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Mark Sanchez’s Mantra: ‘Whatever It Takes’

The Jets were clearly back in business today and Mark Sanchez said, “It’s on.”

In his first appearance at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in more than four months, the Green & White’s franchise signalcaller indicated he’s open to rework his contract in order to provide some cap relief while bracing for the possibility that either Santonio Holmes or Braylon Edwards will walk away in free agency.

Sanchez, who reportedly inked a five-year contract worth more than $44.5 million (including $28 million guaranteed) back in June 2009, is committed to helping his team during this all-important free agency period.

“Whatever it takes,” he said this afternoon, adding of the free agency/trading period ahead, “And that’s Mr. Tannenbaum’s and Mr. Johnson’s and Rex’s — that’s like their third-down conversion. That’s them trying to throw a touchdown pass, that’s them getting a sack. That’s what we do on the field — well, this is what they do in the offseason. I know they’ll position us and acquire the best talent we possibly can with the finances we have.”

Prepared to help the team with its financial bottom line, Sanchez is clearly open to all options.

“But whatever it takes,” he reiterated. “Whether it’s adjusting contracts, delaying payment — whatever we have to do. Our team will do it. I know that and we’ll be unselfish with that, so we’ll get it figured out.”

And Sanchez didn’t stop with himself.

“Whatever we need to do, it’s on. And I think our whole team feels that way,” he said. “Revis, me, whoever. It doesn’t matter, so we’ll do whatever we can.”

While it may not be possible to keep both Holmes and Edwards in green and white, Sanchez realizes it’s highly unlikely. He didn’t wait long to place more responsibility on his shoulders heading into his third season.

“It was such a luxury to have both of them last year and it’s almost unrealistic to have that kind of a receiving corps again,” he said. “But whichever guys we get back, it’s going to be them playing really well and me getting even better — upping my completion percentage, being more accurate, things like that, throwing less interceptions and more touchdowns. That will help us well whether we have Santonio, Braylon and Brad [Smith] or one of the three, two of the three, whatever it is. It’s a matter of both sides getting better.”

Even though Sanchez wasn’t able to work with the Jets’ offensive coaches during the offseason, his growth as a leader was noticeable. He again held a “Jets West” camp out in his native Southern California and he also was one of the ringleaders of “Camp Lockout” back here in New Jersey.

“Physically this offseason is the best I’ve worked out and prepared for a season. I’m in great shape. I feel wonderful, I feel great,” he said. “The mental side, I think that first year having all that time with coaches during my rehab really helped. And this year that lack of it, we’re going to have to squeeze some of that during the first few weeks of camp.”

Winning is on Sanchez’s mind and it is indeed on.

“Whatever it takes to win. If that’s throwing the ball left-handed and that’s going to make us win, fine, I’ll throw the ball left-handed. It doesn’t matter,” he said. “We need to win. We’ll get the right players and we’ll tell them everything we need to tell them that’s true and we’ll move on from there.”

After Long Offseason, Finally the Fun Begins

Back to football. Ah, those words just feel right.

Even though the NFL league year won’t officially commence until Friday, Aug. 2, the fun will really get under way tomorrow after owners and players approved a new Collective Bargaining Agreement today. The NFL announced today that teams can go to 90-man rosters and official free agent lists are being distributed to the teams this afternoon.

The Jets will have the ability to sign their own free agents — rookies and undrafted free agents — beginning at 10 a.m. ET Tuesday. Teams also can reach agreements with all free agents and signed players will be able to come to team facilities. Filing for transactions won’t start until Friday at 6 p.m. The Jets can begin cutting players at 4:01 p.m. on Thursday. 

The Jets’ 2011 training camp, which will take place here in Florham Park, N.J., for the first time, will welcome reporting players to the team’s Atlantic Health Training Center on Sunday, July 31.

The Jets have 16 unrestricted free agents — QB Kellen Clemens, FB Tony Richardson, WR Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes, OL Wayne Hunter, D-linemen Shaun Ellis and Trevor Pryce, LB Lance Laury, DBs Drew Coleman, Antonio Cromartie, James Ihedigbo, Brodney Pool and Eric Smith, kickers Nick Folk and Steve Weatherford, and “Slash” Brad Smith — plus one restricted free agent, OL Rob Turner, and franchise player David Harris.

