Robert Saleh preaching caution after dramatic Jets win

Jets coach Robert Saleh was not interested in taking a victory lap Monday. 

After the Jets incredible last-minute win over the Browns, Saleh wanted to make sure everyone knew the Jets did not have long to enjoy it. 

“It’s time to move on,” Saleh said Monday afternoon. 

While their fans were still reliving all of the dramatic moments in the 31-30 victory that saw the Jets rally from 13 points down with less than two minutes remaining, Saleh wanted his team to move past that game and start to focus on the Bengals, who come to MetLife Stadium on Sunday. 

“The toughest thing to do in this league, especially when you haven’t had a lot of success, is to learn how to deal with success,” Saleh said, “and move to the next page and understand keeping the main thing the main thing, which is getting better every single day and how you shift your focus so you don’t get complacent. It’s the whole disease-of-me thing. Now, we haven’t even tasted enough success to think about it. But at the same time when you’re trying to build a winning culture and a winning organization, the sense of urgency to get up and do your job and get better and do all the things that are needed so you can repeat it week in and week out, that’s always going to be the challenge, especially with a young roster.” 

How we look back on the Jets’ win on Sunday now depends on what happens moving forward. Was it a fluke or a turning point? The Jets had not won a game in September since 2018 and those 0-3 starts every year seemingly derailed their season before October arrived. With Sunday’s win, the Jets are 1-1 for the first time since 2018 and have a chance to gain some confidence. 

“You’ve got to learn how to win,” tight end Tyler Conklin said. “I think that’s something all teams have to do at some point is learn how to win games. I think [Sunday] was a step in the right direction to prove that to ourselves that we’re never out of a game and that no matter what the situation is, we can win it. That’s the first one to get the momentum going and prove it to ourselves. We knew we could do it but now we went out and proved it.” 

With the September skid now history, the Jets can conquer another bad mark the team has carried since 2018. The Jets have the opportunity to go above .500 on Sunday for the first time since they opened the 2018 season 1-0. Since then, it has been .500 or below. 

The Bengals come to town with an 0-2 record after winning the AFC last year. The Jets have some momentum after the last two minutes Sunday but the Bengals will be a desperate team. The Jets will need to build off their dramatic win. 

“I think we’ve got the right guys and I think we’ve got the right mindset to build on it,” Saleh said. “We’ve just got to go show it to ourselves again that we can stack up multiple days and win in multiple weeks.” 

Saleh preached caution Monday that Sunday’s win was just a crazy thing that can happen in the NFL and the Jets need to remain focused on their work. 

“It’s awesome that it happened, at least from our side,” Saleh said. “But I’ve been a part of the Fail Mary. I’ve lost on a Hail Mary. Won a Super Bowl, lost a Super Bowl, been part of some crazy, crazy games. You’re just never surprised at what this league’s going to give you. If you put your head down or take a deep breath for one second, it can kick you in the rear.”