After a Debacle, the Jets Already Face a Potential Turning Point
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — By any objective measure, Ryan Fitzpatrick quarterbacked the worst game of his 12-year career Sunday. He threw six interceptions in a 24-3 loss at Kansas City, the most in the N.F.L. since 2007, and compiled an 18.2 passer rating, his lowest ever in a game he started.
And by at least one subjective measure, Fitzpatrick quarterbacked the worst game in the last decade. The analytics website Pro Football Focus gave Fitzpatrick its lowest mark in the 2,717 games, across the regular season and playoffs, it says it has graded.
Not that he considered playing hooky, but Fitzpatrick said it was difficult coming to work Monday.
"To walk in today and have to face the guys — it's not an easy thing to do," Fitzpatrick said.
The Jets' players had tried to deflect blame from Fitzpatrick and spread it among themselves after the game on Sunday, but a day later almost none of them appeared in the locker room when it was open to the news media, leaving him and left tackle Ryan Clady to address the Jets' horrid performance and its ramifications.
It is not even October, and the Jets, at 1-2 and two games behind New England in the A.F.C. East, have reached a critical stage of their season. Either they will regain equilibrium Sunday against Seattle or they will flop at home amid mounting tension and frustration.
Their red-zone offense, among the league's best last year, now ranks among its worst. Their receivers want the ball and one of them, Brandon Marshall, hinted he was unhappy with the play-calling. Their quarterback made dreadful throws and, more alarming, even worse decisions.
When his team reconvened Monday, Coach Todd Bowles issued what amounted to a challenge. Though Bowles would not delve into specifics, he expressed his feelings in blunt terms. He demanded accountability, persistence and solidarity. He implored them, Fitzpatrick said, not to succumb to adversity and drift apart. Fitzpatrick called Bowles's message "necessary" and "potentially a turning point."
"We've just got to understand the season is young and we've got to understand we've got a ways to go," Bowles said. "We're not where we want to be. We've got a lot of work to get to where we need to be."
Fitzpatrick indicated that he had spoken with several players about Sunday's defeat and areas in need of improvement, which did not surprise Bowles.
"I mean, you lose like that," Bowles said, "you have to have a come-to-Jesus meeting."
Such meetings are not uncommon in the N.F.L. That the Jets arrived at that juncture after their third game hints at deeper issues. One of the top concerns is their red-zone efficiency, which has waned to 37.5 percent (5 of 16) after a 66.0 percent success rate last season.
The offensive coordinator Chan Gailey maximized Eric Decker and Marshall in those situations in 2015, when they combined for 23 receptions and 19 touchdowns, according to Pro Football Reference. So far, they have three red-zone catches and two touchdowns — both by Decker.
Gailey has demonstrated creativity and flexibility in his play-calling during his tenure, and he must identify a proper balance between integrating Marshall and Decker and running with Matt Forte, who had three touchdowns in Week 2 at Buffalo. Fitzpatrick said the Jets' problems by the goal line derived from his imprecision and his attempts to force passes — as he did Sunday — instead of checking down or throwing the ball away.
"It doesn't make for a bad week, a bad month or a bad year," Bowles said. "It's a bad day."
The only other time Fitzpatrick threw as many as five interceptions came when he was a rookie making his second career start, for the Rams in a 27-13 loss at Minnesota on Dec. 11, 2005. He said he would approach his next start the same way he did 11 years ago.
"I'm not sitting there thinking about how I've thrown four interceptions," Fitzpatrick said. "I'm sitting there thinking about, 'O.K., how can I get the ball down the field and try to win the game?' I'm not sitting there thinking about my stats. In terms of that, my mentality hasn't changed at all, and it never will."
But his perspective has.
"At that point, I was still trying to figure out if I belonged or could fit into the league or not, if I could play in the league," Fitzpatrick said. Now, he said, "I know that I'm going to be O.K. I've just got to put the work in. And the results need to follow."
EXTRA POINTS
The Jets have functioned without a receiving tight end since the beginning of last season, but they tried addressing that deficiency by adding Austin Seferian-Jenkins, whom they claimed on waivers three days after the Buccaneers released him following his arrest Friday on a driving under the influence charge in Tampa, Fla. In parts of three seasons, Seferian-Jenkins, who turns 24 on Thursday, has caught 45 passes for 603 yards and seven touchdowns, but his career has been laced with trouble. He had a D.U.I. arrest in 2013, while playing at the University of Washington, and was also kicked out of an off-season practice because he was making too many mental mistakes.
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