Not everyone will be back. The Jets will be able to keep a bunch and a few will find new addresses. Contracts could be adjusted to help the Green & White find more of a cap cushion.

Fans have wondered for months about the futures of playmakers Edwards, Holmes, Cromartie and Brad Smith. But many more questions abound. Is Hunter in their plans at RT and does Ellis, who is the longest-tenured Jet and whose 72.5 sacks rank third in team history, come back for another season? Who will kick for this team in 2011? Is there room at safety for both Eric Smith, an extremely valuable special teams player, and Brodney Pool, who excelled in the playoffs?

And you have to wonder who the Jets have eyes on externally. If Holmes and/or Edwards bolt, could Plaxico Burress, Randy Moss or even Terrell Owens be in play? Or if the above situation did occur, a lesser name such as Malcom Floyd, James Jones or Jacoby Jones could be an interesting alternative. The ultratalented Cromartie could get a bundle on the open market and the Jets may roll the dice with Kyle Wilson across from Darrelle Revis or replace Cro with a Johnathan Joseph- or Brent Grimes-type player.

The thought of pairing Nnamdi Asomugha with Revis might be dancing in some fans’ heads, but would a team be comfortable investing a ton at one position? Asomugha is a special talent, though, he and Revis are close, and he wasn’t exactly shy about the prospect of playing with the Jets back at the Pro Bowl in February 2010.

Lots of things are going to happen. Let’s get more of your thoughts on how you think the Jets should approach free agency. And when/if anything breaks, we’ll be here for all of your most complete Jets coverage throughout the 2011 campaign.

Braylon Proud of His $1M ‘Advance 100’ Program

You may have caught a glimpse of one familiar wide receiver on an unusual network platform as you surfed your morning TV today.

Braylon Edwards made an appearance on CNN’s “American Morning” to discuss his “Advance 100″ program, an educational initiative started by his foundation in 2007.

And an impressive program it is. A large partof it is that for the 100 Cleveland high school students who have met its requirements, each will receive $10,000 toward his or her college tuition. That’s a cool million in help for at-risk kids.

“Growing up in Detroit, I went to public high school there for three years,” Edwards, speaking from Southfield, Mich., told the CNN morning team. “A lot of these kids, they didn’t have support at all. They didn’t have the parents, the grandmothers, the guardians. They have a lot of talent, ability and smarts but no guidance, so they weren’t making the right decisions. I saw that growing up and I just always wanted to help if I could.

“With this program, we showed them somebody actually cared for them, supported them, and they could do the things asked of them in the classroom.”

The requirements set up by Braylon, his mother and father and his foundation, were for each student to achieve at least a 2.5 GPA, work 15 hours of community service a month, and attend twice-a-month workshops, some of which involved learning basic social skills such as tying a necktie, shaking hands and giving speeches.

Besides the scholarships, the students in the program also received school essentials such as laptops and other accessories. And to help them get started on the next level, Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland will give each student seven college credits for work achieved in the Advance 100 Program.

“It’s a great program,” Edwards said. “We did a lot with these kids, and I’m proud of my foundation team for doing this the past four years.”

Offensive Plays of the Year: Five Backstories

Eric Allen primed the pump Sunday and today it’s time to bring you our list of the Jets’ top five prime offensive plays of the 2010 regular season.

First you can go back to the videotape for some of the very best offense the Jets had to give to get into the playoffs — the videos have just recently gone live on newyorkjets.com. Then you can then jump over to Facebook.com/Jets to vote for your favorite “Plays of the Year.” The polls will be open all this week, and then beginning June 13 we’ll reveal your picks AND move on to the defensive plays of the year. On June 20 new footage will feature the best special teams plays. And on June 27 we’ll repeat the process with our Playoff Plays of the Year.

Here are some of the details to refresh your memory on the offensive gems.

RB LaDainian Tomlinson, 26-yard TD run, Game 4, Oct. 3, at Buffalo

On a day when he passed Tony Dorsett for seventh on the NFL’s all-time rushing list, Tomlinson recorded his first 100-yard game as a Jet and his 133-yard effort was his highest output in almost three years. He scored two touchdowns in the 38-14 victory and this play in the third quarter was vintage LT — just ask Bills S Donte Whitner.

