EA: Each week in the NFL is its own season. But the blueprint was there in Tennessee — a multi-dimensional offense that won in the trenches and mixed in several explosives, a hard-hitting defense that tackled well and got after the quarterback, and a special teams until that was elite across the board. This week, the biggest difference opponent-wise is at quarterback. While Titans QB Cam Ward is a young player in a new system, Packers QB Jordan Love is an accomplished top-10 passer who attacks down the field. The Jets’ secondary, which is expected to be without S Minkah Fitzpatrick, must stay connected and continue to play with great physicality. The Jets should have advantages in the trenches and I think the fans, who gave an assist in Nashville, will be a participant in this one as well. It struck a chord with me this week that veteran LB Demario Davis said the Jets’ practices have been some of the toughest of his 15-year career. This team will be ready.
RL One of the many boxes that Woody Johnson, Darren Mougey and Aaron Glenn have checked in their quest to give this year’s Jets the weapons they need to succeed was a visit that WR Garrett Wilson spoke of this week from a training camp motivational speaker. The message, Wilson summed up: “Just believe.” The Jets, of course, have spoken those two words and many similar thoughts every year since their last 2-0 start in 2015. Yet this year seems different, with the words, ideas, acquisitions and renovations helping to make the Jets’ aspirations so far just a little more focused and forceful. Is that what made the difference in their season-opening win at Tennessee? It didn’t hurt. Now in the Jets’ Whiteout home opener, they’re facing a top-notch organization in Green Bay led by a top-notch QB in Jordan Love. But the Pack is as banged up as the Jets, they’re coming off a fall-from-ahead loss at Minnesota, and now are the visitors in another foe’s homecoming. This is a great week for the Jets’ players, coaches and team to reinforce, each in his own way, the concept that belief influences results and results influence belief.