Even though the Yankees were still alive and Charlie Sheen's scandalometer was still inching upward, October 17th wasn't all that long ago. For the Jets, though, it feels like it was a lifetime ago.
This entire year, whether it was the postseason, the free agency season, the draft or "Hard Knocks," we've grown accustomed to a constant stream of information coming from the Jets. Some of it was in the form of news nuggets, some of it was self-promotion, but all of it fed a seemingly inexhaustible appetite for anything produced by the House of Rex. Then, suddenly, the spigot turned off after the victory over the Broncos and the arrival of the bye week.
The team is back at work in preparation for the Packers game, but that hasn't done much to restore the flow of information. It's like the Jets have turned into the Jaguars, Bills or some other team that you know exists but somehow avoids making headlines even though they play a sport that's followed more closely than the activities of a dissident in Moscow under Stalin.
The only thing that even qualifies as news is that they released defensive lineman Howard Green, which is only interesting -- using the most flexible definition of the word -- because he signed with Green Bay. Presumably Green will give them some information about the inner workings of the Jets, but how much more can he tell them than what the Pack's already seen on film?
So it's pretty dry out there, but that's hardly a bad thing. There really isn't much of anything for the Jets to do off the field at this point in time. They've already told us a thousand times that they plan to be the best team in the league and that they think they are the best team in the league. There aren't any more big-ticket acquisitions to make and, hopefully, no more suspensions or arrests to distract from the task at hand. It's all about football from here on out.
That should work out well for the team, especially now that Darelle Revis appears to be back to full health. If he can return to the same level he was at during the 2009 season, with Antonio Cromartie continuing to play at the same level we've seen in recent weeks, the Jets will shore up the one glaring weakness of the team through the first six games. The pass defense has been leaky, and shoving Revis in the hole might make this ship wateright enought to make the long voyage that is still ahead of them.
Chances are we'll hear all about it when and if they do make that improvement so maybe it's best to just enjoy the restful moment before the machine cranks itself back up to 11 this weekend.
U.S. & World
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