WR Jerricho Cotchery, 10-yard reception, Game 9, Nov. 14, at Cleveland

What does “Play like a Jet” mean? Look no further than J-Co’s gutsy grab in the thrilling OT win over the Browns. On third-and-9, Cotchery, despite playing with a herniated disk and then sustaining a groin strain while running the route on this play, somehow made the diving catch of Mark Sanchez’s throw across his body to extend the drive in the extra session.

WR Santonio Holmes, 37-yard TD reception, Game 9, Nov. 14, at Cleveland

The Super Bowl XLIII MVP was a clutch performer all year for the Green & White, registering a game-changing play in four Jets wins. In this one, as time was running out and both sides were no doubt preparing to accept a 20-20 draw, Holmes snared Sanchez’s slant pass between Browns defenders and accelerated for the goal line and the game-winning score with 16 seconds left on the OT clock.

WR Braylon Edwards, 42-yard reception, Game 10, Nov. 21, vs. Houston

The Jets had frittered away a 23-7 lead early in the fourth quarter and were staring at the bleak prospects of a four-point home loss to the Texans. But the Green & White never gave up, and suddenly they were back in the game as Edwards got open down the right sideline to grab Sanchez’s pinpoint pass at the Houston 6 with 16 seconds left. Next play, Sanchez-to-Holmes pulled out the 30-27 win.

QB Mark Sanchez, 7-yard TD run, Game 14, Dec. 19, at Pittsburgh

Without an offensive touchdown since Thanksgiving, down by seven and facing fourth-and-1 at the Steelers 7 midway through the third quarter, Rex Ryan gave Brian Schottenheimer the green light and the OC made an ingenious call. Everyone at Heinz Field sold out on the run up the gut, but Sanchez kept the ball and rolled untouched off the Jets’ left side for the tying score en route to the inspiring 22-17 triumph.

Ray Lucas Still Believes in Jets’ Destiny

On Radio Row at the Super Bowl Media Center in Dallas, it’s a feeding frenzy for former and current football players who stop by to chat with the media. During his whirlwind tour of the nearly 100 radio stations that are covering the big game this week, former Jets quarterback Ray Lucas reflected on the fact that the Green & White were just one defensive stop and one touchdown away from being one of the teams in North Texas.

“It’s not right, it’s just not right,” Lucas said. “It’s bittersweet. This place would be rocking and rolling if the Jets were here. I did believe that they were a team of destiny. I still do believe that they’re a team of destiny. I still think that we’re going to be here next year, wherever the Super Bowl may be. But I think Rex Ryan has the ship going in the right direction.”

According to Lucas, however, even if Ryan is the navigator, he has a lot of work to do before next season begins. With many high-profile players eligible for free agency this offseason, Ryan and general manager Mike Tannenbaum will have to be judicious and creative in continuing to build the nucleus of the team through free agency and the draft.

“It’s going to be interesting though to see how many guys we get to keep this year,” Lucas said. “As far as the draft goes, we need somebody to rush the passer — hands down, one guy that comes in especially to get the quarterback on his back.”

Two of the most intriguing pair of potential free agents are wide receivers Braylon Edwards (53 catches, 904 yards, 7 TDs) and Santonio Holmes (52-746-6). The duo, who form part of  the  “Flight Boys,” were a fantastic complement to one another throughout the year, as the 6’3” Edwards was able to physically dominate cornerbacks and Holmes made game-deciding catches in nearly half a dozen contests.

“I do think it’s going to be interesting to see what happens with Braylon and Santonio,” Lucas said. “I think that you go after Holmes first. I do think we might luck out and get one more year out of Braylon Edwards, but I do think eventually somebody is going to pay that kid, but for a quiet season, he was spectacular.”

Both were helped by the improving play of second-year QB Mark Sanchez. The Southern Cal product threw for 3,291 yards and 17 touchdowns during the regular season in leading the Jets to their second consecutive AFC Championship Game appearance.

“I was one of his harshest critics his rookie year,” Lucas said. “The way he played in the postseason his rookie year blew me away. This season he’s done things to make himself better where he’s not losing games, he’s not taking chances. He’s playing really smart football. I think [coordinator] Brian Schottenheimer had a lot to do with him and how he played this year as well with the game plan with getting him in rhythm early and then him throwing the ball downfield.”

