Jets' Wilkerson Poised Under Fire From WFAN's Joe And Evan
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- These are the dark times in Florham Park, but the Jets' Muhammad Wilkerson is doing his best to toe the company line -- stay positive, hope and prepare for the best.
The only problem is, few believe the Jets can recover from their awful 1-4 start that was punctuated by a disgraceful 31-0 loss to the Chargers in San Diego last Sunday.
In his weekly spot on WFAN on Tuesday, Wilkerson, the Jets' best defensive player, was asked tough questions by Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts on why the team has gone off the deep end since the season-opening win over the Oakland Raiders.
Roberts asked Wilkerson if he's worried that the usually talkative Jets have lost their swagger.
"No, I'm not worried at all. We're going through adversity," Wilkerson said. "We could put our heads in between our legs right now and lose the rest of the season or we could keep coming each and every day to work hard, come to work and look forward to one of these Sundays where everything rolls our way and we'll win all three phases. … Now is not the time to crack and turn our backs on each other or start (to) point the finger."
Benigno pointed out that the Chargers were 12-for-18 on third down and engineered three touchdown drives of at least 90 yards against the Jets' supposedly stout defense. He then told Wilkerson he thinks the Jets are no better than a three- or four-win team.
"First of all, you are entitled to your own opinion," Wilkerson said. "We're out there playing; we're out there trying to execute, work hard. We gotta do our jobs and get this thing turned around. I understand that you're a fan and you can say we're going to be a three or four-win team, but that's how you feel. That's not our concern. We're going to go out there and win as many games as we can."
That might not happen any time soon, considering the Jets' next two opponents are AFC kingpins Denver and New England. Wilkerson said the only way the Jets bounce back and save their season is if they unzip themselves and step out on the field Sunday against the visiting Broncos as a different team.
"Everything we're doing wrong that we've (done to cause us to lose) these games has to be positive," Wilkerson said. "There can't be any negatives. All the mistakes, all the penalties, all those things need to go out the window and we have to play a perfect game."
Wilkerson discussed other troubling issues surrounding the Jets, including the team's practice habits and Geno Smith's maturity. To hear his complete interview, please click on the audio link below.
Muhammad Wilkerson
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