Annoyed Bowles Says, Repeatedly, Jets Have 'Moved On To Buffalo'
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Todd Bowles is on to Buffalo.
Less than 24 hours after the New York Jets' 23-22 season-opening loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the coach had already put that in the past.
With a short turnaround and a game Thursday night, Bowles' focus is squarely on the Bills.
That's why he bristled when asked about his secondary's struggles, Darrelle Revis in particular, against the Bengals.
"We saw them and we worked things out and we moved on to Buffalo," Bowles said Monday. "We talked about it and we corrected them, and we play two games in (five) days. We don't have time to sit there and go back.
"So everybody has moved on."
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Andy Dalton threw for 366 yards against the Jets, and A.J. Green caught 12 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown — mostly with Revis covering him. Despite all that, Bowles insisted he had no concerns about his secondary.
When asked specifically how he thought Revis played, the coach shut down the question the way his cornerback once routinely shut down opponents' top receivers.
"I told you we've moved on to Buffalo," Bowles said. "I don't have time to go over this. We went over it in the coaching staff meetings and we went over every play. We don't have time to talk about it now.
"I've moved on. They've moved on."
A reporter pointed out that Bowles was at his media availability, so he had to speak to reporters anyway, but the coach chose to not delve into any aspects of the loss to the Bengals.
"So unless you've got Buffalo questions," he said, "I ain't gonna be here long."
It was a bit reminiscent of Bill Belichick's defiant "We're on to Cincinnati" press conference in 2014 after New England's 41-14 loss to Kansas City.
After one game, the Jets' pass defense is ranked 28th in the league. Bowles said the performance didn't upset him, and he simply was done talking about the Bengals game.
"Like I told the players, win, lose or draw — and we talked about this last week — we were going to move on," he said.
"If I won yesterday, I'd be giving you the same answers. We've moved on. I said I wasn't going to talk about it, and I'm keeping to my word."
The Jets are in danger of falling to 0-2 to start the season, a position the team wants to try to avoid at all costs.
Since the NFL's current playoff format was put in place in 1990, only 26 teams — including Seattle and Houston last season — have made the postseason after losing at least its first two games.
Oh, and the Jets will be playing against their former coach in Rex Ryan, who surely also will have his team fired up after a loss in Baltimore. The Bills also beat the Jets twice last season, including in the regular-season finale that kept New York out of the postseason.
"You can't really think about that," wide receiver Brandon Marshall said. "It's a new year, a new situation, a new team. We've got to take advantage of this opportunity. This is a big game for us, for the obvious reasons."
Still, Marshall doesn't see this game as a must-win for the Jets. Not this early in the season.
"We have Buffalo," he said. "I don't know why everyone's talking about a sense of urgency. It's almost like the talk is (that) our backs are against the wall. It's Week 2. We lost by one point. We didn't get the job done. We believe in our team and think we're a good team.
"Now, we've just got to go out there and prove it."
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While the secondary was leaky against Cincinnati, the offense was at fault, too, especially in the red zone .
The Jets had two touchdowns inside the Bengals 20, but missed a field goal and made two others when it appeared all three drives could result in trips to the end zone. Those possessions ended at the Cincinnati 4-, 2- and 6-yard lines — and New York knew it blew some big chances for more points.
"The biggest thing for us is just finishing drives," wide receiver Eric Decker said. "We had a couple of opportunities in the red zone that we didn't capitalize on. It could've been the difference in the game."
After the Jets' game at Buffalo, the schedule doesn't let up. They're at Kansas City, home against Seattle, at Pittsburgh, at Arizona and then home against Baltimore.
"For what we want to accomplish this season, every game is a win-type game," Decker said. "I wouldn't put the pressure on, saying we have to win this game, but we have a good team, we have a good squad and maybe we fell short, if you want to call it that, yesterday. Let's see how resilient we are and just bounce back."
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