Getty It may not be under the bright lights but the New York Jets must use MetLife Stadium to their advantage in Week 2.
It’s going to be a whiteout at MetLife Stadium on September 19 as the New York Jets are set to wear their ‘spotlight white’ uniforms with matching bottoms.
The jersey selection was announced on Twitter by owner Woody Johnson himself.
This is the uniform for the Home Opener #NEvsNYJ
Between the combination of the uniforms and the return of fans, linebacker C.J. Mosley was feeling inspired during a press conference on September 17.
“Just excited, obviously excited to play football last week just to enjoy [playing] football but to be back in front of the home crowd, have all the fans rocking, and we’re going to be in all-white so it’s going to be real pretty, so I’m very very excited to hear the [J-E-T-S] chant as well.”
The co-team captain has a point. It’s been nearly two years since the Jets’ last true home game at MetLife, so the stadium better stay loud on Sunday with that infamous chant roaring all afternoon.
“Everybody’s going to have chills hearing that [chant] because I just know it’s going to be rocking,” Mosley voiced, “especially having all the fans back, we’re going to be in all white, we got the division opponent, we got the Patriots, so we got all the checkmarks to make the Jets chant get louder and louder so hopefully we’ll be hearing it loud and clear at the end of the game.”
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Jets’ Secret Weapon Isn’t Getting Enough Attention
Gang Green will have one major advantage in Week 2 and it’s getting very little recognition from analysts and writers — the fans.
This is one of the most loyal, passionate and dedicated fanbases in the NFL. Jets diehards make their presence known and that could end up tilting the scales with a rookie quarterback starting in his first career road game.
Remember, Zach Wilson struggled during the first half of his initial road game in Carolina last weekend. Part of it was the offensive line and the wide receivers but the number two overall pick also had some noticeable jitters.
If it can happen to Wilson, it can certainly happen to Mac Jones.
The Alabama product has been referred to as a distributor throughout his college career. He generally remains calm in the pocket and poise is definitely one of his strong suits. At the same time, he’s not immune to making mistakes if you’re able to knock him out of his comfort zone.
At the start of the Week 1 bout with the Miami Dolphins, Jones felt the pocket collapsing and decided to try and dump the ball at the feet of a nearby receiving option, Jonnu Smith. The problem was that he got so mixed up that he actually threw the ball backward, spiking it for a fumble.
Mac Jones 1st NFL pass attempt is a banger
If not for a heads-up play by Smith, the gift of a fumble could have easily been returned for a touchdown, or at least a change in possession. This was at home in front of his own crowd, imagine a play like this in front of the Green & White faithful.
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Road Wins Are No Easy Feat for Rookie QBs
I was looking at last year’s first-year quarterbacks and their performances on the road during their rookie campaign. The numbers weren’t pretty.
- Justin Herbert lost his first five road games in 2020.
- Joe Burrow was 0-5-1 on the road.
- Jalen Hurts went 0-3 on the road.
- Tua Tagovailoa was a rare exception going 2-2 in last year’s road schedule.
In 2019, things weren’t much better as Kyler Murray, Daniel Jones, Dwayne Haskins and Drew Lock combined for a 7-15 record on the road. Without the dynamic number one overall pick (Murray), that ratio decreased to 4-10.
Wilson and Trevor Lawrence each went 0-1 in their Week 1 debut as well — one was in Carolina and the other in Houston.
Winning on the road is no easy feat for a rookie quarterback, especially in your first NFL experience attempting it. Add in the fact that this is a division rivalry with a storied past and a rabid fanbase and things get even more complicated for Jones.
Of course, he does have Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels in his corner, two coaches that are very good at making things manageable for their signal-callers.
Mosley called Jones a “smart quarterback,” but preached that the Jets have to be ready for anything with Belichick pulling the strings.
He cautioned: “Our main focus is doing our job. We know who [Jones is] talking to in the headset and who he’s being coached by. So it doesn’t matter that he’s a rookie, it doesn’t matter if he’s four or five [or even] eight years in. They’re going to do their job, they’re going to execute it well, so our job is to out-execute them and be great at situational football and third downs. I feel if we do that, we’ll have a great chance to win this game.”
You heard him Jets fans! It’s time for all of us to do our job on Sunday.
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