IF the first half of the Jets’ 2008 season has been anything, it’s been a wild ride – an unpredictable ride.
It hasn’t looked great a lot of the time, particularly in Oakland three weeks ago. But the end result after their win in Buffalo Sunday is this: They’re tied for first place in the AFC East, and who among you wouldn’t have signed up for that at the beginning of the season?
They’ve won four of their last five games, which makes them as hot as any NFL team other than the Titans and Giants.
Credit for the turnaround from 2007 (when they were 1-7 at the halfway point) must be spread out, going from everyone’s MVP offseason acquisition, nose tackle Kris Jenkins, to free agent linebacker Calvin Pace to the revamped offensive line and more.
Not enough credit can be doled out to Eric Mangini and Brett Favre for, on the fly, getting Favre to learn the system, his new teammates, etc.
This had potential to be a very disrupting force in the Jets’ locker room, but Mangini and Favre haven’t allowed it to be.
One of the biggest reasons this chemistry experiment is working so well for the Jets can be directly linked to Favre, and his demeanor from the start.
He came in as an iconic figure in the NFL, a player who won’t have to pass “Go” and can head directly into the Hall of Fame when he’s finished playing, and who insisted he simply wanted to be “one of the guys.”
Considering his resume and profile, that seemed like a pipe dream.
Yet, it couldn’t have turned out to be more true.
“He just does a good job of being him,” safety Kerry Rhodes said. “I don’t think he worries about being one of the guys; he does it naturally. It’s not him trying to do it, it’s just what he is, what he’s about.”
Tackle Damien Woody, who played with Tom Brady in New England, said both players are similar in that they are “just one of the guys.”
“That’s the one thing that really sticks out about both of them,” Woody said. “Some players like that you could get the feeling that they’re above the team, but both of those guys are just one of the guys, another piece to the puzzle.”
Woody conceded that, for the likes of Favre and Brady to be “one of the guys” is a delicate balance.
“The one thing about both of those guys is the chemistry they have in the locker room, the way they interact with teammates,” Woody said. “The joking around (with Favre) never stops. With both Brady and Brett, it’s the same thing: The guys love football; they love the atmosphere. You’ve got to appreciate that. You want to play with guys like that.”
The chemistry, according to Woody, has permeated its way throughout the Jets’ locker room.
“Every championship team that I’ve ever been on, the one constant was that the chemistry was there,” he said. “You’ve got to have the right chemistry in the locker room. I’ve been on teams that have been talented but we didn’t have the chemistry and it just didn’t come together.
“That’s one thing I love about this locker room. We’ve got really good chemistry and it’s only going to get better and I think that’s going to carry us a long way this season.”
Left guard Alan Faneca, like Woody one of the free agent newcomers who has Super Bowl experience, called it “a good locker room” that can do nothing but foster more success.
“Some of the teams I’ve been on, as far as knowing you’re a good team, sometimes you don’t even know it until it’s upon you. It just hits you,” Faneca said.
As for the man at the center of the mix, he knows chemistry is key.
“Chemistry, to me, is the most important aspect of being a winning football team,” Favre said. “It’s not the most talented teams. It’s chemistry. I think this team has a lot of potential as far as chemistry is concerned. I see that getting better each and every day.”