LISTEN | Inside the Jets with Elijah Riley (1/3)

Hosts Bart Scott and Dan Graca talk about heartbreaking 28-24 loss to the Buccaneers, how the Jets can finish the season with some momentum in Buffalo and welcome safety Elijah Riley to the show.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
It's time for Inside the Jets presented by e Y
Building a Better Working World. Now here's Bart Scott and
Dan Grosso and welcome into Inside the Jets presented by
e Y Building a Better Working World. Happy New Year, everybody,

(00:25):
Dan Grosso alongside Bart Scott Bart entertaining game there on
Sunday MetLife Stadium. Jets look like they might have shocked
the football world and knocked off the defending Super Bowl champs,
but not enough execution at the very end left Tom
Brady was just a little bit too much time and
they walked off the field of loser to the defending

(00:45):
Super Bowl champs. But a heck of an effort by
that football team yesterday. What was a measuring stick right
and talking about you know who the offense didn't have
on the Jet side and still being able to hang
in there. And I thought they did a great job.
And I given up the big place early in the game.
And you know, you talk about the offense being effective,
being up by fourteen points in the third quarter, but

(01:05):
close on the council and horseshoes, and you know you
heard C. J. Mosey says, you know, it's not any
such thing as moral victories. But two young players, they
are right, two young players that this was a measuring stick.
This was you know, the Jet super Bowl so to speak,
going against you know, the best of the best. Um,
they had opportunity to kind of disrupt the playoff picture. Um,

(01:26):
it just wasn't to be. And hopefully they learned that
you have to finish in this league and you have
to play four quarters, you have to execute in high
pressure situations, which they didn't. Right. I think everybody there
knew and had saw this movie before. That's why Salo
decided to try and end the game and have control
of the game in his hands with the fourth down call.
Now you can talk about the discrepancies of you know,

(01:49):
was it a must run play? I know that's the controversy.
But but outside of that, you talk about, you know,
the performance that they put on. This team didn't quit
and they showed a lot of great lot of heart.
I gotta, um, you know, really uh commend the offensive
line because Zach Wilson wasn't under much the rest right
and um, once again I said it last week because

(02:10):
we had him on the show. Braxton Burials is the
mainstay They're going to have to make sure that he's
the priority. I think he's the first guy that you
get signed. But every week that goes by that he
hasn't got signed or an extension. And at this point,
I don't think who would do that. Who wouldn't go
to free agency to try and see what his value,
be able to maximize his value. But he's one of

(02:31):
the guys that you can depend on. He's one of
these great guys. No matter what the situation is, he
comes through. That's why it was disheartening to know that
they were going to put the ball in his hands
to end it. He's one of your better players, one
of your best playmakers, and he always has a knack
of making the play and he didn't get that opportunity,
no doubt about it. And you know, he seems to
be making himself more and more money with each passing week.

(02:52):
Like you said, whether that's from the Jets or whether
it's from some other team. We hope it's from the Jets,
of course, but you know, I'll ultimately the coach decided
to win the game on that fourth and two. Now
you could have kicked the field goal, gone up seven
and then make the Bucks go the length of the
field to at least tie you, you know, which they
ultimately did. But he wanted to end the game, and yeah,

(03:14):
that would have been even more by one, no doubt
about it, and so lucky and I even at the time,
I had no problem at all with the decision to
end the game. That's being aggressive, that's trying to play
winning football. And if they get a yard and a half,
they get two yards, the game is over there. You know,
they felt they had a good play. Maybe, like you said,
the execution or the message that went towards the execution

(03:34):
got lost in translation a little bit, but you know,
think about how short handed they were going into the game.
Then you think about during the game, you lose your
left tackle and George Fent, you lose Michael Carter in
the first quarter, who broke off a fifty plus yard
one and looked like he was going to have himself
another big game. You know, Bryce Huff goes down in
the football game, one of the only two tight ends
or whatever you had active for the game, Dan Brown

(03:56):
goes down. So it seems like this team, so far
from a hundred percent, came this close to being a
really really good Bucks team. And look, ultimately bart you
didn't win the game, you got one more left up
in Buffalo. They're playing for a division championship next week.
You just hope that this momentum and this type of
effort is also the same thing you're gonna see next
week in the season finale. I don't think you have

(04:17):
a problem, especially when you talk about the last game
of the season, of what it means and the indications
as well. You know, because if you're any player on
this team, you understand that you know the Jets and
you understand your team. You're going to have to make
some decisions to improve this team, and you hope that
you're part of the improvement process. And I think some
of the determined factors is going to be about what

(04:38):
type of character that you showed when you knew that
it was nothing to play for other than pride, and
you know these are the important games because you're not
going to get a flat Buffalo team that's looking past
you saying, hey, we'll play our bunch of our reserves
because you know we we have everything that we need.
We don't want to risk get anybody hurt for the postseason.
They're playing for the division title, they're playing for the

(05:00):
right to get to have to play a lower seed,
and I have to be a lower seed and play
one of these high seas and go to Kansas City
early in the in in the process, or have to
go out to Tennessee early in the process. So that's
what they're fighting for, so that they can try and
ease into the playoffs. So they're you want to get
everything they have, right, They're gonna come out there in
playoff mode already, and you're gonna have to match that

(05:21):
intensity because you're just a team with nothing to lose
that has the advantage in these type of situations. But
you know, really, right now, I think you're gonna have
a Buffalo team that's gonna play with a sense of desperation,
a sense of tempo to try and make a statement
early in the game. So you're gonna have to come
off the bus rady to play and no doubt about it.
And you think about yesterday too with Buffalo, you know,
they got their wake up call. To a certain extent.

