Eric Decker isn’t in Denver anymore.
The Jets’ biggest free-agent acquisition has had a painful season due to a hamstring injury and the team’s pathetic quarterback situation. And his wife — country crooner Jessie James Decker — said it’s taking a toll on the receiver.
“It’s been a really hard season,” James Decker said in an interview on WPLJ, first obtained by TMZ.
“He’s been, I don’t want to say depressed, but he’s been depressed. He has been. It’s been really hard and my heart breaks for him. He loves football more than anything. He’s obsessed with football. This is his life and he loves it so much and it’s hard for him. He’s so talented and so good at what he does and he’s not really able to show his ability right now and he has a lot of doubters and that hurts him.”
James Decker’s comments were taped before the Jets’ latest loss, 16-13 to the Dolphins on Monday night, when quarterback Geno Smith attempted just 13 passes. Decker caught two of those for 18 yards, putting his season total at 49-531 with four touchdowns.
James Decker said Decker is in a foul mood when he gets home from the 2-10 Jets’ defeats.
“He comes home, he wants his alone time: ‘Don’t talk to me.’ It’s rough,” she said.
Decker was told of his wife’s comments after the loss.
“That’s obviously dramatized, but yeah, it’s hard,” Decker said. “I will say that going home is a little tougher and I’ve got to do a better job balancing those things, but I’m a competitor — I want to win. I came here to win.”
James Decker has already had a run-in with Jets fans in the couple’s first season in New York. She called them “haters” on Twitter after Eric tried a giveaway on Twitter that backfired. Jets fans attacked James Decker on Twitter, forcing her to briefly delete her account.
Decker, who signed a five-year, $36.25 million deal in the offseason, is only worried about turning around the Jets’ abysmal season.
“For me, I’ve got to get better at what I do,” he said. “That’s all I can control. I’m going to try to be the best teammate that I can be and the best receiver I can be. And if you’re OK with losing and you go home and you’re fine with losing, there’s something wrong inside of you. This game you only get so many years to play and I would enjoy getting another shot of making a run and having that success. I’m not saying we’re not far off at all; we’ve just got to execute better.”
...fact is, I've been depressed with this for 26 years, minus some good times