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Gregg Williams is right and the Jets should listen to him . . .
Williams, the Jets’ defensive coordinator, was asked last week about what his expectations are for the Jets’ defense this year.
“One of the things about measurables as I talk to the young men daily about this; when you put a quantifiable score on something like ‘I want to be the best in the world that’s ever played this game’ – why can’t you just be the best you can be today. Why can’t we just be the best we can be today. Why can’t we just be the best that day we are playing and after the year we will get all the measurables later? It’s about improvement.”
Hat-tip to Williams.
This is by-far the best approach.
Forget about proclamations about what you are going to do or preseason rankings. Just worry about getting better every day.
Remember, Williams is good friends with Alabama coach Nick Saban who is a huge proponent of “process thinking.”
“Don’t think about winning the SEC Championship,” Saban said. “Don’t think about the national championship. Think about what you needed to do in this drill, on this play, in this moment. That’s the process: Let’s think about what we can do today, the task at hand.”
That means focus the next rep in practice; the next rep in the weight room; the next play in a game. Just work as hard at the very next task right in front of you, and if you bust your butt doing that, there is a good chance the results at the end of the road will be good.
A few days ago the Jets social media account, which has nothing to do with the coaches, personnel department or anybody on the football sides, expressed dismay at Pro Football Focus not ranking Jamal Adams in the top 50 players in the league.
This social media account is always quoting Pro Football Focus when they have a strong rating on Adams or any other Jet.
But this “slight” bothered them.
First off, most NFL coaches analyze players different than PFF, and actually aren’t fans of that website, like Bill Belichick.
“In terms of analytics, you get a lot of, ‘This guy should have him. That guy should have him.’ I know from our team, there are times when we don’t know exactly what went wrong until we sort out the play,” Belichick said on WEEI. “So it’s impossible someone else could have known. Sometimes what it looks like is not what it is.”
So the Jets’ social media department or players shouldn’t care about rankings or statistical goals. What does that have to do with winning on Sunday? They need to just worry about the next task at hand.
I know that sounds cliche, but it’s what Nick Saban (and Bill Belichick) have long believed.
And clearly Williams, one of the best defensive coordinators around, feels the same way.
June 18, 2019
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