(05:42):
The first half was a little dicey for them at
home against the Atlanta Falcons. Now, granted they were playing
basically on an ice skating rink with all the elements
up there, but still they collected themselves in the second
half and then they were able to get the victory
that they needed. So that's what the Jets are gonna
be up against. And we got plenty of time to
talk about that game moving forward. But back to yesterday
for a second. You know, one of the takeaways and
one of the things that was impressive in that game,

(06:03):
how about the fact that this team ran for a
hundred and fifty yards against one of the best run
defenses in all the National Football League. And throwing the
fact that Michael Carter leaves the game in that first
quarter after the concussion. So kudos to Ty Johnson, who
we haven't seen much of the last couple of weeks.
Remember he suffered from the drop season that one game
against the Saints, and you know, the coaches let him know.
This is a meritocracy. You have to perform if you

(06:25):
want to play. So credit to him, Credit to Austin Walter,
and credit to that offensive line who opened up enough
holes there to be able to at least keep the
ground game and the momentum going on offense eat up
some clock against a really good run defense. Well, talking
about establishing balance, right, because you can't have play acts
without action, right. So you know, I think it was
a real viable threat. Now I understand that, you know,

(06:47):
the Tampa Bay uh Buccaneers didn't have you know, Pierre Plotted,
didn't have Bear. But there's no excuse. They still have
a Hall of Famer and Dom Kinsol on the offensive
line and one of the best run stoppers or two
of the best run of stopper in the history of
this game. And Steve McClendon and um and Vita Vea.
So they had you know, they still had Devin White.
They still had enough players to be a dominant unit.

(07:10):
You know, you would think that they would have the
match up, but you shot uh congratulations, And I think
recognition is due to the floor for finding creative ways.
You talk about the the the reverses and the sweeps
and being continued to be creative from the run game
to keep teams off balance. You know, we know that
they weren't gonna just be able to to to fire

(07:30):
off and and move the line of scrimmage against your
front like that. But they got them going sideways, got
him thinking, got them, you know, stopping their feet, and
you have to you have to credit the play design
and in the philosophy, because we're starting to see it
really paid dividends as I think that everybody on the
team is starting to understand how they're gonna move the football.
So I mean, you think with a healthy mackay back

(07:52):
in a fat back, you know, maybe some upgrades through
free agency or the draft, you know, this can be
one of the most dominant unit as young units in
the league. Uh. I truly believe that, and they have
to believe that, and they're going to continue to create
depth at the position. I thought of Doga came in,
he gave up one sack, but he played very well
and he's been a valued back up being able to

(08:16):
his versatility. And I think, you know, listen, the Jets
are moving in the right direction, and yesterday it was
a proof of it, no doubt about it. Almost six
yards to carry on the ground as a matter of fact,
on average. It's It's weird though, because, like you know,
with all the adversity and all the trials and tribulations
you face over the course of a long season, and
now we've been into this thing, you know, four or
five months now, you start to hit your stride a

(08:38):
little bit at the end, right, you start to establish
consistency offensively, I mean, shoot, the last few games probably
the best on a weekend, week out basis this offense
has looked all season long. Here you almost just wished
to a certain degree, hey, can we hit the rewind
button and go back and pick things up again from
like week four? Like playing this well? Right, Like you
kind of wish that, Boy, where was this early in

(08:58):
the season. But this is, you know, another step in
the process of trying to build a program and grow
a program. And I think if you're Jeff and you're
probably really excited about some of the strides you're making
late in the season that you hope you can carry
with you into the off season and then of course
into the campaign. But that's the key, right, you know,
being able to have some consistency, because just because you're
finishing strong doesn't guarantee that you're gonna start strong. So

(09:20):
it's gonna take a level of focus and determination and
understanding what you know you are you are, what your
record is. So you have to understand what the perception
r you know of yourself and your team is around
this league, and you have to make necessary adjustments but
also you have to go into the off season with
a plan, right, and we we we talk about you know,
you have the off season, but then you have your

(09:40):
off season and you know, I know, and I was young,
and I was trying to ascend in this league. You know,
I didn't take much time off before I went back
into the lab because you have to make you have
to make you have to make up the ground on
people that's ahead of you in the process when you're
especially when you're a young player and you talk about
to just being the youngest football team in the league.
You know, you have a lot of guys that have
to get you know, some some some seasoning, some some maturing,

(10:04):
some some some veteran, uh you know type of characteristics.
And you only get that by going on and start
getting back with your trainers, getting back with your football
uh you know people in the off season and start
to be critical of yourself, breaking down and understanding. You know,
we talked about breaking down the opponent all the time.

