While the Jets still have the most difficult part of their schedule remaining, there were few analysts or fans that expected the team to be sitting even at 2-2 after four weeks.
Sunday's overtime win over the Jacksonville Jaguars -- a team that just a week ago plowed over the Ravens, 44-7, in London -- was another fine example of a young team fighting against the notion that the organization was "tanking" for a draft pick.
"When the game takes twists and turns, I think we're developing that mindset of not letting that affect us," Jets wideout Robby Anderson told The Star-Ledger. "I think we're starting to prove some people wrong. They've got to start to respect us. We've still got a long way to go."
Anderson is right. Plain and simple. The volatile reactions to the Jets' offseason personnel moves eventually calmed down, but this is still a team weathering a confusing, heady time in a massive media market.
A youth movement in the NFL is a lengthy, arduous process. Just look at the Browns and Jaguars, who are both years into the same type of rebuild the Jets are undertaking now. Most encouraging is that the best performances seem to be coming from the right players. Jamal Adams, the team's 2017 first-round pick, Leonard Williams (2016 first-round pick) and former Panthers second-round pick Kony Ealy, who was claimed off waivers, have all played integral roles over the first four weeks.
To ownership, this has to be a vote of confidence for both head coach Todd Bowles and general manager Mike Maccagnan. Getting rid of all your best veteran payers is a terrifying time for coaches and personnel executives too, but the only way to negate the loss of job security is to draft the right young players to fill in, and coach them up.
This positive stretch for the Jets could just be a fleeting moment. After this week's matchup with the Browns (0-4), the Jets take on the Patriots, the Dolphins in Miami, the Falcons, the first-place Bills, the Buccaneers, Panthers, Chiefs and Broncos in Denver. This is a brutal stretch in the eyes of any team. However, if the Jets can show the same mental fortitude they have over the past few weeks, the results won't be met with rolled eyes and pessimism anymore.