Schottenheimer utilized his two dangerous wideouts along with Jets stalwart Jerricho Cotchery and two more favorite targets, Dustin Keller and LaDainian Tomlinson — all five had at least 41 regular-season receptions — and did his best work in the playoffs, where he now has four road wins in his short career.

“He’s growing up before our eyes,” Lucas said. “I wasn’t sure if he was a franchise quarterback a year ago, but I’m definitely positive that he’s a franchise quarterback now. If you look at what Matt Ryan did in his third year, the sky is definitely the limit for the Jets. The Sanchize — Mike Tannenbaum did the right thing.”

Eclipsed, but Sanchez Star Still Ascendant

Mark Sanchez may have run out of time Sunday, but he is the primary reason the Jets figure to be a championship contender for the foreseeable future.

“I think we have a lot of young core players that I think are ascending, and I think they’re only going to get better,” said Jets head coach Rex Ryan today, hours after his club lost in the AFC Championship Game for a second consecutive season. “Start with the quarterback. He’s still one of the youngest players in this league. The great thing about if you have a great quarterback is then you can have a heck of a football team and have a heck of a run. That’s obviously what we plan on doing.”

The 24-year-old Sanchez stepped up his game in the postseason once again on the Jets’ latest road run, hitting on 60.7 percent of his passes and throwing five touchdowns against just one interception in three contests. He led a 19-point second half rally against the Steelers that just fell short, finishing 20-of-33 for 233 yards with two TDs.

Tough and talented, he answered the bell after getting his clock cleaned by CB Ike Taylor on a strip-sack that resulted in a 19-yard return score from William Gay that made the score 24-0 late in the second. But Sanchez led a field goal drive before the half and threw a scintillating spiral on the run to Santonio Holmes for a 45-yard score early in the third quarter as the Jets closed the gap and kept coming to the final whistle.

“I don’t think I’ve been more focused, maybe in my life. I don’t think I’ve been more prepared,” Sanchez said of this postseason. “I just felt good about the plan. I was seeing things before they happened. The game started to slow down. I felt great.”

Just 24 years young, Sanchez holds a 4-2 mark in the playoffs, with all of those contests coming on the road. After disposing of Carson Palmer and Philip Rivers-led teams last January, he took down Peyton Manning and Tom Brady outfits before making Ben Roethlisberger sweat on a frigid Sunday night in Pittsburgh.

“We’re just going to need a little more,” he said. “That’s the only thing I can think of right now, just a little bit more out of me: as a leader, as a quarterback, just getting completions and taking care of the ball even better next year.

“There is just going to be more of an emphasis on taking control and assuming command of this team and this organization — that’s just the way I feel.”

After playing down the stretch with an injured right shoulder, Sanchez will consult with doctors to see if an offseason surgical procedure could be in the offing.

“The exit physical went really well. The doctors are pleased, so we’ll just take it from there,” he said. “I’ll probably get it looked at these next couple of days, but the most important thing is that it got better every week. That’s huge. We’re very positive about it. We’ll just get it looked at and move on from there, but I’m optimistic.”

An offseason of uncertainly began today for the Green & White. On a macro level, the league’s owners and players have yet to reach common ground on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and the current deal is set to expire in early March.

Then on the micro level, the Jets brass has a number of critical personnel decisions to make as New York’s AFC representative gets prepared for 2011. Both Sanchez and Ryan acknowledged today that it will be difficult to keep both Holmes and Braylon Edwards.

“I hope we can get everybody back, but I know that is not realistic,” Sanchez said.

“I don’t know how feasible it’s going to be, but I’d love to have both those guys back,” said Ryan.

If it comes down to keeping either Holmes or Edwards for the Jets, it will be a very difficult decision. Holmes is a speed merchant who is one of the NFL’s top route runners while Edwards is blessed with tremendous size and is a fantastic blocker.

“They both have big playmaking ability, obviously. They both can change the dynamic of a game,” Sanchez said. “They helped me out tremendously in their own ways. By just talking or playing, they’ve helped me. I’d love to get them back. This is the worst part because you go from growing closer together — we’re as tight as we can possibly be right now — then you move to the business side of things and it’s harder.”

The pain of this latest postseason exit will linger with Sanchez for a long time. His final pass of the 2010 season was a 4-yard TD to Jerricho Cotchery as the Jets cut the Steelers’ advantage to 24-19 with 3:09 on the fourth quarter clock. But despite having four clock stoppages, the Jets never could get the ball back for No. 6.