(10:24):
You know. One of the most important things and becoming
a better football player and going from good to greater
or from average to good, it's being able to be
able to self scout right, you have to be critical
and self scout yourself. You have to be able to
look at yourself and say, this is where the holes
are in my game, and this is where I can
have the greatest improvement by being better at this. You

(10:45):
know understand, Okay, these are these are the fronts that
were playing. These are the people have in front of me.
Where do I need to be better at? And and
breaking down that famine and sometimes it's not pretty right
and and we'll see who wants it to be and
who wants improved. Because they're gonna go in, they're gonna
have those conversations with their position coaches. They're gonna see
what guys are gonna call up and say, hey, you know,

(11:05):
can you put these um plays together for me where
I can show where I can improve, where I can
see where my footwork was bad. And then it becomes
you know, you have to go and say, hey, I
have to be disciplined. I have to be able to say, okay,
I can be able to to make improvements here look
at my footwork and you're going you rep it to
death right ten thousand hours and what it's what it takes,

(11:26):
and you know you can enjoy January a little bit.
But February you gotta start getting ready because you know
March is right before the time you come back and
they start looking for your replacement. Very true, It's very true.
This is inside the Jets, brought to you by Selective Insurance,
be uniquely insured. You know. One of the takeaways, of course,
and he thought it would be the ultimate takeaway from

(11:47):
that game yesterday, if not for those two yards there
on that fourth down. The storylines probably Zach Wilson first
and foremost, and how well he played yesterday, you know
what I mean, And two four yards passing touchdown, fourth
game in a Robart without an I N T. And
when you think about his supporting cast and what he
had around him, and not no, not gonna need the

(12:07):
guys that were out there battling yesterday. But we talked
about the offensive lineman that we're down, you know, missing
his top three wide receivers, down, a couple of tight ends, down,
his top two running backs by the time the second
quarter rolled around. Yet that guy went out there and
again played mistake free football, you know, distributed the ball
to his playmakers really, I mean, trusted his eyes. As
we heard of talk about time and time again here,

(12:29):
very very strong close to the season here and again
another positive that you take which into the off season
with your most important position now seemingly starting to understand
the weekend, week out task of being a quarterback in
this league. Yeah, you talked about what I thought he
did a great job of is having pocket awareness. Right.
I didn't see him, you know, giving up on the protection,

(12:50):
believing in the protection, stand in the eye of hurricane
and delivering the football. And you know that, you know,
the players that that that sought out the opportunities were
making played for you. And you say, okay, well, if
this is how we're gonna go about it, just imagine
if we're able to you know, improve some of the
pieces around and some of the pieces come back and
they get continuity, you know, and and okay, you know,

(13:11):
I think we day won. You say, this is what
our statement, right, This is our foundation. This is what
we do. This is how we block you know, simple
runs to the right zone, right zone, left, you know,
inside zone. This is how we do Our gap schemes
are man schemes. But now you can start growing packages, right,
you can start growing the package, you know, and you say, okay,
the core of these guys are gonna be with each

(13:32):
other for a long time. You have that, you know,
you watch your Sunday night football and you watch, you know,
the the non verbal communication that Davante Adams has with
with Aaron Rodgers. You know that's because they've been through
so much together, they wrap rap things together, that they
see things the same way that you can make these
subtle um gestures or um non verbal communications to each

(13:57):
other and that nobody knows what's going on but YouTube.
And that's you developed those type of things by saying, Okay,
this is how we do this. This is the staple.
This is where you're expected to be, and you hold
people to that standard. And you know, Zack I thought
did a great job and believing in his protection, standing
in the pockets and and you know what, I'm gonna
trust that no matter who these names are on the
on the players in front of me, I believe that

(14:19):
my guys donna get it done. And um, good job,
by bye bye. Freeman. I always has his name wrong, Freeman.
I called him stash to a k the mullet d
Dan Phoenix always say Freeman. I don't know why I
say Phoenie. You know, phoene Um. He did a tremendous
job and just what a what a job. I mean,
he comes in, you know what I mean, as a backup,

(14:39):
and it was he was a non story. It was
a non story. It wasn't all. Look, we've seen Vita
there smack people around all over the place, right, We've
seen him bull rush and be and put and put
centers in a in the lapse of their quarterbacks. Not yesterday,
I didn't even hear about it. It's a great point,
you man, It's a great when you made. He didn't

(15:00):
hear Dan Phenie's name once the entire game, and that's
a testament to him and a testament really to that
whole group and how well that they played. And it's
that next man up philosophy, and it seems like they've
been dealing with that for the last couple of weeks
there too. And you know, as a whole, you know,
you talk about like you know, the things that will
ultimately get the attention placed on them during the game.
Penalties is one way that that's certainly highlighted for the

(15:22):
wrong reasons. Only two penalties in that football game by
the Jazz yesterday for fourteen yards you know, not costly mistakes,
which unfortunately you've seen at different points throughout the season.
So you could not have asked for anything more yesterday
except walking off that field with a w And they
came to this close to that happening, and it took
you know, arguably the greatest player to ever step on

(15:42):
a football field for that to happen in the final
seconds of that game. But um, the lost things. But
there's so many good takeaways from that one yesterday. If
you're wearing a jet in uniform, well now I got
you right. I got you right, because now is on film. Yep.
You did it against the best in the world. So
if you can do it against the best of the world,
understand that every opponent requires and deserves that same level

(16:04):
of attention focus, right, And I think the reason why
they came out is because guys understood what the assignment was.
They understood the opponent that they were facing, and they
knew that if they weren't prepared, if you didn't prepare
on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, that you were
going to get embarrassed. And you have to understand, you
have to have that same level of preparation for every

(16:27):
single opponent, because if you can't take anything for granted
in this league. So now I have it on film,
I see that, Hey, you can hold up Vita Veda,
you can get movement on the Don con suit, you
can get uh, you can you can push McClinton off
the ball, you can you can get the edge on
Ghost and those are some of the best in the game.

