A careening New York Jets season took its steepest nosedive in Sunday's sad first half. Todd Bowles' team trailed the winless Cleveland Browns 20-7 at halftime.
New York players said the coach's angry halftime message shook them from their stupor. Following the game, Bowles downplayed his comments.
"There's no big speech to be made," he said, via Darryl Slater of NJ.com. "You've got to have a f---ing attitude when you're getting your ass kicked."
David Harris described Bowls halftime talk as "angry." Calvin Pryor said it was "definitely explicit."
"He just said, 'Play with attitude. Don't come back in here without a win,'" defensive tackle Steve McLendon added. "He said, 'You better have an attitude in the second half. Play like you have an attitude.'"
Darrelle Revis -- who got torched by Terrelle Pryor early -- also spoke to teammates at halftime.
"Guys got a little bit more fire up under our asses and started actually playing football," Revis said. "We definitely came out flat."
The Jets avoided the punchlines associated with losing to a winless team. They avoided floating into the abyss of a lost season, keeping a sliver of hope alive in the AFC.
"We can't come out that flat and expect to win games in the long run," Matt Forte said.