Rex Ryan wants home field advantage this Sunday at the Meadowlands. The Jets are 2-2 at home, and the only two losses of the season to Green Bay and Baltimore were in front of the home crowd.
“A lot has been made of the fact that we’re 5-0 on the road and we’re 2-2 at home,” Ryan said. “That’s not sitting well with our fans, that’s not sitting well with our team, any of us. We’re going to make this a home field advantage.That’s what you work for, that’s why you try to get all the wins that you can during the regular season.”
So the Jets coach is asking fans to help the Jets out by getting an early start.
“I’m just asking that we start our tailgating a little earlier, and by the time introductions come out we have a butt in every seat,” Ryan said.
Tight end Dustin Keller said having the fans there does make a difference in the game.
“Especially when the defense is on the field when were at home and you can’t hear anything when they’re so loud and you see that their offense is having trouble,” Keller said. “Players get into it that much more knowing the fans are behind you screaming their butts off.”
The Jets have not been dominant in the early quarters of many games, and many have come down to the fourth quarter or overtime. Jets wide receiver Brad Smith said his wife would be happy if the games were a lot less stressful.
“They can’t do anything. So they’ve got to sit and watch,” Smith said.
Punter Steve Weatherford has also heard it from his wife.
“She said, ‘Can you just blow the team out one time so we don’t have to worry about it?’” Weatherford said.
Mark Sanchez said that he doesn’t think that any of his relatives have any nails or cuticles left after watching the last few Jets games on television.
“At the same time it’s wearing, you look at the film and we can win these games a lot earlier,” DE Mike DeVito said.
And a quick look at the injury report shows that the Jets are taking a bigger hit as the weeks go on. Certainly that’s the way most seasons go, but as Jets WR Santonio Holmes pointed out, playing five quarters on back-to-back weeks takes a toll.
“We want them all to look pretty but if they don’t we’re still satisfied with getting the victory,” Holmes said.
In other news, here's our update on the story about the 8-year-old Jets fan who was tackled from behind by a drunk Browns fan.
The update on Jerricho Cotchery, who was not at practice with a groin tear but who has not yet been ruled out for the Texans game.
QB Mark Sanchez, who will not need an MRI with a calf injury, said it was a bruise. He took most of the reps today in practice.
Lastly, Texans quarterback Matt Schaub was hospitalized with a bursa sac injury to his knee. Wide receiver Andre Johnson said the team was concerned, and many just learned of the problem this morning. Johnson said they were told it was an infection.