(16:47):
So if you can do that with them, I expect
that same level of efficiency against everybody. So now I
got you because I know you can do it. You
show me that you can do it. So when you
don't do what you have to explain to me why
you didn't get it done, because I know you're cap
standard has been set absolutely no more excuses after that.
Coming up here on Inside the Jets will be joined

(17:09):
by a member of this New York Jets roster. It's
Dan Grass and Bart Scott and you're listening to Inside
the Jets presented by e Y Building a Better Working World.
And welcome back into Inside the Jets Dan Gross alongside
Bart Scott. It's time now for our player guest segment,
brought to you by e Y Building a Better Working World.
Were pleased to be joined now by a member of

(17:30):
that Jets secondary. It's Elijah Riley, who was nice enough
to give us a couple of minutes on the program
here Elijah, Dan and Bart, thanks for joining us today
on this Monday. How are you great? Thanks for having me?
You know what, when when you when you go against
great players and not you know me coming to the
league and those guys at that time was like Dan
Marino or it was it was still guys left around

(17:51):
the league like Warren Moon or Randall Cuney Ham. Um,
how does it feel like, you know, to go against
the goat? Because no matter how long you play in
his league, he's probably going to be the best player
that you've ever gone against. And at some point before
you got into the league you're a fan of his.
What was it like and how long did it take
you to adjust to say, you know what, let's get

(18:12):
out for this guy, because you know, but I would
assume that in the warm ups and leading up to
the game, you're like, man, it's the goat, you know,
and and what the assignment was going to be? Yeah? No, honestly, Um,
on my way to the game is when I kind
of experienced that most and was thinking like, why I'm
going to get some some great players today, But uh,

(18:32):
you know, warm ups and and throughout most of the game,
it's just probably a regular game, you know. Um it
was that stepping on the field for that last two
minutes where I was like, okay, like I'm going against
somebody who does this very well. Um, Brady's had had
many comeback wins in that situation, so I knew that
we had to give it out all and and unfortunately

(18:53):
we weren't able to you know, kind of get to
win in the end in the end. Do you have
any flashbacks, Elijah be As? I know that you're a
local product and being a Jet fan growing up and
going to training camp watching them play, and I mean
as a kid, the Jets are still having to deal
with Tom Brady. Now fast forward all these years later,
it's you on the field trying to stop him. Do

(19:13):
you ever think, boy, like, what would you have said
to that kid twenty years ago, knowing that he would
eventually still be playing in the NFL all these years later. Man,
I was not a fan of Brady coming up, Like
you said, flashbacks to it. I've seen it a couple
of times before and and to have it done in
real life, and and it happened to be on me.
You know, it's very unfortunate. Um. And going forward, you know,

(19:38):
I know I can't make that same mistake, you know,
you know been you know, been a former safety myself.
I know you may not think I played safe, but
I actually played safety in college. You know. It was
you know, and I'm assuming that you talked about the
last play right and yeah, and it's just like it's
learning is learning, Um. You know, I'm assuming that you're
reading two to one you see too, you know, see
to go to the flats and just for that brief

(20:01):
second of squaring up, you know, let you know that
that that that foot position, not staying open up at
the forty five and getting over the top and aiming
for the top shoulder. It's just it's just a little
nuanced things and those things are are partner the learning process.
And unfortunately you'll probably never do that again. But then
you have to learn for the moment that hey you're

(20:21):
talking about you know, Grason, it's a little bit fasting
what people know, because it's it's one thing to see
somebody speed on the field. I mean on on film,
but it's another thing to see it on the field
and it's something that you're learned from. But you gotta
be kicking yourself in a bus. But what type of
motivation is that for you going into the off season
to be able to make sure that you need to
make the next your adjustments. Because I know some of

(20:42):
my biggest mistakes or some of the biggest teaching lessons
and growing moments for me to make me a better
player and ultimately get me paid in this league. Yeah,
you know, I learned that lesson against arguably with the
greatest quarterbacks ever. So um, this off season is about
to be just about the telling my work, you know,
not putting myself in a situation where, um, I can

(21:04):
allow that play to happen. I could make the play
to finish the game. You know, I think that's something
I'm capable of and um something I should have been
able to do. But you know, it's like like you said,
it's a learning experience. I gotta trust my angles, trust
my eyes, and and ultimately be able to come down
with that ball. You know what the funniest things is,
right is when you go against grown right, because if

(21:25):
you look at him at faim to do look like
it takes so much for him to move. You're like, yo,
this dude, like how does he moving? It's like everything
looks like it hurts, right, And then you try, then
you try, and you go hit him. You're like, man,
this dude is built out of granting. Like he's like
the football version of Over from Revenge of the Nerve Man.
Because you're like, man, how do I get this dude down? Man?

(21:46):
You're like, you go low, you knock yourself out, hit
him on the legs. What was that experience like? Like
going up against Grounk for the first time because people
don't realize that me. We talked about Brady being to go,
but to me, arguably Grounk will go down. It's probably
the great is tight end the league. Not because of
he was just the greatest receiver. Um, Arguably he's the
greatest combination tighten and hit the game because he can

(22:09):
set that edge with the best up Yeah no good. Um.
I got that hit on the sideline against him, and
I had given him everything I had and he barely
moved And I was like, damn, this is a large
human being. I just ran into a brick wall Um
sign to the rest of the game. I was really
gonna have to put my all into him, and uh,

(22:29):
you know, sure enough, whether it was a coverage of
him blocking me, I had to. I had to really
give everything I had against him. He's a big body,
he's a very talented player, and you know, like it was,
it was a fun experience playing against him. I didn't
think we'd be getting any Revenge of the Nerds references
this morning on the show. But it's all good. It's
it makes for good conversation here. Uh. You know, Elijah,

