Jordan Jenkins says Jets' 'embarrassment' last year at Patriots is 'motivation' for rematch

[Gas2No99]

Jordan Jenkins says Jets' 'embarrassment' last year at Patriots is 'motivation' for rematch

New York Jets outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins still recalls last year's awful loss in New England. (Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

FLORHAM PARK -- While working out this offseason, Jets outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins looked ahead to his second NFL season, and focused on all the pass rushing technique improvements he needed to make. 

But he also let a brutal loss from last year linger in his mind -- 41-3 at the Patriots on Christmas Eve. It was a fitting Week 16 performance from a divided Jets team that went 5-11 and put coach Todd Bowles squarely on the hot seat for 2017. 

On Sunday, the Jets host the Patriots -- the teams' first matchup since that Christmas Eve fiasco, a game that is fresh in Jenkins' mind this week. 

"That was a bad taste in our mouths," he told NJ Advance Media. "That's something that I thought about in the offseason. That was an embarrassment as an organization, and we shouldn't let that happen ever again.

"I've had [this week's game] circled on my calendar for a while. Two or three of my best friends are big Patriots fans. They never let me hear the end of it. They flat out kicked our asses that game. That was one of the worst showings we've ever had in this organization in my time being here. That game alone should be our motivation this week." 

Even if the Jets wanted to forget the loss, they'll watch film of it this week during preparations. 

"You see it regardless," Jenkins said. "With a beating like that, that's going to be heavy on your head watching film." 

Revenge isn't the only motivation for the Jets, who have won three straight games. They and the Patriots are both 3-2, tied for first place in the AFC East, along with the Bills. 

Tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins echoed Jenkins' sentiments, recalling how the Jets "got our ass whooped" on Christmas Eve in New England. 

"I remember that [expletive]," he told NJ Advance Media. "They put it on us. They played hard as [expletive] and didn't make any mistakes. They don't make mistakes." 

Well, the Patriots have shown some flaws this year, particularly on defense. 

And even though they are 10-2 against the Jets since the Jets won a 2010 divisional round playoff game at New England, most of the teams' recent games have been close. Before the Christmas Eve blowout, seven straight Jets-Patriots games had been decided by seven points or fewer, including two three-point margins, one two-pointer, and a one-pointer. 

These Jets, with so many new faces, heard all the low expectations surrounding them before the season, and it made them just as mad as that 41-3 loss in New England did.  

"We're kind of rallying together right now, and taking the anger out on our opponent each week," wide receiver Jalin Marshall told NJ Advance Media. "I think that's been good for us." 

They are ready to expunge Christmas Eve 2016 once and for all, though the massive offseason turnover in their locker room sort of did that already. 

"It's a new team," outside linebacker Josh Martin said. "I wouldn't say that anyone has any demons lasting from any loss. It's not even worth talking about." 

Said rookie safety Jamal Adams: "As a team, we have not brought that up." 

Nose tackle Steve McLendon, one of the Jets' few returning veterans, is happy to just ignore the film from that awful loss. 

"You don't even want to look at that film, because you can create bad habits, getting caught up in selfish stuff," he told NJ Advance Media. "You watch what teams did really well [this year] that made them successful to beat New England. That's what you watch. You don't watch nothing that is negative. See what [the Patriots'] negative is and go at their negative.

 

 

"I'm sorry, but I don't look at last year. Last year was a losing season. One thing you can get from that is: Don't go back to that. That's it." 

For as vividly as Seferian-Jenkins remembers Christmas Eve 2016, he said it is behind him. 

"That game is dead," he said. 

On Sunday, the Jets can bury it for good. 

[AFJF]

Hopefully they keep it close enough to make it worth watching the fourth quarter.

[rangerous]

no great expectations that they'll win but it will be great to see the players that should step up, step up.  asj, adams, and may should all have really good games.  throw in davis, jenkins, and lee on defense and anderson, kearse, and mcguire on offense and the game could be very interesting.  they need to make it clear that the patsies were in a game and not get rolled over.

[Tinstar]

5 hours ago, AFJF said:

Hopefully they keep it close enough to make it worth watching the fourth quarter.

Forget that crap, I wanna win and not only win but run them home with more questions .

[The Crusher]

Marcus Maye or Jamaal Adams gets flag for targeting on defenseless receiver on Gronk. Not encouraging but I can see the emotion getting the best of them. I will say these two youngsters play like they want to win. 

[Jetster]

I'm hoping these 2 become cornerstones of this secondary as we move forward in this rebuild. It's pretty cool that SO FAR they playing well & im looking forward to seeing them develop as the year progresses. These are the building blocks for when we finally get a QB & start playing with some leads, forcing teams to press & if you have a great secondary you can make it very difficult on opposing offenses. Our secondary last year was literally one of the WORST I've seen since Kotite & his Vance Joseph blunder vs Tim Brown.

That Monday Night Indy game last year was an EMBARRASSMENT!  I honestly didn't want to wear anything that said JETS on it for months. 3 TDs in 3 drives with literally no defenders in the area, lol, Three of the quickest scores I've ever seen like a hot knife through butter. I'm not shocked one bit Macc went Safety/Safety at one & two to start his rebuild. The way that draft fell most fans wanted Dalvin Cook, and yes, hindsight is 20/20 but the Maye pick is looking pretty sweet right now. 

[sciond]

This game scares me. Either its real competitive or the Patriots teach the upstart young team and their coach a lesson. They enjoy letting the Jets know that are not in their league more than any other team.