They will trudge to the stadium to say goodbye to the 2023 Jets on Sunday, these diehard fans who easily could be labeled masochists, forced to endure holiday traffic and exorbitant cost for the privilege of watching Jets versus Commanders.
For their sake, for coach Robert Saleh’s sake, the temptation to quit at the end of a 13th consecutive season gone to hell better not be an indignity too far across these final three weeks, starting with these 60 final minutes at MetLife Stadium.
****** Do not quit.
Don’t dare quit. ******
Jets fans dreaming of a Super Bowl, or the playoffs at the very least, have been had their emotions toyed with yet again. They have been let down enough.
“I don’t think you got to worry about this team quitting or packing it in the last three games,” Tyler Conklin told The Post. “This team’ll handle it the right way.”
Because human nature can rear its ugly head at the ugliest of times, Saleh on Wednesday turned to C.J. Mosley — the best and the brightest of the Jets, a player oozing with pride who embodies everything that Hall of Fame Jets running back Curtis Martin always did — to stand before the team and give what some could interpret as an impassioned plea from the heart.
Mosley has been chasing that taunting Lombardi Trophy for the past three years as a Jet since signing a five-year, $85 million free-agent contract, opting out of the 2020 COVID season before opting back in with more commitment than anyone, playing in every game since as the tacking machine, and Captain and quarterback of the defense.
What would Mosley say to Jets fans — fans who have been forced to come crashing down from the heights of Cloud 8, when Aaron Rodgers came charging onto a field inside a place he called JetLife Stadium carrying that American flag and great expectations on Opening Night.
“I would say the same thing I said to my teammates: Vision over sight,” Mosley told The Post. “I know they’ve been, especially as a Jets fan, their sight has been very blurry. It’s been a lot of losses, a lot of disappointment, a lot of high hopes. But don’t let that exceed your vision. Don’t let your sight mess up your vision. And my vision as a leader and as a team is to be a guy that can persevere over all the negativity that surrounds us every single day and coming into work with the right mindset to get us to that promised land for the second time in a long time. I came here, that was my vision, I still believe it today.”
This is a time when Saleh needs everyone else to believe it as well.
“During a season like this, it’s easy to listen to the outside noise, to even just listen to like just the little thoughts that creep in your head like, ‘Is this work that we’re doing, is it worth it for working this hard?’ ” D.J. Reed told The Post. “I have a standard that I play at, and no matter what’s going on around me, I’m going to play to that standard regardless.”
But who can be certain that everyone will be able to resist the voice in their heads telling them to succumb to human nature?
“It’s not my job to be worried about it, but I know that’s human nature to do when you have three games left, you know you’re not going to the playoffs, you want to make it healthy to the offseason,” Reed said. “Those are normal thoughts that every player has those thoughts creep into their mind. You have to have a different type of mentality to go about it as a championship week regardless of the circumstance.
“What C.J. said really hit home to me because it made me get back to my straight line, because those thoughts did creep into my mind, and just made me focus on what’s important to me, and that’s being the best version of myself.”
What Rodgers is for the offense, Mosley is for the defense.
“I think the thing about a guy like C.J. is obviously when he talks everybody listens, but he loves it every day,” Trevor Siemian told The Post. “He sets the compass for the defense, and with Aaron gone, the team.”
Siemian will be the latest Jets starting quarterback on Sunday.
“Anytime C.J. talks, it’s easy to listen,” Conklin said. “He always has something wise to say, he’s a helluva leader. You know he’s been through a lot here, right? He came here to help be a big part of the change, and since he’s been here, it hasn’t been obviously what he wanted or anybody’s wanted.”
Vision over sight.
“All of us have that vision that we had at the beginning of the year and our own personal dreams and goals and aspirations in this league,” Bryce Hall told The Post. “He was saying how important it is to hold on to vision. Sight is what you see with your natural eyes. Vision is what you see with your heart.”
There will be empty seats inside MetLife on Sunday alongside Jets fans with empty hearts.
“They definitely deserve much better,” Jermaine Johnson said, “but I appreciate them for coming to the games week in, week out and traveling for us and supporting us as much as they do. It means a lot to me, that’s a big part of the reason why I play as hard as I play. It’s a great fan base, man. None of us wanted it to go like this, but I just appreciate ’em so much, and they’re always supporting us and have been supporting me since I got here.”
He got here with Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall, who have been trapped for two mostly wasted seasons inside an offense kneecapped by lousy quarterbacking and playcalling.
For now, misery loves company.
“We’re all in this together, man,” Quinnen Williams said. “Nobody likes to lose, man. So at the end of the day, us as a fan base, us as a team, we got to change this thing around, and we definitely need the fan base. They want us to win just like we need them cheering for us in the stands to give us that electrifying energy that they always give us. Having them to have our back means a lot.”
***** Do not quit on them. ***** Not now.
“I go about every offseason and think like, ‘This is the year to win a Super Bowl, to be a Super Bowl champ,’ ” Reed said, “and I feel if you don’t achieve that, then the season was a failure. … I definitely feel the Jet fans deserve better.”
Vision over sight.