(22:52):
you think about the way that game played itself out yesterday,
and I know that even late in the season, there's
no such thing as moral victories. You guys want to
walk off to feel the winner, and you know you
laid it all out there on the line. But are
there still positives you draw from that game yesterday, even
though you came this close to really upsetting the football world. Yeah,
you know, we're ten seconds away from being the former

(23:14):
world champs, and obviously as promising that, you know, it
shows that we're capable of doing big things. We just
gotta be able to finish and close. Um. I think
we've seen flashes of that throughout the season, where you know,
we've been really good in in one phase or another,
even all phases in the game, and just haven't been
able to uh finish it all the way out. So
I think going forward, you know, with this last game

(23:36):
and then going forward to next year, um o, our
biggest challenges will be being able to finish and proving
that we've proved that we could play with the best
of them. Now we just gotta prove that we could
finish them off. Now. Listen, listen, I got my start.
I don't know if you familiar with my start, but
I got my start because ray Lewis pulled a hamstring.
You talk about next year, right, but this year has

(23:59):
been in this opportunity for you to make a name
for yourself, Like you're like a little baby Bobby Bouchet
back there, right, And I could read I can relate
to that because I was a hitter as well, right,
So how you embrace like the opportunity to get on
the football field and be able to show your talent
and you know, for you, what's the expectations going forward?

(24:19):
You know, do you like that position and do you
plan on stand there? You know what I mean when
I say that. Yeah, no, I you know, I enjoy
um having been afforded the opportunity to play the way
I have and you know, being ranted the opportunity. But
they started so far, and um, I'd like to get
down and I'd like to get rough and hit and stuff. Um,

(24:40):
So you know, going forward, I'm going to continue to
play my game. It's just now a matter of detailing
the things that I need to approve on. Um. But yeah,
I like I like to get down in there, get
get dirty later later would every so often, and you know,
now I gotta be able to prove that I could
do it in coverage as well. Have you had a chance,

(25:00):
you know, Bart talked about your journey or whatever, if
you really had a chance, just even you know, maybe
quiet time by yourself to kind of sit back and think,
you know, what type of a roller coaster year this
has been for you? Really? Not even here just the
last few months. Right, You're on the Philadelphia Eagles practice
squad earlier in the year, and then fast forward you're
on the Jets, the team you grew up rooting for,
and now you're one of their starting safeties. If you

(25:22):
thought about just the the crazy kind of story that
you've been writing for yourself here during the last few months. Yeah,
you know, it's been a whirlwind, whirlwind, and I've had
a limited opportunity, you know, to sit back, take a breather,
and and soak it in. But um, I'm trying to
smother roses as I go, obviously not allowing or or
getting too caught up in the hype of it, and

(25:43):
still staying locked in on what needs to be done. Um,
the off season will be the opportunity to really sit
back and entery other fruits of my labor. But um, yeah,
it's been kind of NonStop. I haven't had much time
to settle in and get too comfortable, which you know,
I'm okay with. It's kept me on my just kept
me locked in and uh yeah, you know, regardless, it's

(26:04):
been exciting. It's been a fun experience and I've definitely
enjoyed it so far, no doubt about it. Well, Elijah,
we want to hear more of that story coming up
in just a minute, so hank tight more with Elijah
Riley here on Inside the Jets presented by e Y
Building a Better Working World and welcome back to inside
the Jets Dan Grassa and Bart Scott with you, and
we're joined by Jets safety Alijah Riley. You know, Elijah,

(26:26):
serious thing that happened to you a couple of weeks
ago when you suffered that injury in Miami was very
scary at the time. You know, it's great to see
you back on the field of course and playing and
doing your thing, but you just take the listeners through
that whole experience, and you know what you were thinking,
I mean, that's gotta be a frightening moment, is you know,
you're playing football. In the next minute they're stretching your
off the field and you don't know what's happening. Yeah,

(26:49):
you know, Um, the incident itself was was a scary moment,
you know, kind of taking a hit and then I
you know, I knew I felt all right. I was dazed,
my head hurt, obviously I had a concussion, But um,
once they brought the stretcher out, that's when, you know,
I kinda felt what was going on a little more

(27:10):
in the gravity of the situation. So, um, I knew
that it was all a part of protocol and I
had to, you know, go along with it, especially given
you know, my neck was bothering me a little bit, obviously,
the headache, so um, I wanted to make sure that
I was okay. Obviously they wanted to make sure I
was okay. So ultimately I was okay, clearly, which is

(27:30):
which is the important thing. But um, frightening experience. And
then you know, I was very fortunate and grateful. You know,
I'm not taking anything for granted anymore. Situations like that
I've seen happen where you know, guys either aren't able
to play football anymore or there they have trouble living

(27:52):
life going forward, you know, So I'm grateful that I wasn't.
I experienced no limitations whatsoever. And uh, you know, I've
got angels around me for sure. Well the good thing
is you got the little afro puff. Right, there's a
little shockers orber a little bit for real. But but
but but growing up you talk about you know, you know,

(28:12):
being a Jets fan growing up, you know, as far
as we all have, you know, people that we try
and model our game after, people that we look up to,
people that we're fans of, either current or or previous.
Growing up, Who was your safety that you really wanted
to study and who who who? Who? Really did you
look up to um and and playing the position? Yeah,
So coming up I played corner. Um it was a

(28:34):
huge Rerievers and KRAMARTI fan, uh love Brievers. The style
of play, you know, it was physical, in your face,
press corner who would still come down and make the
big hit. So coming up playing corner, I wanted to
be like him. And obviously Brian Dawkins is a phenomenal safety.
So those are two guys that you know, I I
enjoyed watching played the game. Um, once I made the

