Robert Saleh doesn’t have a difficulty with cornerback D.J. Reed bringing up the 1985 Bears and the Legion of Boom Seahawks in the identical sentence because the 2023 Jets.
The Jets’ head coach does have an issue, nonetheless, with how Reed’s quote was covered by the media.
“I do think we have now a paraphrase problem with the way in which that our guys talk,” Saleh said. “I believe once you have a look at D.J.’s quote, he answered the query. Similar to every team in football and each player in football will discuss what they think they may be.
“Every team has potential to be special this yr. All 32 of them. But I believe what’s vital is listening to the entire quote. Listening to our players, knowing the players and knowing that they’re so focused on the moment and attempting to recover each day they usually discuss that. No, unfortunately, that’s the part that gets omitted in our paraphrase generation.”
Reed, on a Zoom call with reporters on Monday, brought up the historical comparison unprompted.
“I’m very confident,” he said. “I believe we have now the potential to be the very best defense within the NFL and truthfully I believe we may be historical. Not only the very best defense within the league, but I believe we are able to have a historical defense just like the ’85-’86 Bears, just like the [Legion of Boom] in 2013.
“I believe we may be that dominant if we put all of the things together and we just deal with the now and we’re deliberate. If everyone plays as much as their potential, I believe the sky’s the limit for us.”
The Jets haven’t quite channeled Vince Young’s “Dream Team” comment in regards to the 2013 Eagles, but they’ve not been all that far off of their rhetoric about their team’s potential.
The Super Bowl is the goal for the Jets and confidence is high after they brought in Aaron Rodgers through the offseason.
“Why not [talk about the Super Bowl]?” running back Dalvin Cook asked rhetorically Thursday. “That’s where we attempting to go. That ain’t gonna dictate if we win or lose any football game.”
Ahead of a high-profile opener Monday night against the Bills, Saleh tried his best to toe the road between toning the rhetoric down and projecting confidence in his team.
“We don’t openly discuss [the Super Bowl],” he said. “We get asked questions and we answer them. But everybody desires to win a championship. The explanation why I don’t care if our guys say something is because they all the time bring it back to the moment.
“Nobody’s talking about that a part of it. And that’s why it doesn’t matter.”
