Todd Bowles gathered his team together one final time inside One Jets Drive. The 2017 season was over. For the second year in a row, Bowles' bunch finished 5-11. An ugly mark, but somehow it had a positive feel.
The Jets weren't supposed to win. They were supposed to be terrible. The fact they got five wins, considering the dire preseason expectations, was seen as an improbable fete.
But that just won't do next year. So Bowles sent his players into the offseason with a rallying cry.
No more excuses.
"I thought his message was right on point," receiver Jermaine Kearse said. "It's either we're going to be serious about this, or we're going to continue to pretend. And I'm not in the field of being a pretender."
The 2017 season was Year 1 of the Jets' full-on rebuild. General manager Mike Maccagnan gutted the roster last offseason, turning things over to the younger players, instead of fading stars. To an extent, it paid off. Those the Jets hoped would take steps forward ... did.
Rookie safeties Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye look like budding stars. Second-year wideout Robby Anderson caught 63 passes for 941 yards and seven touchdowns, while second-year linebacker Darron Lee had 94 tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles.
Twenty-five-year-old tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins improved. Right tackle Brandon Shell, linebacker Jordan Jenkins and cornerback Buster Skrine, too. Rookies Eli McGuire, Chad Hansen and Dylan Donahue all contributed at different times.
The Jets were never going to compete for a Super Bowl this year. They never truly resembled a playoff team, either.
But this was a clear step in the right direction. Now, they'll have to take a few more.
"It's just a no-excuses business," Bowles said. "You win games, or you don't. It's not 5-11, but you played a couple of games close. It's not so-and-so got hurt, or so-and-so wasn't here. You win in spite of (those things)."
The Jets need a quarterback, sure. A pass rusher, offensive line reinforcements, and another cornerback wouldn't hurt, either. But they've got the No. 6 pick in the NFL Draft, and two more in the second round. They should have $100 million in salary cap space to spend on the open market, and bring back their own impending free agents.
Maccagnan and Bowles have work to do, but playoff teams have been built with less.
"If we want to win games, we've got to do what's necessary to win games, whether that's sacrificing certain things, whether that's doing more than usual, spending that extra time," Kearse said. "I think those are the necessary things that we're going to have to do if we want to go to where we say we want to go.
"From my perspective, there were too many excuses. A lot of, would've, could've, should've."
When the Jets report back for their offseason conditioning program, that shouldn't be the case anymore.
Connor Hughes may be reached at chughes@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Connor_J_Hughes. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.