The Jets are three months away from the start of an unprecedented 2021 NFL season. For the first time in franchise history, they have a first-year coach, a rookie starting quarterback and a young roster. The roster characterization is subjective, but a quick review of seasons past confirms there has never been a season quite like the one on the horizon.
The Jets had two out of three in 2009, with coach Rex Ryan and quarterback Mark Sanchez as newbies, but that was a veteran team that made the playoffs after narrowly missing out in 2008. They came close to the trifecta in 1977, with coach Walt Michaels in charge of a youth movement, but quarterback Richard Todd had started six games the previous season as a rookie.
So buckle up, folks. This is going to be a wild ride -- and Robert Saleh is all for it.
"Pete Carroll once said, 'You can't be afraid to play young guys,'" the Jets' coach said, quoting one of his mentors. "They're hell on wheels and they're fun to watch."
The Jets should have at least a half dozen rookies in prominent roles, led by quarterback Zach Wilson. Currently, they have four players in the 30-and-up club, which makes them one of the youngest teams in the league. They have a handful of players who were in diapers when Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady broke into the league in 2000, which should make for some fun "age" jokes for the Week 17 matchup.
Saleh knows what's ahead: There will be growing pains, even for the coach, but he relishes the opportunity. The challenge for the coaching staff is to get the young players thinking and playing like veterans. When that happens, "You become an explosive team in a hurry," he said.
"But to get to that point takes some trials and tribulations, some bumps in the road and some headaches. You can't, as a football coach, be afraid to go through those bumps because there's light at the end of the tunnel. It might be a freight train or actual light, but it doesn't matter. We're going through that tunnel and you just got to go."
For their sake, you hope it's not the Lincoln Tunnel at rush hour.
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The Jets had two out of three in 2009, with coach Rex Ryan and quarterback Mark Sanchez as newbies, but that was a veteran team that made the playoffs after narrowly missing out in 2008. They came close to the trifecta in 1977, with coach Walt Michaels in charge of a youth movement, but quarterback Richard Todd had started six games the previous season as a rookie.
So buckle up, folks. This is going to be a wild ride -- and Robert Saleh is all for it.
"Pete Carroll once said, 'You can't be afraid to play young guys,'" the Jets' coach said, quoting one of his mentors. "They're hell on wheels and they're fun to watch."
The Jets should have at least a half dozen rookies in prominent roles, led by quarterback Zach Wilson. Currently, they have four players in the 30-and-up club, which makes them one of the youngest teams in the league. They have a handful of players who were in diapers when Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady broke into the league in 2000, which should make for some fun "age" jokes for the Week 17 matchup.
Saleh knows what's ahead: There will be growing pains, even for the coach, but he relishes the opportunity. The challenge for the coaching staff is to get the young players thinking and playing like veterans. When that happens, "You become an explosive team in a hurry," he said.
"But to get to that point takes some trials and tribulations, some bumps in the road and some headaches. You can't, as a football coach, be afraid to go through those bumps because there's light at the end of the tunnel. It might be a freight train or actual light, but it doesn't matter. We're going through that tunnel and you just got to go."
For their sake, you hope it's not the Lincoln Tunnel at rush hour.
Call them Gang Green: New York Jets prepare for a season like no other
A first-year coach, a rookie starting QB and a young roster. Robert Saleh says: "You can't, as a football coach, be afraid to go through those bumps."
lol