Jets owner Woody Johnson gave coach Todd Bowles and general manager Mike Maccagnan a vote of confidence Wednesday.
The Jets have started 1-5 and looked awful Sunday night in Arizona. That has led to questions of whether Johnson might make a change at the end of the season, even though Bowles and Maccagnan are just two years into their time with the Jets.
But Johnson said he believes in Bowles and Maccagnan at the league meetings in Houston on Wednesday.
“We got 10 games to go,” Johnson told the NFL Network. “I’m very confident with Todd Bowles and Mike. I think we’ve got an excellent team [of leaders]. I really respect Todd, I know he’s doing what he’s going to do. It’s football. He’s a good coach. I have long-term confidence in him and in Mike and in their teams.
“That’s the way I feel. Onward and outward, we’ve had a tough schedule, it’s no excuse. We’ve been in some games. But Monday night was … we gotta be better than that.”
Johnson also expressed his support of the decision to bench Ryan Fitzpatrick in favor of Geno Smith at quarterback.
“The coach made the decision, and I back him 100 percent,” Johnson said.
DE Muhammad Wilkerson (ankle), LB Darron Lee (ankle), OT Brent Qvale (neck), OT Ryan Clady (shoulder), center Nick Mangold (knee) and CB Buster Skrine (excused) did not practice Wednesday.
Lee sprained his ankle in the game Monday. Bowles said it was a “regular” ankle sprain, which would have a quicker recovery time than a high-ankle sprain.
Wilkerson’s surgically repaired ankle is “more sore than normal,” Bowles said. The Jets have been resting Wilkerson a bit in practice, but this is the first Wednesday he missed.
RB Matt Forte (knee), TE Braeden Bowman (knee), LB David Harris (hamstring), LB Bruce Carter (foot) and TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins (ankle) were limited in practice. Bowles sounded optimistic about Harris returning this week after missing Monday’s game.
OT Breno Giacomini (back) and WR Devin Smith (knee) returned to practice after sitting out training camp and the first six weeks of the season on the physically unable to perform list. The Jets now have 21 days to put them on the 53-man roster or lose them for the season. Bowles said neither would play Sunday against Baltimore.
The Ravens are very banged up. In a surprise Wednesday, QB Joe Flacco did not practice. He had shoulder soreness, but coach John Harbaugh said he is optimistic that Flacco can play Sunday.
LB Elvis Dumervil, KR Devin Hester, LB C.J. Mosley, WR Steve Smith, LB Terrell Suggs and G Marshall Yanda all sat out practice.
Bowles said he is making some defensive changes, but would not reveal what those are. The defense is ranked 23rd in the NFL and 28th in passing.