WARE, England — Hanbury Manor is an old property, built in the late 1800s, many years later converted into a sprawling hotel and resort property. The buildings are still Victorian, as is the art. Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson walked through it on Friday, marveling at the idea that this sort of thing is just normal to people who live in the area.
“This manor is so beautiful,” Wilson said. “The art on the walls, it’s crazy.”
To get to practice, the Jets had to walk down a hill, to a football field built in the foreground of a golf course. After the week the Jets had stateside, a deflating 10-9 loss to the Denver Broncos, perhaps a trip across the pond is just what the doctor ordered for a team that, even at 2-2, feels desperate for a win.
The energy was (mostly) positive this week, and it was high on Friday even though the Jets came straight from the airport to the hotel and only had a short break before practice, jet lag be damned.
“We’ve got the whole season ahead of us,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “We’re 2-2. We’re in the thick of it. We’re at the nothing part of football — this is the part of the season where teams start figuring out exactly who they are and you’re either climbing up the hill or staying at the bottom. So these next four games are a big part of the season. But the guys are in great spirits and ready to get after it.”
You’re either climbing up the hill or staying at the bottom.
This year’s Jets were at the bottom of the hill on Friday — and the Jets organization has felt like they’ve been at the bottom of the hill for a long time. The climb is arduous, but this was supposed to be the team to do it, with Aaron Rodgers leading them and a roster believed to have playoff-caliber talent. A loss to the 4-0 Minnesota Vikings on Sunday will only make the climb harder.
“I think you have to understand the Jet fan in America and what they’ve gone through,” Rodgers said before practice, adeptly explaining the Jets fan experience to inquiring British media. “The last 13 years (missing the playoffs) and within the last 55 years not winning a Super Bowl. Sport fans in general get behind an underdog. We’re a team that hasn’t had the success we wanted to in a while.”
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The Jets’ critical week in London: ‘You’re either climbing up the hill or staying at the bottom’
