FLORHAM PARK — Darrelle Revis has been around the block a few times during his nine NFL seasons. Good teams, bad teams, championship teams. You name it, and the Jets' star cornerback has been a part of it.
And it's those experiences that have Revis believing the Jets can contend for a Super Bowl in 2016.
"Yeah," Revis told NJ Advance Media on Sunday. "We've got a lot of talent. We feel very confident with our team overall. The offense is booming, we've added some extra pieces, we've got Ryan [Fitzpatrick] back. We're very confident in what we have."
For playoff-deprived teams (the Jets last made it in 2010), just qualifying for the postseason is normally enough. But the Jets have higher expectations. Way, way higher. See, they tasted the playoffs in 2015, but never got the entree.
Against the Buffalo Bills in Week 17, the Jets blew a shot to make the playoffs. If they won, they would have qualified. Instead, they lost, 22-17, and were sent home.
The players who took part in that game? Most are back. And therein lies the No. 1 reason Revis believes the Jets can compete: They avoided the roster turnover plaguing other teams.
On offense, just Matt Forte (running back) and Ryan Clady (left tackle) are new. On defense, Steve McLendon (nose tackle) and rookie Jordan Jenkins (outside linebacker) are the lone additions. Erin Henderson (inside linebacker), Lorenzo Mauldin (outside linebacker) and Buster Skrine (cornerback) are technically "new" starters, too, but all three players were on the Jets' roster last year.
"It's very tough having a first-year head coach and just expecting the moon and the stars," Revis said. "It's difficult to bank on that, even though you want to go out and win a Super Bowl your first year. I think guys this year are much more confident because they're more comfortable in the things we're doing on both sides of the ball."
If the Jets want to make a run this year, they are going to have to survive a horrendously difficult September and October. In the Jets' first six games, they play five playoff teams (Bengals, Chiefs, Seahawks, Steelers, Cardinals ). The only team that didn't make the playoffs? The Bills. And the Jets haven't beaten them since 2013, with five straight losses since.
Oh, and four of those first six games are on the road.
If the Jets can make it through that stretch with their heads above the water, Revis believes it'll show the rest of the league what he and his teammates can accomplish.
"It's going to be a test for us, and we all understand that," Revis said. "But we're also confident that we're deserving of the schedule we got. We'll see how it goes.
"We know we have to be sharp coming into those games, and we have to have a sense of urgency in those games to get on those teams fast. We need to keep the momentum out of their hands and in ours."
And it's those experiences that have Revis believing the Jets can contend for a Super Bowl in 2016.
"Yeah," Revis told NJ Advance Media on Sunday. "We've got a lot of talent. We feel very confident with our team overall. The offense is booming, we've added some extra pieces, we've got Ryan [Fitzpatrick] back. We're very confident in what we have."
For playoff-deprived teams (the Jets last made it in 2010), just qualifying for the postseason is normally enough. But the Jets have higher expectations. Way, way higher. See, they tasted the playoffs in 2015, but never got the entree.
Against the Buffalo Bills in Week 17, the Jets blew a shot to make the playoffs. If they won, they would have qualified. Instead, they lost, 22-17, and were sent home.
The players who took part in that game? Most are back. And therein lies the No. 1 reason Revis believes the Jets can compete: They avoided the roster turnover plaguing other teams.
On offense, just Matt Forte (running back) and Ryan Clady (left tackle) are new. On defense, Steve McLendon (nose tackle) and rookie Jordan Jenkins (outside linebacker) are the lone additions. Erin Henderson (inside linebacker), Lorenzo Mauldin (outside linebacker) and Buster Skrine (cornerback) are technically "new" starters, too, but all three players were on the Jets' roster last year.
"It's very tough having a first-year head coach and just expecting the moon and the stars," Revis said. "It's difficult to bank on that, even though you want to go out and win a Super Bowl your first year. I think guys this year are much more confident because they're more comfortable in the things we're doing on both sides of the ball."
If the Jets want to make a run this year, they are going to have to survive a horrendously difficult September and October. In the Jets' first six games, they play five playoff teams (Bengals, Chiefs, Seahawks, Steelers, Cardinals ). The only team that didn't make the playoffs? The Bills. And the Jets haven't beaten them since 2013, with five straight losses since.
Oh, and four of those first six games are on the road.
If the Jets can make it through that stretch with their heads above the water, Revis believes it'll show the rest of the league what he and his teammates can accomplish.
"It's going to be a test for us, and we all understand that," Revis said. "But we're also confident that we're deserving of the schedule we got. We'll see how it goes.
"We know we have to be sharp coming into those games, and we have to have a sense of urgency in those games to get on those teams fast. We need to keep the momentum out of their hands and in ours."
