Opinion

Jets are winless, but not all lost just yet

Only two NFL teams have gone 0-16 since the regular season expanded to 16 games in 1978: the Detroit Lions in 2008 and the Cleveland Browns in 2017.

It appears the 2020 New York Jets (0-9) are making a run at joining them.

Yet here are some reassurances that fans should keep in mind: No team gives up. And no coach guides a team toward losing in order to gain a top draft spot, although some people have suggested that is the case with the Jets' Adam Gase.

At least that is the view from someone who has been there, Hue Jackson, who was the head coach of the Browns during their 0-16 season.

"That was the best coaching job I've ever done," he insisted in a telephone interview Thursday.

Jackson had to keep his team focused, ready and excited every week throughout a season with little hope of a win. That year, the Browns were the youngest team in the league.

"We could see that we needed to go get better talent to provide a winning opportunity for our players," said Jackson, who was fired in October 2018 with a record of 3-36-1 over his 2 1/2 seasons with the Browns. "But we kept going by the grace of God, and belief in our players and selves as coaches."

The Jets, after shedding some older players, are relying heavily on rookies, and Gase has said that the team is aiming to train younger players for the coming years.

Gase is 7-18-0 with the Jets, and he might not be around for long if things don't improve.

Mathematically, the Jets have no way of getting to the playoffs. But there is a good chance they will acquire Clemson's dynamic quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, with the No. 1 pick next spring, assuming he enters the 2021 NFL Draft and the Jets continue being worse than the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are 1-8 heading into their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers today.

Gase and his players have insisted they are not tanking.

"Nobody's talked about that," Gase said in a call with reporters Wednesday.

Joe Flacco will make his fourth start at quarterback today for the Jets against the Los Angeles Chargers while Sam Darnold continues to recover from a shoulder injury. The timeline for Darnold's return is blurred; many fans and Twitter users have wondered if he will be out of a job by draft time.

Giving up on Darnold, though, would mean the Jets had already failed to convert a highly drafted quarterback into an NFL success. He was the No. 3 pick in 2018, the same year that the Browns used the No. 1 spot -- the fruit of their 0-16 season -- to take quarterback Baker Mayfield, who is often credited with helping to move the franchise toward respectability. In his NFL debut, in Week 3 of the 2018 season, Mayfield helped the Browns end their winless streak by defeating the Jets. Cleveland went 7-8-1 in his rookie year and 6-10 last year.

This season, the Browns are 6-3, tied for second place in the AFC North and vying for a playoff spot as they go into a game against the Philadelphia Eagles today.

Throughout his time with the Browns, Jackson reminded players that nothing was over until the final whistle of the last game.

"People are not built to lose, especially when you're a leader," he said. "In order to continue to be your best, you have to keep those down feelings away from the players, your family, the office and even yourself."

Gregg Williams, the Jets' defensive coordinator, was by Jackson's side as the Browns' defensive coordinator from January 2017 until he was appointed interim head coach in October 2018.

Gase brought Williams on in January 2019, and he coached the Jets' defense to seventh place overall in the NFL last season, despite a 7-9 record. This season, the defense is ranked 28th in the league and the offense is at the bottom.

"One of the reasons I've been able to coach in the league for this long is because I've been a mentor, a life coach and a football coach," Williams said in a call with reporters Friday. "And I like that challenge, having to start over with young people in that way."

When you're a Jet, looking for the bright side seems a prerequisite.

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