“We’ll regroup, figure it out and get a little better all offseason. We have a great group, so we’ll take it from here,” Sanchez said. “It is too bad. We wanted that one last opportunity.”

There will be more.

Classic Cotchery Was Back on Display at NE

Now that was more like it for the man they call J-Co.

“Jerricho Cotchery had a huge game for us,” Rex Ryan declared moments after the Jets’ 28-21 triumph over the Patriots was official, and so he did. Cotchery was targeted seven times in the game by Mark Sanchez, caught five balls and gained 96 yards with them. All figures were team highs and the 96 yards led all receivers.

“I’m just trying to take advantage of my opportunities,” Cotchery said Monday at his locker. “The best thing about bringing all those guys in is it’s fun being around them. And with those guys making plays, when your chance comes, you want to make the play as well.”

“All those guys” are Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes, and as wonderful as both of them can be and were in scoring brilliantly off of Sanchez passes in Foxboro, Mass., on Sunday, there is a natural tendency to want to get the ball to them as much as possible.

But for Cotchery for most of the season, that meant un-J-Co-like numbers.

After four seasons of at least 57 receptions and 821 yards, this regular season he had 41 for 433. His unofficial career yards-after-catch average was 4.6; this year it was 2.7. After catching 64 percent of every ball thrown to him — a high percentage for any NFL wideout — from 2004-09, this year it was 48 percent. His sure hands dropped only 10 passes (again unofficially) through last season, then had seven drops this season.

Yet there should never be a doubt that Cotchery is a go-to guy when a tough third-down catch or sideline toetapper is needed. And he showed it again against the Patriots, one of his favorite opponents, especially on that 58-yarder on the first play of the fourth quarter that set up Holmes’ TD grab.

“It was a great call,” Cotchery said. “Before the play, [Jerod] Mayo and [Brandon] Spikes were talking about it. I couldn’t hear them but Mayo was pointing to the ground, as if they knew what was coming. But Spikes got ‘unlocked,’ we call it, because we had a running back on the flat route. Mark and I were on the same page with it. He just hit me in stride and I tried to make a play off of that.”

Mr. Understatement did more than try. Cotchery took the ball in the open, motored down the sideline, made one Patriot miss, hurdled safety James Sanders at the 25 after Dustin Keller knocked him down, and didn’t stop until he was pushed out of bounds at the NE-13.

Fifty-eight yards in all, 50 after the catch. That equaled the second-longest YAC play of J-Co’s career. It was the second-longest by the Jets this season behind Edwards’ 67-yard TD, 56 of it YAC, at Miami in Week 3.

It was classic J-Co.

And Cotchery classically summed up the net effect of that play.

“After that, when we get closer to the end zone, the Patriots usually try to find a couple of guys to double down there,” he said. “They tried to double three guys — myself, Dustin and Braylon — and left Santonio singled. He made them pay for it. That’s a prime example of what happens when everyone is rolling.”

He could probably get a little more production if he yakked about his lack of passes, but that’s not Cotchery’s style — although he said he enjoys listening to the yakkity-yak around him on this team, and at the same time gave a hint of why he and the rest of these Jets remain so dangerous to do what they’ve said all season they plan to do.

“I’ve gotten used to it, There’s a lot of guys who love the game of football and we love one another in this room. Bart Scott last night was hilarious,” Cotchery said of the Madbacker’s ESPN postgame interview with Sal Paolantonio. “We have passionate guys, emotional guys in this locker room. When someone tells you you can’t do it and you have that much passion about the game, you just want to go out and get it done.”

One final note on Cotchery: The reception was the third-longest of Cotchery’s seven-year Jets career. All three have come against the Patriots.

The Day in Florham Park

It’s been an interesting day here at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center so far. Snow, sleet and freezing rain have been falling all around North Jersey since the early morning hours. It was a hike getting to the base of operations, and around 8:30 a.m. the facility and some of the surrounding areas in Florham Park were hit with a power outage.

The outage lasted an hour but power has since been restored and didn’t interrupt the Jets’ preparations for Pittsburgh. In any event, it’s a players’ day off and Rex Ryan won’t be speaking again until Wednesday.

