NEW YORK
Two games, two wins. Not too shabby for the New York Jets.
Coach Todd Bowles isn’t exactly celebrating, though. And neither are his players.
“They know how long of a season it is and this just tells us we can be 2-14 right now,” Bowles said Tuesday. “They understand that, too, but I’m not going to temper them from being excited.”
Still, it’s a strong start for a franchise that cleaned house in the offseason, from the general manager to the coach and throughout the roster.
“No, I’m not surprised,” Bowles said when asked if the 2-0 start was unexpected. “I don’t want to be 0-2. We’ve been working hard and we’ve been grinding and as the team comes together, it’s a process to get to where we want to be.”
Bowles’ even-keeled personality is perhaps the biggest change for a team that had been used to Rex Ryan making headlines with a brash, confident approach after both wins and losses.
While the Jets have done a lot of things right in wins over Cleveland and Indianapolis to open the season, Bowles is low-key about it all.
Take the Jets’ quarterback situation, for instance. When asked if Ryan Fitzpatrick will remain the starter even when Geno Smith is healthy enough to play after having his jaw broken last month by a then-teammate, Bowles added no fuel to any possible quarterback controversy.
Bowles repeatedly said in the preseason that if Fitzpatrick was playing well and the Jets were winning, Smith would not automatically retain his starting job.
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