The Jets definitely enjoyed their win over the Giants on Sunday. So much so that Sam Darnold and Jamal Adams talked about making a playoff run.
But linebacker Brandon Copeland had a sobering message for his team on Monday: one win means nothing.
Copeland said on "an extremely personal level" he believes the Jets don't know how to handle any type of success. He said they need to work harder if they want to sustain this and beat the Redskins this Sunday.
"That's one of the things that I've seen has been a challenge for us last year, this year," Copeland said during a conference call. "It's having success and knowing how to deal with success and knowing how to get back to work and stay focused and stay driven and work 10 times as hard as you did the week before to repeat success."
This is Copeland's second season with the Jets. They had one two-game winning streak during last year's 4-12 campaign. The Jets are 2-7 this season. Their previous victory was followed by a three-game losing streak.
"I think that will be huge this week, stepping into the building and working tenfold in comparison to how we worked last week," Copeland said. "Just trying to build and progress as opposed to taking a step backwards or resting on your laurels so to speak. But to be quite honest with you, I don't think there's any laurels to rest on."
Copeland's words have real merit considering how the Jets have teased their fans in recent memory.
A resounding Week 1 win last year in Detroit was followed by just three more victories.
The Week 6 win over Dallas this season, in Sam Darnold's first game back from mono, was supposed to be the season-changing victory for the Jets and their quarterback. Darnold had eight interceptions and nine turnovers in the next three games.
But Darnold was sharp against the Giants. He ran for one touchdown, threw for another and didn't have a turnover. Adams was dominant. He had two sacks and two forced fumbles. Adams' signature play was a strip sack in which he took the football from Daniel Jones and ran it in for a touchdown.
Afterward, the two young Jets were feeling good and talking big.
Darnold said if the Jets "win out, we have a chance at the playoffs." Adams told Pro Football Talk, "If we keep doing what we did today, we can do it this year. We can go to the 'ship."
Adam Gase was asked about it, and said the Jets just need to worry about getting better and playing consistently good football.
"On Jamal and Sam," Gase said, "we talk about all the time: focus on the task at hand. After we win, sometimes you start looking a little further ahead. We're going to be focused on one week at a time right now."
Gase also said, "It's going to be all about coming back to work, wiping the slate clean, just focusing in on winning the next game or really preparing for the next game. If we're looking past anything besides that, we're in the wrong spot."
