Fixing The Jets Post Bye Problems

"Luck is where opportunity meets preparation." -Denzel Washington

Jets coach Rex Ryan is taking a page out of Herman Boone's book of coaching. Earlier in the week I illustrated how big of an opportunity this next month of games is for the 2011 New York Jets. The first step towards succeeding during this stretch is succeeding out of the bye week. This is something Rex Ryan has failed to do in his first two years as a head coach. He changed his practice approach this week to combat that.

New York changed their practice approach earlier in the week in order to guarantee the players get back in the swing of things after a week off. Rex Ryan's first two seasons have resulted in losses coming out of the bye -- 24-22 to Jacksonville in '09 and 9-0 to Green Bay in '10 -- in ugly, disjointed fashion. Rex and the coaching staff thought the week of practice leading into those games were sluggish, almost as if the players were reacclimating themselves to their routine after their off week.

Reports of out Jets practice had them working on the actual game plan for the Buffalo Bills on Monday, instead of normal conditioning work and fundamentals. Typically, teams won't install their game plan for an opponent until Wednesday. By starting early the goal is to get the player to focus on the task at hand rather than easing their way back into the swing of things.

Tune into Jets-Bills at 1 PM Sunday on 105.7 The Hawk.