The first quarter of the Jets' season is over, and after starting out 0-4, the Jets are electing to remain a tight group and keep the focus on the future. Veteran players showed their leadership following the road loss to the Eagles and had a strong message for the team.
"What I love about today is we came together as a team and talked about how this is a time we have to stay together and fight the hardest," defensive lineman Leonard Williams told reporters Monday. "This isn't a time to point fingers. There's been some vets that have spoken up and said that they have been on teams that were definitely a lot worse than this. We have a lot of talent, we're 0-4 right now, but the season isn't over and we still have a lot to fight for."
As a player that's been in green and white for four-plus years, Williams is familiar with early struggles and the pressure it can put on a team. Since being drafted sixth overall in 2015, the 6'5", 302-pounder has played three seasons where the Jets have won 5 games or less. But he remains encouraged by the team's unity and determination to find wins moving forward.
"Our theory is that it's a new scheme for the offense, some new players playing together, and there are very small details that we have to fine-tune and correct and then the ball will get rolling," Williams said. "There's been some players that have been out and this is just not the time to — like we said we talked about it amongst each other — this is not the time to point fingers at anybody or any position group on the field. This is a time to fight for one another and lean on one another."
While QB Sam Darnold was medically cleared to return, the status of LB C.J. Mosley (groin) remains uncertain. The Jets could get TE Chris Herndon and OLB Brandon Copeland back in the lineup after suspension and they are hoping for good news on the injury front with OLB Jordan Jenkins (calf) and DE Henry Anderson (shoulder) as well.
"The first quarter of the season has gone by now, so I think it's just how we treat a game. After a quarter we come back to each other and assess what's going on throughout the first quarter, second quarter, at half time," Williams said. "We treat the season the same type of way, there's four quarters in the season and we've gone through our first quarter now and we are 0-4. We understand that we have had a sad start to our season and it's not where we want to be, but at the same time the season isn't over. Just like how if you lose the first quarter, the game is not over. So we believe that there's still a lot to fight for."