(28:57):
move to safety, be Doc was definitely somebody that I
want at the model of my game after as well,
you know, good good guy in coverage, but it's gonna
come down and and make you feel him. You know,
he's gonna he's gonna punish you each time he comes
in and makes that head. Now, being being that you
said you you played corner and you grew up playing corner,
you know how impressive because I feel like one of

(29:17):
the best guys to kind of make it in the
modern era is Tyrone Matthews, you know, coming in and
l s U playing corner. We know that of course,
Charles and Rob Woodson made that transition, but I would
probably say that your game and your size, it's more
cater to Tyrone Matthews. You know, when you look at
him as a player and look at how he's made
the adjustments, one of some of the things that you

(29:38):
appreciated about his game. Yeah, he's his versatility is is
phenomenal to watch. You know, he could play outside corner,
you could play the slot, he could play free strong
and even get down there in the box. Um, he's
an aggressive style player. And you know, he's really a
pure football player. Um. I've always enjoyed watching him play.

(29:58):
You know, I used to turn on the L two
highlight tapes before college games and uh, he's He's somebody
I've enjoyed watching and watch grow throughout his NFL time.
You know, Um, I think he's he's really become a
very season vetteran and somebody who's very savvy in the
secondary and makes a lot of place because of it.

(30:20):
You talk about your college game, Sure, some fans know,
most fans know that you went to Army, your former
Black Night. What was your journey like, how did you
end up at West Point? Yeah? You know, Long Island
football under recruited. I feel I had a lot of
FCS offers, and you know, Army was one of my
bigger offers. But ultimately it came down to wanting to

(30:43):
set myself up for the best opportunities as a man
and a football player, you know, So going to a
premier leadership institution I felt was the best fit for
me as a person um and then you know, I
obviously get the opportunity to play divisional football and continue
to pursue my dream with the NFL, and I loved it.

(31:03):
It was a hard, hard experience. You know, that definitely
wasn't the easy path, but I'm very proud of the
fact that I stuck it out, I finished it, I graduated,
and and I'm now here playing for the Jets. Well,
you talked about that, I've done a financial literacy program
up there, so they've walked me through those halls, to

(31:23):
child hall and all the things that you guys are
required to do outside of football. You know, how did
how did that develop you and your leadership skills as
far as being able to talk about how hard it was,
and we always talked about, you know, do things that
are hard and life would be easy, you know, So
you talk about going to training camp, talk about competing
for an opportunity, to have an opportunity. How did West

(31:45):
Point prepare you from a leadership standpoint that way? Yeah?
You know, there were don't have anything's up to now
in life that have been any harder than West Point,
and I don't really foresee many things being much harder.
But um, like I said, it's an experience I'm forever
grateful for. It's made me a better person as a result,
better leader, you know, Um I was. I was voted

(32:07):
captain my senior year by my teammates. You know, I
was very appreciative of that. But to be a leader
of leaders is uh is a great experience because you know,
I get to learn from from my teammates, being being
in a leadership role, uh, surrounded by dudes who they
themselves have been captains of football teams, have are on
the leadership council themselves, and um, I'm still being able

(32:30):
to learn and grow with them. So just being surrounded
by very capable individuals, very intelligent individuals, and then great
football players was such a well rounded, rounded experience, and um,
I enjoyed every second of it. I'm pretty sure you're
the only guy on the team from one of the
service academy, So do you and your teammates ever talk

(32:50):
around and when you're swapping stories about your college experiences?
I mean, your college experience is a lot different than
probably everybody else is on that team, given the different
schools that they went to, because they didn't have to
have certainly the commitments that you know, one of the
cadets has to necessarily at West Point, do you guys
ever share stories and you think yourself, boy, I I
had to be a lot more committed maybe than some
of these other guys had to when it came to

(33:11):
just making my way through college. Yeah, you know, there
were many uh chances from missteps at West Point. But
I've said a lot of stories with dudes. We actually
have three other dudes who went to service academies, Zay
Lewis and Parker Ferguson went to Air Force and then
that's right, went to the Citadel. But they've got similar experiences,

(33:31):
so you know what, laughings out, um, but sharing sharing
the stories with the guys who played uh who didn't
go to a service academy is funny because you know,
I'll telling them some of the things that I thought
were regular. Um, and it's not even remotely close to
the experiences that they've had. You know, you got one
game left this season, and you're gonna go up to

(33:53):
Buffalo next week. It's gonna be a late afternoon game.
You know, the place is gonna be packed because they're
trying to win a division championship. You know, what would
it mean to go up there and potentially, you know,
play the role of spoiler and maybe eliminate them from
winning the a f C East. To close out the
season on a high. You know, that would be a
cool experience. But aside from that, you know, I want

(34:14):
to see us put together a full game. Um, it'd
be exciting to go against somebody, you know, division game,
division rival, and and and somebody who's in the playoff hunt.
You know, they're a good team. Would be really exciting.
And and you know, a great opportunity for us to
put it together in a three phases, put it together
for a full sixty minutes and come out with a
W and that and that's something that I'm personally more

(34:36):
excited for it, no doubt about it. Well, Elijah, thanks
for a couple of minutes today. We really appreciate it
day after a game for joining us here and uh,
best of luck against the Buffalo Bills this week and
really into the offseason, and we look forward to seeing
you continue to grow as a player here with the Jets.
But thanks for hopping on. Absolutely appreciate you guys for
having me. Thank you all right, that's Elijah Riley. Still

