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On Monday, Cleveland Browns GM Andrew Berry had his season-ending press conference.
The Browns’ season concluded on January 13 with wildcard loss to Houston Texans.
Cleveland finished their regular season 11-6, which was quite remarkable considering they played four different quarterbacks, lost their star running back Nick Chubb in Week 2 to a season-ending knee injury, and were down to their third-string right tackle, and backup left tackle over the second half of the season.
On Monday, Berry said: “The thing I’m most proud of with this group of players, coaches and staff is all the adversity they overcome through the season.”
Berry mentioned he got a text from his former boss Tom Telesco, who he worked for as a scout from 2009 to 2013 in Indianapolis:
“Tom, he sent a text that said, ‘Your team had every excuse available to be a 10-loss team and your players, coaches and staff never flinched – good job and congratulations.'”
The Jets were a 10-loss team that struggled to overcome myriad injuries.
It’s well-documented that they had 13 different offensive line combinations and lost their starting QB, Aaron Rodgers, to a season-ending injury in their opener.
The Jets lost at home to three teams that ended up firing their coaches – the Los Angeles Chargers (Brandon Staley), the Atlanta Falcons (Arthur Smith) and the New England Patriots (Bill Belichick).
They also lost to a Las Vegas Raiders team, with an interim coach (Antonio Pierce) at the time, having fired their head coach (Josh McDaniels) in-season.
The Jets need to look at what the Cleveland Browns did this year, and figure out a way to be able to do the same if they have another injury-laden season, which they likely will. Those kinds of seasons happen all the time in the NFL
Some feel that the Jets used the Rodgers injury as an alibi for their lost season, and that is why they aren’t making many or any changes to their staff. Nothing has been announced yet.
Even the Browns, who had this impressive season, fired three assistant coaches after the season – offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, running back coach Stump Mitchell and tight ends coach T.C. McCartney.
I’m not pushing for the Jets to fire anybody. I don’t like to do that, but just making a point that it just feels like, to many observers, that the Rodgers injury gave everybody in a mulligan at 1 Jets Drive.
And there should be no mulligans in the NFL.
The Buffalo Bills lost on Sunday in the NFL divisional round. They had so many defensive injuries, it’s surprising they even got that far. They fought through the adversity on defense, and still played fairly well on that side of the ball.
Fighting through adversity and still finding ways to win games, even with injuries, is what great football cultures are often able to do.
And that is what Rodgers is looking for the Jets to build.
“It’s about culture,” Rodgers said ESPN late in the season. “Culture can win championships, chemistry wins championships. So we need to fine-tune a couple of things, tighten some things up.”
Having a really strong football, which Cleveland had this season (they haven’t always, obviously), can help you keep the train rolling on the tracks, even when adversity hits.
This off-season, with Rodgers back in the fold, the Jets will look to build one of those cultures.
January 22, 2024
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