The mantra is constantly being shouted by Jets coaches during training camp, echoing throughout practices as a consistent message they’re trying to ingrain in their team.
“Just compete,” head coach Robert Saleh could be heard shouting during the third episode of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series, which aired on Tuesday night.
“The best part of the NFL is competition,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said. “Everybody’s gonna have their opportunity to shine.”
“Competition! Competition!” tight ends coach Ron Middleton plainly yelled.
Perhaps nothing better demonstrates the Jets’ mission for competition than their most-recent move to sign running back Dalvin Cook.
Despite already being deep at the position with Breece Hall, Michael Carter, Zonovan Knight and Israel Abanikanda, the Jets signed Cook to a one-year deal worth up to $8.6 million last week.
One of the team’s strengths, the running backs room now also will be one its most competitive for playing time.
Cook’s arrival was one of the early focuses of the third episode of “Hard Knocks.”
With Quavo’s “Who Wit Me” playing in the background, Cook was shown arriving at Jets practice for the first time since signing with the team, and then meeting many of his new teammates.
Cook was there for just one day, though, before flying back to Florida for his child’s birth.
But Aaron Rodgers made sure to share a conversation with his new backfield mate.
“Saturday night? That’s gonna be a long day,” Rodgers quipped when Cook told him when the baby was expected to be born. “Hopefully a short night. Could be a long night, though.”
The episode quickly pivoted to Hall’s return from the torn ACL he suffered during his rookie season last year. Practicing for the first time since he was cleared, Hall wowed everyone with his speed.
“God, he’s so fast,” Saleh said while being told that Hall had just reached 21 mph while running a slant route. “He just … poof.”
“Stop showing off, No. 20,” Hackett shouted.
Cook has rushed for more than 1,000 yards each of the past four seasons, and Hall rushed for 463 yards and added 218 receiving yards in seven games last year as the front-runner for Offensive Rookie of the Year award before he got hurt.
But Jets coaches have made one thing abundantly clear this summer: Competition will bring out their best.
“Now we can all get better, because that’s the mindset,” Saleh said in a team meeting captured in the episode. “You’re teammate’s going hard? ‘Thank you for pushing me to go above my comfort zone.’ We want a group of competitors.
“And that’s what we’ve been building the last three years. A group of men who are intrinsically motivated to be their absolute best. It is a standard. It is a way of life. It is who you are. It is your DNA. Competitors — that’s what we want.”