(34:57):
more of Inside the Jets presented by e Y Building
a Better Working World. And welcome back to Inside the Jets,
Stan Gross alongside Bart Scott, and we're brought to you
by e Y Building a Better Working World. To remember,
Jets fans. You can watch Inside the Jets through the
Jets App presented by Fubo Sports Book. Go to the
app store or Google Play right now and search Official
New York Jets. Thanks to Elijah Riley for hopping on

(35:19):
with us. Earlier in the show, Bart, we were talking
about the play at the quarterback Zack Wilson, how well
he fared again yesterday, let's hear from the Jet quarterback
away after the game, spoke with our very own Bob
was shoosing Zach. Look, I know there aren't moral victories
in this league. Having said that, though, maybe wide angle lens,
not just today, but the last month or so since
you've come back from injury. I would have to think

(35:41):
you feel like you've taken a step forward and the
guys around you have taken a step forward with you.
Is that fair to say? Yeah? And that's the goal.
I mean, that's the mindset every single week is you know,
we're we're working for something more than just this game
this year. You know, we're we're working through the future.
So you know, we can't hang our heads low from this.
I mean, you know, it does suck. It hurts, you know,

(36:02):
especially because we had it, you know, right there. But
you know, the guy's got to keep their chin up
and understand we're getting better, um more, we're on the
right path, and we just gotta keep keep working, keep
doing our thing, um you know, and things will take
care of himself. How hard is that to do? Though,
When you lose a game like that, it's tough, man,
It's really tough. But I promise you, like, you know,

(36:23):
being in that situation, how many learning experience there was,
you know, for me haveing to manage the clock, the situation,
you know, the the um field position, all the different
things and then also our defense on that last drive,
you know how they can be better, uh and improved
right there as well. Um, you know, a lot of
good learning that's just gonna make us better in the
long run. I know the fans will want to hear

(36:44):
your take on going forward on fourth in the yard
and a half or so and the decision a quarterback
sneak was that your call? Is that a call with
the coaches as well, and and thinking about the decision
to to make that play call in that spot. Yeah,
we had we had a pretty much two different plays
in one and you know, I thought that's what the
defense was given me at the time based on my
on my parameters, and so we gave it a go

(37:06):
and and unfortunately we came up short. Um. You know,
it's always easy in hindsight and after the fact to say, oh,
you know what, you guys didn't get it. Why didn't
you kick it? Why didn't you you know, call something else,
Why didn't you hand it there? You know, whatever it is.
You know, we pick up two yards and everyone's talking
about how great of a call it was. You know,
I love the aggressiveness of our coaches to go forth
there and put that game away and unfortunately came up short.

(37:27):
But we're gonna learn from that, you know. And one
final question, I would be remiss if I didn't ask
you about Braxton Burrios and your chemistry with him. I mean,
you don't have Corey Davis, you don't have Alijah More,
you lose Michael Carter during the game, You're without basically
your entire tight end rooms and yet he just keeps
on making play after play for you. Yeah, he's just

(37:49):
an absolute baller. Um. I just got all the trust
and faith in him, and he's just gonna come every
single day and do his job. And uh, you know,
I just have a lot of trust that he's gonna
he's gonna get open. And he's just a baller. You
gotta get ballers. Uh, you gotta get him the ball
in those situations. Zack, thanks so much for the time.
We appreciate a tremendous effort. I know you came up short,

(38:09):
but but you guys should be proud of how you play.
Thank you, Thank you all right, thanks a lot to Zach,
and thanks a lot to Bob there. And just to
piggyback off of, you know, the last remark there about
Braxton Barrios first Jets wide receiver Enfranchise History Bark to
have a receiving touchdown and a rushing touchdown in the
same game. Guy just continues to make place. Yeah, I mean,

(38:30):
and I think you know, he really got a boost
from being on the show with us, you know, because
we're good luck. Absolutely when you come on with us
and you start bawling and people recognize you and that
sunlight and that that that spotlight is on you. But um,
in all seriousness, you know, this is a guy that
has to be a priority. He's a guy that you're
going to have to to uh, you know, pay because
you know, I hate to put him in that same brain,

(38:53):
you know, as you know, a lot of times we
try and find similar comps and we want to go, oh,
Julian Edelman, We want to go you know, Wes Welker,
you know Jericho Contry. But you know, to me, he's
a bit of one on one right because his ability
to contribute at a high level on special teams. But
he's a guy that you know, he showed yesterday that
he can play on the outside as well. Right, you know,

(39:13):
a lot of times going to throw him in a slot,
but he's a guy that you can move around and
get the ball to right. And we we've seen numerous
examples of guys, and every team has to have one
player like that or and some of the good ones
have too, because in this league, you talk about receivers,
they're always you know, they I call him Ferrari's right
to check engine lights always on and they're always in
the shop. Right, So you gotta have you gotta have

(39:35):
a guy like Burials that has versatility, that can be
able to move around and do certain things. And like
I said, Joe Douglas, you know, has just made his
job a little harder because you know the price is
going up over the last month on practice Burials Burials
and his value in his league and what he can
do and what he brings to a team. You know,
it's funny. You know, let's segway real quickly into the

(39:57):
around the league stuff here, which just one more Sunday
of football or one more weekend of football left, and
think about how close the Jets were yesterday, right if
they would have finished off that game against Tampa Bay,
they would have had three wins this year against Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, Tennessee.
You know, three first place teams in the National Football
League three division winners, but still have those Tennessee and