The best news I can give you on the activities here is that outside my second-floor perch I can see that once again Blake Hoerr and his grounds team are expertly scraping the FieldTurf field clean of the crusty precip that has already fallen. Pittsburgh is expected to be very cold and perhaps snowy when the Jets and Steelers kick it off Sunday at 6:30 p.m., so the turf field here will give the Jets a few days to acclimate to the possible conditions.

Meanwhile, we’ll have a few more stories today from Eric Allen and Nick Gallo to accompany this long-winded blog, which continues below with a few more notes I’ve worked on from the win over the Pats.

Protecting the Sanchize

Sanchez and his personal protectors are on another sackless roll. In the last five games (including the Buffalo game, when Sanchez played one series and didn’t drop back), the Jets have yielded three sacks.

Sanchez was equally well-protected last season from Game 15 through the AFC title game at Indianapolis. But the last time before ’09 that the Jets allowed three sacks in a five-game in-season span was the end of 2001, when Vinny Testaverde was sheltered for the entire second half of the season on into the ’01 wild-card game at Oakland.

Another sackless game at Pittsburgh — a tall order, we know, yet on Dec. 19 Sanchez was sacked just once for zero yards by the Stillers — and the Jets will have yielded two sacks in their next five-game span, which would be only the eighth time that would have happened in franchise history.

Long Drive to Nowhere

Here’s one that’s a stretch but stay with me on it. The Jets held Tom Brady and the Patriots scoreless on that massive 7-minute, 45-second drive, an absolutely pivotal stop for the defense. Only twice before in the past 25 seasons have the Jets kept an opponent out of the end zone on longer fourth-quarter drives in victories.

Most recently, that happened in the 2004 AFC Wild Card Game at San Diego, when the Jets held Drew Brees and the Chargers to then-rookie Nate Kaeding’s 40-yard missed field goal following a 7:58 drive in overtime en route to their 20-17 OT win and an AFC Divisional Round date, coincidentally, at Pittsburgh.

The only other such opponent-frustrating success was a 7:47 drive by Kelly Holcomb and the Browns at Cleveland earlier in 2004 that ran into the fourth quarter and ended on Phil Dawson’s missed 34-yarder, an instrumental stonewall in that 10-7 victory.

Rally On

We’ve just gotten word that there will be, as many suspected there would be, a Jets AFC Championship Rally in Times Square in New York City on Thursday, Jan. 20, beginning at 5:30 p.m. The rally, being presented by Hess, JetBlue and Pepsi Max, will give Jets fans in midtown an opportunity to show their support before the Jets take off for Pittsburgh on Saturday. We’ll have more details for you on the rally as we get them.

Jets in the SNY Net

SNY has beefed up its Jets coverage this week and details the fresh programming in this article on its Website. Check out the story to find out when Damien Woody, Mike Pettine, Tony Richardson, Brandon Moore, Mike Tannenbaum and Sione Pouha, among others, will be making appearances.

Some Reflections on the Night That Was

Oh, what a night. I’m a believer. We will, we will rock you.

When in doubt, turn to song lyrics. And what the Jets did to the Patriots Sunday afternoon into the New England night was lyrical.

Say it again: Jets 28, Patriots 21. Maybe that’s a musical refrain of the future.

Several things stood out to me as I worked into the Providence morning hours sorting things out after a Jets game as I always do. One was how the resilience of the Green & White was manifested in the second half. You knew the Patriots would have an answer to what had gone down in the first 30 minutes, you just knew.

But the Jets always had an answer. With the game at a tipping point after Tom Brady’s pass to Alge Crumpler and Sammy Morris’ two-point conversion with 13 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 14-11, Mark Sanchez, Jerricho Cotchery and the offense immediately moved 75 yards on five plays to Sanchez-to-Holmes.

“I think the pass Mark threw was more tremendous than me making the catch,” said Santonio. I think the pass and catch and Jerricho Cotchery relentlessly rolling 58 yards in his home away from home all deserved equal billing on that drive.

Late came Shayne Graham’s field goal. Immediately came Antonio Cromartie’s onside kick return and Shonn Greene’s “I’m Only Sleeping” touchdown jaunt. With 24 seconds left came Brady-to-Deion Branch. Immediately came the final play of an outstanding game as Eric Smith pounced on the kick.

