FOXBORO, Mass. — It was far from pretty for the New York Jets, dropping to dead last in the AFC East following an uneventful 10-3 loss against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Sunday — New England’s 14th consecutive win over its division rival.
New England officially closed the door on New York in the fourth quarter after Patriots specialist Marcus Jones returned a punt to the end zone in jaw-dropping fashion.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh didn’t hold back when offering his brutally honest assessment of the underwhelming showing from the offense, utilizing some not-so-family-friendly language to describe the losing effort.
“It was dog (expletive),” Saleh told reporters. “We gotta show up tomorrow and find ways to get better. That’s it. It’s like I said, whether we win or loss, there’s still seven games to be played. We have the whole season ahead of us. So, we’re still right there in the thick of things and we just gotta get back on the horse and get ready to play another football game. To me, whether you lose by one or a hundred, they’re all gut punches. It’s a loss. Crappy way to lose.”
In the second half, the Jets’ offense totaled an astonishingly underwhelming two yards of offense from seven total possessions against the Patriots, including five consecutive 3-and-outs.
“There’s a lot of things that we gotta look at to see if we can find some efficiency in the offense,” Saleh said. “Obviously, in the second half we just couldn’t — I don’t feel like we had a first down, I don’t even know if we did. … The consistency needs to get found.”
When asked if there was any confidence of an offensive spark on the verge late in the game, Saleh kept his answer quick and honest.
“In the second half? No,” Saleh said.
Nevertheless, despite a wildly ineffectual showing from starting quarterback Zach Wilson, Saleh made it clear the 23-year-old will remain the Jets’ go-to guy, regardless of any pending future struggling performances.
“I’ve told you guys before, Zach’s our quarterback,” Saleh said. “We’ve gotta find ways to help him get better.”
