Todd Bowles sounded like a cross between Cupid and a science teacher last month.
“The chemistry is growing,” the Jets coach said in mid-June. “I can’t wait to get to training camp.”
The wait is over for Bowles, Jets players and their fans who have been craving football for months.
The Jets report to training camp Thursday and will conduct their first practice Friday.
It was 207 days ago the Jets walked off a frigid Gillette Stadium field, 26-6 losers to the Patriots. It was their fourth straight loss and ninth in their last 11 games, a miserable end to a somewhat surprising season.
Fast-forward nearly seven months and the expectations and hopes are higher around the 2018 Jets. Everyone around the team is hopeful they have found the franchise quarterback the Jets have been seeking for four decades with No. 3-overall draft pick Sam Darnold.
Darnold will be competing with veterans Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater for the starting job.
“The competition will heat up because we are in pads and lot of things count,” Bowles said.
The 2018 Jets look better than their 2017 counterparts in several areas. The defense should be improved with the addition of $72 million cornerback Trumaine Johnson and the expected growth of second-year safeties Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye.
The Jets also feel that they have improved on the offensive line, at running back and wide receiver. Now they will get to find out if they can turn potential into production.
“Everything on paper I don’t count,” Bowles said. “We have yet to put on pads at practice as a team. Roster-wise, you can have all the names and non-names you want until we come together with a chemistry standpoint as a team. Come training camp, it’s unknown and the jury is out.”
It is a big year for Bowles. He is entering his fourth season and has yet to lead the Jets to the playoffs. Gang Green have gone seven seasons without making it to the postseason. Bowles was given a two-year contract extension at the end of last year, but you wonder how long the Johnson brothers can remain patient.
“We get judged off wins and losses,” said Bowles, who is 20-28 as Jets coach. “So right now, I’m not a very good coach. Hopefully, we can win a lot of ballgames and I can become a very good coach. But from that standpoint, you get judged, so that’s really all you take it as. Anything else as far as the small things I’ve learned, you just try to apply it toward helping the team and go from there.”
Who is under center will play a big role in Bowles’ future. Will the Jets go with McCown or Bridgewater hoping to win now, or turn to Darnold because he is the future? That is the long-term question. In the short term, Bowles must oversee a three-way quarterback competition, which can be challenging.
“Three guys are better than four guys,” Bowles said. “We will get those reps in pretty good and we will have set days and set plans where some will get more than others, but it will even out in the end and we will get to see what we need to see.”
Quarterback won’t be the only area for competition. Outside linebacker, tight end and wide receiver also feature interesting battles.
“It’s a good thing because can’t nobody take a break,” Bowles said. “We got guys that, obviously, it was a talent gap in between certain guys, but this is the closest it’s been since I’ve been here at a lot of positions. We expect it to be hot and heated come training camp.”
Training camp is here.
