EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Bart "Bozo" Scott and the rest of his Jets teammates -- sorry, "clowns" -- didn't take kindly to being called a "circus."
They let their frustrations out on the Buffalo Bills.
Motivated by the criticism they received throughout training camp and the preseason, the Jets established a franchise record for points in a season-opener in a 48-28 thrashing of the Bills on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
"There's always a chip (on our shoulder)," Scott told ESPN's Sal Paolantonio after the game. "Like I said, they called us a circus. I don't know if I'm 'Bozo,' but those are my guys, so whatever they are, I am too."
Scott certainly doesn't care about the team's detractors.
"I don't know who 'they' are, so I don't even respond to that," Scott told Paolantonio. "'They' don't exist. The only thing that exists is what's in our locker room."
Earlier this week, owner Woody Johnson took umbrage at the perception that the Jets are a "circus." It wasn't a surprise that the word was used, given what transpired in the offseason. In March, the Jets acquired polarizing figure Tim Tebow in what appeared to be a publicity stunt. And coming off a disappointing 8-8 season, coach Rex Ryan, quarterback Mark Sanchez and GM Mike Tannenbaum have been highly scrutinized.
Ryan held a meeting with the players in the middle of a week to discuss the perception surrounding the team.
"Guys, don't take it seriously," Ryan told the players, according to veteran guard Brandon Moore. "They think we're a circus in some regard. They don't understand what's inside us. Just put it together this week and show this league what we're all about."
The Jets did just that on Sunday: Cornerbacks Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie and Kyle Wilson each recorded an interception, while Sanchez threw three touchdown passes -- two of them to rookie wideout Stephen Hill.
"We're just grinding, man," Scott told Paolantonio. "We're gonna keep digging, get in this trench and keep working hard, man. We got a tough opponent (Pittsburgh) next week. We're not happy with this, we know what we came for and we don't care what other people think about us."
Free-agent acquisition LaRon Landry had the utmost confidence that the Jets could make plays on both offense and defense.
"We had no doubt that the offense was gonna handle their side of the ball and we gonna handle ours," the safety told Paolantonio. "We didn't have any doubt that they weren't gonna put points on the board. We knew they was gonna come out unloading everything they had. Everybody was doubting us and you saw what happened."
Said Sanchez: "I told the guys in the locker room, 'Remember this feeling, just don't throw it away. It took a lot of hard work to get here.'"
Scott, who said he was going to boycott the media, did just that in the locker room following the game.
"You all treat us like s---, and that don't make sense," the veteran linebacker said.
"I'm going to be quiet because I'm actually giving you stuff to write right now.
"You all will screw us next week or the week after. You all will get us eventually."