NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Jets come here looking for a Music City Makeover.
Gang Green know they need to look much different Sunday against the Titans than they did in their season-opening loss to the 49ers when they were outplayed by a wide margin.
“It’s not the first time we’ve gotten punched in the mouth,” coach Robert Saleh said. “Every defense in football, every offense in football, every player in football gets punched in the mouth once in a while. The important thing is you go to the film, you watch it, you tell the truth, you acknowledge the things we did wrong, you celebrate the things we did well and you try to work through it.
“I think we’ll answer the bell.”
They better.
If the Jets lose this game to a team they are perceived to be much better than and fall to 0-2, there will be panic among fans.
The Titans enter this game 0-1 after collapsing last week against the Bears, losing after a terrible Will Levis pick-six.
The Jets’ loss to the 49ers was largely dismissed as no reason to worry, since the 49ers are the defending NFC champs and were playing at home.
But a loss to the Titans will not be swept aside.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers preached staying even-keeled after the 49ers loss, but that will be a tough sell if they fall on Sunday.
“I think we’ve always got to stay relaxed. It’s a long season,” Rodgers said. “I think at times people think the season is, like, you’re out in the prairie or the desert and you’re wandering around trying to find water. But it’s more like a nice slow bolero, where we’re just swaying with the music and reacting to whatever comes to us and through us, and just trying to not get too high with the highs or too low with the lows.”
The biggest question in this game will be how the defense responds after giving up 401 total yards and 180 rushing yards to the 49ers.
“A response, a response to what happened,” defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said of what he expects this week, “and our standard be revealed, and it is really our style of play more than anything. I think sometimes when you get so hyper focused on results that things can go sideways, just hyper focused on playing our style of football and let everything take care of itself.”