New York Jets Blog

• Coaches Reading from Same Script
  

  If anyone thought Eric Mangini would stray off message, allow a glimpse of personal joy, fear, anger, sorrow, excitement or some other emotion now that undefeated New England looms just six days away, he or she was mistaken.

  The Jets head coach took some questions about his onside kick decisions and two-point conversion call during the 24-18 loss to Cleveland at the top of his just-concluded day-after news conference this afternoon. Then the rest of the session was spent talking about the Patriots game on Sunday.

  And Mangini summed up his perspective and approach when someone in the Jets media room, with a few Boston reporters already in attendance, pressed him on how nice it would be to knock the Pats off their 13-0 pedestal.

  "We've never taken the approach that the record is going to dictate how we go into the next game," Mangini said. "It's always a function of what we think gives us the best chance to win. it's not really our record or their record."

  And really, when it comes down to it, there is no better approach to taking on New England or any opponent. Jets Nation, Patriots Territory, the football nation at large will be providing their thoughts and opinions all week long on who's going to do what to whom and why on Sunday. What saner way to prepare for such a maelstrom than to sit in the eye of the storm and prepare for what really matters.

  Which is what the Jets have already begun doing today, as newyorkjets.com stories by Eric Allen on Kerry Rhodes and John Beattie on Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery from today's locker room session will underscore later today and early tomorrow.

  "It's really a game against a very good team and understanding what you have to do to win against that team," Mangini said. "It's a team we have a lot of experience and a lot of familiarity with, being able to prepare during the course of the week and get done what we have to get done. That's really the focus. The consistent approach we've taken throughout the course of the season is going to be the same. What you need week in and week out is a high level of preparation."

  And just in case you think the Jets are the only team taking this unexciting approach this week, here are some snippets from Bill Belichick's news conference up in Foxboro today, the day after the Pats smelted the Steelers, 34-13.

  Any extra motivation in playing the Jets?

  "We're going to approach it like every game, just the way we've done with all of them," Belichick said. "Come in, look at the film, get together a game plan, try to figure out the best way to attack and defend them.

  "I'm telling you we're going to approach this game like the way we approached the last one, the one before that one, the one before that one. That's all I can tell you."

  And how does Belichick see the Jets' threat?

  "My impression of them was the Pittsburgh game. They played very well and they beat Pittsburgh [19-16 in overtime in Game 10]."

  Similar to Mangini's respectful impression of the Patriots:

  "I think New England is an extremely well-coached team," the Jets coach said, "who have a lot of talented players who play well together and do a great job of focusing on the next opponent."

  So, folks, you want talk about undefeated history, Spygate, blood feuds and the like, you'll have to talk among yourselves about it. I just don't see it coming from these coaches or their teams.

  Big-Play J

  WR Jerricho Cotchery is playing through the pain of his splinted right index finger, but it hardly showed as he gathered in six catches vs. the Browns, including grabs of 22, 26 and 32 yards.

  Cotchery, even after sitting out the Miami game, has 15 "big-play" receptions of 20-plus yards (nine on throws from Kellen Clemens, six from Chad Pennington). That total leads the Jets this season and in fact is the most since Santana Moss had 17 "big-play" catches in 2003.

  Tennessee Time

  Looking ahead to the Jets-Titans — but only for the purposes of ascertaining the time of the opening kickoff — their Dec. 23 game was originally scheduled to start at 4:15 p.m. EST, and that's in fact when it will start, the NFL has confirmed.

  'Inside the Jets'

  The guests lined up for tonight's "Inside the Jets" show on 1050 ESPN New York are LB Victor Hobson, DL Eric Hicks and radio analyst Marty Lyons, of course the former Sack Exchange mogul. Host Bob Wischusen kicks it off from Charlie Brown's restaurant in Garden City, N.Y., at 7 p.m. The show can be heard live on newyorkjets.com.

• Patriots Are 'Going to Be Tough for Us'
  

  There were three main topics in the Jets' locker room following their soggy, too-little-too-late 24-18 loss to the Browns at the Meadowlands today: the onsides kicks, the guts of Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery, and New England.

  I'll leave the onside kicks for Eric Allen's game story and for you fans to talk about, and I'll go in inverse order, because even though it was barely past the five-minute rule for moving on to the next game, 13-0 New England looms like a black hole on the Jets' event horizon a week from today.

  "Who do we play next?" Kerry Rhodes joked when I asked him about the Jets' next opponent. "They have a lot of weapons, we know that. You can take away two of those guys and still have a great offense. It's going to be tough for us."

  The safety's teammates all offered variations on that theme.

  TE Chris Baker: "Obviously we have to score more. They're probably averaging 35, 40 points, something like that a game. [Baker was right on. Following their 34-13 win over Pittsburgh, the Patriots are averaging an NFL-leading 38.7 points a game.] We're going to obviously have to score more points. We've got to come together as an offense and take advantage of our opportunities."

  LB David Bowens: "Our preparation, film study, practice has to be intense. Our game has to step up — we're playing the best team in ball right now. It's going to take a lot of execution."

  QB Kellen Clemens: "They're very talented across the board and we are excited about coming in on Monday and getting to work on what will be a good challenge."

  When WR Laveranues Coles was asked about the Patriots, he put turned the question around on him and his teammates.

  "For me, it's not about them," Coles said. "It's about the game and having fun. Anytime you have the opportunity to compete, whether it's the Patriots or not, you want to go play. That's the main thing. I think we all love playing football, regardless. It's a challenge. If you're a competitor, you're going to relish the challenge and you're going to go out there and compete."

  Which segues into the latest display of physical and mental toughness from the Jets' starting wideouts. Coles didn't come out of the locker room for the longest time before the game, didn't start the game, and continually had to pick himself up off the deck and gimp to the bench before returning again. He had a game-high seven catches.

  Meanwhile, Cotchery, who missed the Miami game, had to have a splint fitted for his injured right index finger that some were reporting was going to end his season. All J-Co did was rack up a game-high 119 yards on six catches.

  Some reporters seemed incredulous after the game, asking questions about why the two would play in this latest game of a 3-10 season, if they were worried about injuring themselves further. These folks just don't get what it means to play football.

  "We love our teammates," Cotchery said of himself and Coles, "and we feel like if we can help our team, we're going to go out there and give it our all. We're not just going to sit around because we have a losing record. We went through the entire off-season together, we sweated together, so we want to go through this together."

  Coles, who said last week's return on his sore ankle was the toughest game he had to play, was asked if this was his new toughest game.

  "It's mounting, I'll tell you that. It's tough," he said. "I feel bad that I can't just stay out there the whole time. I had to come off. I just want to stay out there for my team, but right now it's tough for me. Week in and week out, I'm testing myself, I'm pushing myself I think out to the limit. Hopefully, again I can try it again next week."

  And that brings me again back to the Patriots. Rhodes gave a few more observations about the Patriots, who he noted now have their own "Bottom Line" heading separate from the NFL on the crawls across the bottom of ESPN programs.

  "We're going to come out, try to play hard, hopefully do something and not get beat bad," he said tongue-in-cheek, adding about the fun of playing in such a game: "The fun will be for them trying to go 14-0. I'm sure there will be a lot of talk about that, but we're going to play hard, we're not