Another wow! moment, perhaps the most athletic act on the Gillette Field last night, was Braylon Edwards’ 1½ backflips. The man just played 60 minutes of stellar football, he’s still in full gear and he turns into a gymnast. Remarkable.

And third was the Jets’ Gillette locker room. I remember it six weeks ago being not a somber place but an irritated place, a venue in which a team knew it had laid an egg, embarrassed itself, etc., etc., but also knew, just knew, that somehow this would not stand, this would be rectified.

And so last night after the game, the place was a train station, an animated cocktail party without the libations, as all the Jets reporters and Patriots reporters and national reporters who show up for these games flitted from one player to the next on the seemingly neverending buffet line of inspirational stories.

One storyline that will be popping up today from the media skeptics is this: How can the Jets possibly top this? How can Rex get them ready to roll for Pittsburgh after having them ready to be shot out of the Patriots cannon for Sunday’s superb effort? How many “second most important game’s in franchise history” can there be?

I’d say it’s a valid point for reporters and fans to argue. But there’s always a flip side, and this one is equally valid. Why can’t they rise to the occasion once more, twice more? Sanchez captured the concept at his postgame news conference when he said, “We can’t let up. We know it’s not time to get nostalgic. We’ve got to get over this and move on.”

Before Sunday, no team in NFL history had ever avenged a losing margin of 33 points or more in the regular season to beat that same team in the playoffs. There’s always a way to get it done. Beginning today Rex, his coaches and his players will set out on finding a way to clear the next hurdle.

What a long, strange trip, eh? But in a good way. And it’s not over yet.

I’m packing up and leaving my Providence hotel in a few minutes to make the drive back to the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Eric Allen and Nick Gallo preceded me down there, and we all will provide coverage of today’s locker room media availability and Ryan’s news conference, which is scheduled to start at 3:45 p.m. and as always will be carried on newyorkjets.com.

The last thing I’ll do before I leave is clear the comments to the Radar. Send them on in but please be patient with the postings as we all work to reconvene in North Jersey.

A Glorious Indy Finish for the 60-Minute Men

The Jets are the NFL’s new 60-Minute Men.

After Adam Vinatieri gave the Colts a 16-14 lead with just 53 seconds on the clock in their AFC Wild Card matchup, most of America probably wrote the Green & White off. There wouldn’t be enough time for Rex Ryan’s club to move downfield quickly, especially on a night when second-year passer Mark Sanchez was far from accurate inside Lucas Oil Stadium.

But Pat McAfee kicked off and Antonio Cromartie, handling kick return duties with Brad Smith slowed by injury, raced 47 yards out to the Jets’ 46. With two timeouts still at their disposal, the visitors had plenty of time to get in Nick Folk field goal range.

“I never lost confidence,” said Rex Ryan of his thoughts after Vinatieri’s strike. “I thought, ‘We have enough time,’ and then we had the big return from Cromartie.”

Sanchez quickly went to Braylon Edwards for 9 yards and the Jets called timeout. Edwards (four catches, 62 yards) bobbled the ball on the way down, but it was ruled on the field and after a booth review that the rangy wideout had made a reception before falling on his own fumble. Then Sanchez went to Santonio Holmes for 11 and the speedy target (4-46) got out of bounds at the Colts’ 34.

“He has a lot of resolve,” said WLB Bart Scott of Sanchez. “I think he plays better in pressure situations when a lot of the thinking is gone and it’s just reacting. He’s moving, he gets in a groove. The tempo gets him in a groove. I think he sees the field a lot better sometimes and he gets in a rhythm.”

After the clocked was stopped, the Jets decided to run LaDainian Tomlinson up the middle for 2 yards. Then the Colts inexplicably called for a timeout and allowed offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to devise a play.

Turns out Schotty handed the keys to Sanchez. It was up to No. 6 to select a call off the two-minute play sheet (which consisted of about a dozen plays) that he liked.

“He had a few different plays ready,” said the 24-year-old QB, “and he knew what I liked and I think he had a pretty good idea of what I was going to call. It was a good learning experience for me and it’s great to know that he has that trust in me.”

After making the play selection, Sanchez threw a great back-shoulder toss to Edwards for an 18-yard gain to the Colts’ 14. Corner Jacob Lacey was in coverage, but he could only helplessly watch Edwards elevate, grab the rock at the top of his jump and then come down with two feet in bounds.