(40:18):
Cincinnati wins. And I bring that up because big win
by Cincinnati yesterday over Kansas City Tennessee stops Miami seven
game winning streak. And oh, by the way, now it's
the Titans who have wrestled away control. Is the number
one seed in the a f C going into week
A team. That's why you have to play every game.
You never know what game is going to be the
game that stops you from getting where what you want

(40:39):
right and you talk about, you know, the Bengals are
looking at, well, man, we should have beat the Jets,
and where will we be if we had to beat
the Jets, And the Times are saying, hey, man, we
had beat the Jets would be a no brainer. We
would be we would have number one seed locked up.
And that's why you you can't take anybody for granted.
It's about being able to continue to put the effort
in the same amount of effort. And it's hard right
to stay full because you know, football season is a

(41:01):
long time, you know, just trying to stay focused and
do everything and not let everything in the outside of
your you know, football world distract you. Not let issues
with you know, what's going on with your family, Not
let the holidays, you know, distract you. You know you
can't you can't say you can't cheat the process. You know,
the the the pursuit of greatness is a lonely road

(41:23):
because you have to sacrifice so much and you know,
it's hard, and it's a balance that we have to strike.
You know, guys are husbands and fathers, and you know,
do I go to my kids recital and when I
come back, am I too tired to kind of watch
that film like I did the first week or the
second week? And that's that's that's why sometimes you see

(41:43):
guys have flat games. Right now, everybody will be locked
in for the postseason because your goals, you can see
the finish line. But it's tough to be able to
see the finish line when you haven't even made the
first curve. And that's what these young Jets are gonna
have to learn how to come in weekend and week
out and never cheat the process because that's how you
that's how you close the gaps, and that's how you

(42:03):
surprise people. No doubt about it. Inside the Jets is
brought to you by Drafting sports Book, an official sports
betting partner in the NFL. Download the Draft King sports
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What obviously, we know what the seeds are right now,
but how would you handicap the a f C right
now in terms of the team to beat? Because going

(42:25):
into yesterday, you know a lot of the Cincinnati Bengals
were saying before that game, they said, Hey, if we
beat Kansas City, we should be considered the team to
beat in the conference. Are you buying into that? No,
not at all. I mean that means absolutely nothing. Each
team presents a different obstacle. Like where they went against
Kansas City yesterday, they face a team that you know,

(42:46):
was led by Mahomes and threw the ball and things
like that. If they go against Tennessee, they're gonna be
going against a team that's gonna bludgeon them to death,
and it's gonna be a physical outfit, and that great
offense is gonna have more pressure because they won't have
as many possessions and they have. When you're going to
get the team that throws the ball So every team
has his own unique problem and issue that they that

(43:07):
they that they that they bring and you know Cincinnati
can believe that. But you're talking about a team that speaking,
that doesn't have the experience, that hasn't been in the tournament.
They don't have the scar tissue that the Buffalo Bills have.
They don't have the scar tissue that the Tennessee Titans have.
They don't have a scar tissue that the Kansa City
Chiefs have coming off a Super Bowl loss, and how

(43:28):
much energy it takes to get back and how long
your season is when you've been to the super Bowl
the last two years. So they think they know, but
they have no idea. But they're gonna find out. And
are they capable, yes, but are they a little uh
ignorant of the factor? I would say ignorant, a little
bit arrogant and not understanding what the tournament is about

(43:49):
because they've never been there, no doubt about it. And
you know the thing about Cincinnati though, I always say,
like in terms of a message, maybe you know for
Jet fans out there that this could turn around. And
then you look at the team like Cincinnati who was
down in their luck for the last few years. Now,
granted they've incorporated a lot of talent, young talent, and
now you've seen it grow a little bit. But you know,
that was a team that was one of the bottom

(44:10):
feeders of the NFL the last few years and now
they've managed to put it all together this year. So
this thing can turn around quickly. So you know, just
because you're having a rough season or two, you look
to a team like Cincinnati, things can turn around quickly
in this league. Well, that's why people love the NFL
because it's not the same people that win every single year.
I know we would would be like to say, oh,
this is an era Kansas City. It's been two years

(44:31):
they've been to the championship, two years they won one, Right,
But it's always nobody saw the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coming
from from where they came from. Nope, right, a year
before nobody saw the Philadelphia Eagles. Right. That's why people
love football because football is one of the games where
the best team may not win the championship. Right. It's

(44:52):
a one game tournament. You know, on any given Sunday,
Saturday or Monday this year, you can get beat in
the postseason. It's about who dares to be great that
particular day, and that's why we love watching it. It's
nothing like a single game elimination tournament. In basketball. You
have seven games. It is hard to be a better team.

(45:13):
Four out of seven times. Anybody can be beat if
they have that day. A turnover kicker can't kick, block, kick, block,
punt special teams lose the game for you. And that's
why we tune in, and that's why our sport is
the number one sport and all the land because of
the unpredictability. You can't who saw Tennessee, Who saw the

(45:35):
Eagles in the postseason? Who saw the Bengals in the postseason? Nobody? Right?
And if and if I know I keep saying this,
but if the Coaps get in their dangerous team, Bart,
great stuff. That's always my friend. Were out of time?
You and I got one more of these next week
for the season finale, Eve Inside the Jets. I'll look
forward to it, my friend. But have yourself a good
week and we'll do it again next Monday. Likewise, alright,

(45:57):
that's Bart Scott. I'm Dan Grassais. Thanks for tuning into
Inside the Jets presented by e Y Building a Better
Working World. So long, everybody