Jets GM Joe Douglas: We aren't running from expectations, but we have a lot to prove
The Jets have not had a winning record since 2015. They have not made the playoffs since 2010.
But the Jets have great expectations this season, with even Aaron Rodgers acknowledging this week that the team has a "legitimate chance" to win it all.
General Manager Joe Douglas was not about to make any guarantees during his first press conference since May.
“I’ll let everybody debate what that looks like,” Douglas said Thursday, via Brian Costello of the New York Post. “We’re not running or hiding from any expectations that are out there. I think, when the dust settles, you want to be in the conversation as one of those teams that can compete for a Super Bowl. You get a ticket into the dance and anything happens.”
The Jets gained the spotlight when they traded for Aaron Rodgers this offseason. The hype has only grown since then with the team featured on "Hard Knocks."
But Douglas made clear the Jets are not looking past the Bills, who they play in their season opener on Monday Night Football on Sept. 11.
“We’re ready,” Douglas said. “We’re really not looking any further than the Buffalo Bills. Again guys, this is the three-time defending AFC East champions coming into MetLife. We know what kind of task that is to compete against them.”
Douglas knows what a Super Bowl champion looks like, having won two rings with the Ravens and another with the Eagles. The Jets have stars or budding stars in Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner, Quinnen Williams, Dalvin Cook and Breece Hall, among others, but most of the team has yet to win a ring. Rodgers has only one.
“We’re excited to be in the conversations as one of the better teams in the league,” Douglas said. “Excitement doesn’t win games. We’ve got a lot to prove.”