“You have to have those in your toolbox and you go to it in your time of need,” said Sanchez, who became the first Jets QB to win three playoff games. “We needed it. I knew I could have made that throw last year — I don’t know if I could have made that call last year.”

Sanchez, who finished 18-of-31 for 189 yards with one interception, missed on a long pass to Edwards on the Jets’ next-to-last possession that would have cemented the game. But he didn’t miss this time around and it set up Folk for his first playoff game-winner and third career GW from 32 yards out.

“Go make it look like an extra point and that’s what I tried to do,” said Folk. “It went right down the middle.”

“We put him in a good spot and that’s what he does,” added Sanchez. “He’s done a great job for us down the stretch and he kicked one when we needed it. I don’t like to look at him. I just hung out with Coach Cav [QBs coach Matt Cavanaugh] for a second, just looked over his shoulder, not watching the game, watching the crowd to see what they would do. And they weren’t very happy, so I knew it went in.”

Jets Nation celebrated throughout the land. And because the Green & White saw this one through till the end, the 60-Minute Men will take their fight on to New England next Sunday.

Braylon Wants Jets to Reach the Next Level

Braylon Edwards is happy to be a contender, but he wants the Jets to take another step up to elite status.

“I’m on that type of team where we should make it to the playoffs. We shouldn’t have to worry about being a wild card or fight our way in,” he said. “We should make it to the playoffs like we did and that’s become the norm now. Obviously it’s hard to say that coming from four years in a row of not making the playoffs, but now it’s become the norm and now it’s become the bar. The bar has been set where we’re making it to the playoffs, but now we have to take it to the next level, which is the Super Bowl.”

Edwards, a Michigan product selected No. 3 overall by the Browns in 2005, made his first playoff appearance last January following an October trade that brought him to the Jets. He didn’t disappoint, averaging 26 yards on his six catches and scoring an 80-yard TD against the Colts in the AFC Championship Game.

In his first full season with the Jets, Edwards leads the team in receiving yards (852), yards per catch (16.4) and receiving TDs (6). He is a critical cog on an offense that is warming up quite nicely heading into the postseason.

“We definitely haven’t been as explosive as we wanted to be all season, but we refined some things, got to know each other and dealt with adversity,” he said. “At the end of the day, I like where we’re at now heading to the playoffs. Playoffs and the Super Bowl are all about when you peak, peaking at the right time, and I feel as though as an offense we’re coming into our own and we’re peaking at the right time.”

The Jets will bring a balanced attack with them on the road when Wild Card Weekend commences. Ranked 13th overall offensively, they’ll head to the postseason with a good running game and a pass attack that is coming into its own. The 6’3”, 215-pound Edwards has been virtually unstoppable the past two weeks, totaling 14 catches for 178 yards against the playoff-bound Steelers and Bears.

“I feel like we can run and pass the ball. We know we can. We can use the pass to set up the run whereas last year everybody knew we were pretty much a one-dimensional team — just run the ball,” said Edwards. “Teams really have to game-plan for us. They have things to think about all the way around in the passing to the wideouts, to the tight end and to the running backs, to the running game. And you have wideouts that are willing to block in there and tight ends that are blocking. You have a lot to think about when you’re game-planning us now.”

With the Jets locked into either the AFC’s No. 5 or No. 6 seed, Edwards will be thankful for the playing time he receives in the regular-season finale against the Bills.

“We’re professionals,” Edwards said. “Anytime that we put our brand on the field, we want it to be the best. When I play, I want to play the whole game. That’s just me. But however long I play, that’s up to Coach and I abide by his rules. But I’m ready to play the whole game and I think everybody else shares those feelings.”

Despite their team dropping three of four after a 9-2 start, Jets Nation has reason to feel confident about an offensive unit that has rebounded from a disastrous two-week stretch against the Patriots and the Dolphins. The “O” has the mojo going and Edwards, a playoff vet, prefers to keep it that way.

“This is a game and then we have a game following that. You definitely can get some momentum built,” he said of Sunday’s matchup with the Bills. “I think fundamentals are the key for us this game, going out there and trying to fine-tune some things, especially to get those fundamentals corrected on offense, defense and special teams going into the playoffs.”