then whether I think they hate the Patriots enough that they wouldn't just lay aid

for the Patriots either, you know what I mean? If they lost, I think they wouldn't want to go. Um, I'm trying to think you wouldn't would probably still be playing for a two or three seed exactly because they wouldn't want to be far behind Cincinnati. And it was the same regular Cincinnati. Even though Cincinnati has a game

with Baltimore. If Cincinnati loses today, then it gets flex and then they're gonna be playing the Baltimore Ravens for the division where it seemed like they had the division wrapped up. Okay, so Cincinnati, f C, NFC, you got Frisco, Yeah, I got Frisco. Yeah, absolutely, Okay, And when they play football and give me a dark horse emerging, are the Chargers are dark horse? No? I just don't think defensively they do enough. I do like them on the offensive

side of the ball. Both are coming back, YO makes them better? They can't they don't stop the run. I just their team that I think can surprise somebody in a wild card. But I think eventually they have a silly So you still you still see Cincinnati, Kansas City, maybe maybe Buffalo. Those three are gonna duke it out, and you just you just never know. Like a team that can upset some people are the Ravens. If Lamar

Jackson comes back just because he can be special. And if you watch the TCU game, you see that a mobile quarterback can kind of mess up everything. You do everything right in and mobile quarterback and make you pay like no no other position in the league. Uh speaking of TCU, Uh, puncher's chance against Georgia or you expect them to win that game? I mean Georgia, Eskate. It's like, if Marvin Harris Jr. Doesn't get hurt, that's a totally

different situation. I know that's a big if, but you know, somebody taking a personal file shot on somebody not getting injected your helmet. The helmet, yo, shouldn't have cost the Ohio State Buckeyes to national championship. But that's the football and it worked out in Georgia's favor. But it definitely would have been not the same outcome if if Marvin Harrison Junior hadn't got injured. Yeah, he's gonna be a freak on the next level. Well all right, brother, what's

this week looking for you? Looking like for you? Well? Getting back on the bike, man, I was gonna go back to the local with the with the radio station and back to TV. Man. Unfortunately I won't be talking about the Jets. You know much. I'm sure we'll talk about them, but we won't be talking about them in the postseason, so you know, it's always tough that way. Alright, buddy, See next week. Yeah, I'm gonna crying the car h