C.J. Mosley has not shied away from expectations since joining the Jets in 2019.
In April of that year, he said the team had what it takes to knock the Tom Brady Patriots out of the top spot in the AFC East.
Last year, he said the playoffs were a realistic goal, when no one was thinking that.
Mosley has also called out teams for disrespecting the Jets in the past and has urged his teammates to believe that they can change the way they are viewed.
The arrival of Aaron Rodgers has helped that cause this spring, and Mosley is embracing the raised expectations.
“Whether the disrespect came from people chalking up a ‘W’ when they saw the Jets coming up on the schedule or the history or whatever it was. Now it’s just a bigger target on our back, and that’s exactly what we want,” Mosley said this week. “We want more people to give us everything they have. We want to go into other stadiums and hear everything they have to say so we can shut them up after the game is over. That’s what it’s gonna take to win the Super Bowl, grow as a team and be competitive.”
On the day Rodgers arrived in April in the trade with the Packers, he spoke about winning a championship with the Jets.
It is talk that has been rare around the organization for the past decade.
This is a team that has not been to the playoffs in 12 seasons and has one Super Bowl appearance, which came a few months before man walked on the moon.
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas will host this season’s game, Super Bowl LVIII.
Other than the 2020 season when he opted out, Mosley has consistently spoken about the Jets transforming from punch line into a top team.
“When I signed here, that was my goal and my expectations, that’s why we’re here,” Mosley said. “We’re here to win, we’re here to win championships, and we’re here to be a great team for a long time.”
Rodgers has not been bashful about talking about the Jets winning a Super Bowl — whether it was remarking about how lonely the team’s lone Lombardi Trophy looks in the lobby of its headquarters or shouting “The Jets win the Super Bowl” as confetti rained down at a Taylor Swift concert last month.
Coach Robert Saleh is not one to guarantee Super Bowl wins a la Rex Ryan.
He has said the goal is to win championships, but he has done it more quietly.
Saleh is not worried about Rodgers and the team now talking about winning it all.
“I think, call me different or whatever, it’s not arrogance. Every team wants to win a championship,” Saleh said. “Every team is expecting to win a championship. That is in the walls and you talk about that, you acknowledge that. Yeah, of course every team wants to win a championship, but you have to have the discipline to bring it back. That’s where messaging comes in and all that. Yeah, that’s what you want, but what are you doing today?
“You just got to remind everyone what are we doing at this moment, because if we’re not doing what we need to do today, then none of it matters anyway. Because teams don’t talk about it doesn’t mean that they’re not really thinking about it. Everybody wants to win a championship. Everybody goes into camp believing that they’re one of those teams that can win a championship. That is a true inner belief no matter what’s said, no matter what the power rankings say, 1 to 32, all of them think that they’re capable of winning a championship, but what are you doing today? That’s all that really matters.”
It may be true that every team believes they have a shot at the Super Bowl, but few actually expect it.
The Jets have not been a Super Bowl contender since entering the 2011 season.
This year, the confidence feels different.
They are not hoping to win but expecting to win, thanks to Rodgers.
“If we’re blessed with some health this year,” guard Laken Tomlinson said, “we’re going to be a scary team.”