It's been eight months since Jets HC Robert Saleh has experienced a regular-season game.The last time he was donning scarlet and gold as a defensive coordinator. Now in green and white, he's gearing up for his first game as an NFL head coach.
"As we get closer, just like being a position coach and a coordinator, my blood starts flowing a little bit faster, which is natural," Saleh told reporters on Monday. "Right now, it's all about the players and giving them every opportunity and all the focus is on them to help them make plays on Sunday, that's most important.
"I really don't think about what it means for me or anything. Everything is about them because at the end of the day, they're the ones that are putting on the uniforms, they're the ones inside the white lines, they're the ones that have to execute at a very high level. It's our job to make sure they're given every opportunity to do that. Not to underscore the question, I'm sure I'll be amped as all heck on Sunday. But right now there's calm and preparation that has to take place."
With an extra week between the final preseason game and the start of the regular season, Saleh said the coaches' focus didn't extend past the Panthers in Week 1. The Jets are obviously familiar with Panthers QB Sam Darnold and have a good sense of Carolina's system because the coaches – HC Matt Rhule, OC Joe Brady and DC Phil Snow all remained from last season – but Saleh is expecting wrinkles in Year 2.
"There's going to be a lot of new things that show up," he said. "Lot of respect for Joe Brady and his ability to create different types of schemes and different issue plays. Same thing from the defensive side of the ball, coming from [Baylor], that college system a year ago and what they've been able to evolve. They got better as the year went on. They're extremely fast on defense. So, it's a challenge just because there's going to be wrinkles that nobody knows about, those unscouted looks. We just have to play good, sound, disciplined football and do the best we can to defend it and attack it."
"As we get closer, just like being a position coach and a coordinator, my blood starts flowing a little bit faster, which is natural," Saleh told reporters on Monday. "Right now, it's all about the players and giving them every opportunity and all the focus is on them to help them make plays on Sunday, that's most important.
"I really don't think about what it means for me or anything. Everything is about them because at the end of the day, they're the ones that are putting on the uniforms, they're the ones inside the white lines, they're the ones that have to execute at a very high level. It's our job to make sure they're given every opportunity to do that. Not to underscore the question, I'm sure I'll be amped as all heck on Sunday. But right now there's calm and preparation that has to take place."
With an extra week between the final preseason game and the start of the regular season, Saleh said the coaches' focus didn't extend past the Panthers in Week 1. The Jets are obviously familiar with Panthers QB Sam Darnold and have a good sense of Carolina's system because the coaches – HC Matt Rhule, OC Joe Brady and DC Phil Snow all remained from last season – but Saleh is expecting wrinkles in Year 2.
"There's going to be a lot of new things that show up," he said. "Lot of respect for Joe Brady and his ability to create different types of schemes and different issue plays. Same thing from the defensive side of the ball, coming from [Baylor], that college system a year ago and what they've been able to evolve. They got better as the year went on. They're extremely fast on defense. So, it's a challenge just because there's going to be wrinkles that nobody knows about, those unscouted looks. We just have to play good, sound, disciplined football and do the best we can to defend it and attack it."
Jets HC Robert Saleh: 'I’ll Be Amped as All Heck on Sunday'
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