How Mediocrity Affects Morale

/ New York Jets / By

After a surprising 2015, where Jets led by Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brandon Marshall almost made the playoffs for the first time in five years, 2016 was disappointing. However, fans knew Fitzpatrick wasn’t the answer and it was only Bowles’ second season with the team. The Jets brought in another veteran in Josh McCown and they had the 6th overall pick in the draft. They used that pick to draft their new leader, the guy that was going to turn the team around.

Jamal Adams

One of the first things I remember about Adams was his work ethic and his attitude. He was a winner and he wanted to be part of winning. One of the first things I remember him saying however was the opposite about his new team. He called out his coaches, and even his teammates. Publicly after his first season in an interview with Bleacher Report, he said “everybody was used to losing. You can always tell that vibe. I came in, and it was like everybody wanted to do the bare minimum. They didn’t want to go above and beyond. They didn’t want to take that extra step.” Needless to say, his teammates were upset about this comment, and so were the fans and the entire Jets organization.

But was he wrong?

Jamal Adams came to the Jets as a high pick, which means he had to know he was going to a team that had a bad previous season. Unfortunately for us, and he knew it as well as everyone does, Jets have had a lot of seasons like that. For him to come in knowing this, but then say these things after his first season, it must have been even worse then he was even expecting it to be. Flash forward more losing seasons where Adams looks like the only All Star on the field game after game. What kind of toll does that take on you mentally? For two years he was considered the defensive leader of the Jets, yet he got very few players to step up to his level because the talent wasn’t there. Finally in the midst of contract negotiations he obviously gave up, and we know what happened next.

Let me be clear, IN NO WAY am I endorsing Adams’ behavior or the way he conducted himself, especially with fans, but we have to try and look at this objectively and not subjectively. If we do, without condoning the behavior, we can understand how he got to where he was.

I wish I could say this kind of situation was an outlier, but you know as well as me the Jets have had dozens of players over the years who were top talents that either felt coaching was bad, felt team wasn’t doing what they needed to make them competitive, felt other teammates weren’t where they needed to be, and more. How many times have we seen players not want to come here or take less money to go somewhere else?

Even Jordan Jenkins, a career Jet who has always been positive and a good player, finally couldn’t take it anymore.

Take this season for example. The Jets hands down have looked like one of the worst and least prepared teams in the entire league. If you are a player on this team, how do you motivate yourself week after week to go out there and give it your all? How do you have the coaches work you hard each week just knowing it isn’t enough, or even worse how do you prevent yourself from losing faith in coaches or players around you entirely?

Point is Jamal Adams was right, but he went about it all wrong. Finally the Jets have the correct GM in place that is making the right decisions and building through the draft, but the wrong coach is in place. It will take some time for Douglas to build the Jets into a competitive, respectable franchise, but will the fans allow him that time? Will the Johnson’s?

These years of constant mediocrity have taken its toll on the fans, but we neglect to realize how it has affected the players. One thing is for sure, morale is low, expectations are low, yet these players have to come out week after week and play at an NFL level.

That’s a tall order.

Now let’s say the Jets bring in a new coach next season. Lets even say he is the Douglas of coaches. Next season is Sam Darnold’s last on his rookie contract. He could have a great season, but the odds are against him in an entirely new system. It would be hard to justify paying him big money for the kind of production he has.

Now let’s pretend Jets draft Trevor Lawrence next draft. If Douglas traded back for a substantial haul he could draft enough players to turn the team around in less time, but with Lawrence he might need to trade up or won’t trade back so it could be a similar situation to now. A top draft QB, surrounded by mediocre talent, and we get the same results.

I don’t know what the answer is. All I know is these decades of mediocrity have taken there toll all around, and dug the Jets into a perpetual hole they cannot seem to climb out of.

Like my father used to always say, year after year. Same Old Jets (SOJ).