NEW YORK (AP) Brandon Marshall thought the New York Jets’ dismal season really stunk.
The wide receiver had one of his least productive years as the team struggled to a 5-11 record while dealing with injuries, in-fighting and ugly losses.
”The best way I can describe it is, having a diaper on and never changing it,” he said during Showtime’s ”Inside The NFL” on Tuesday. ”And just sitting in that diaper the whole year. That’s how our year was. It was a bad year.”
Big things were expected from the Jets after they went 10-6 in Todd Bowles’ first season as coach, finishing a win shy of the playoffs. But New York got off to a 1-5 start and Ryan Fitzpatrick struggled mightily, including throwing six interceptions in a loss at Kansas City in Week 3.
That was when Marshall said he first had ”a feeling of shock.” He and defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson also had a locker-room tiff during that game that also was the beginning of some strife within the team that became an underlying theme for much of the season.
”We understood the challenges that we were going to face with the tough schedule, the toughest schedule in all of football, probably,” Marshall said. ”We thought that we would have a top-5 defense. We thought that our offense will be better because it was our second year around. We had amazing chemistry the year before, broke a lot of records and did some amazing things.
”So, I felt like that was the game we were like, `Wow. Maybe we aren’t as good as we thought we were.'”
Fitzpatrick, who threw a franchise-record 31 touchdowns last season, ended up getting benched twice. Marshall, who set team marks with 109 catches and 1,502 yards receiving, finished with just 59 receptions for 788 yards.
The wide receiver was also at the center of some of the locker-room tensions, trying to rally the team with some tough talk – but having it irritate some teammates.
”This year, for me, it was my delivery and timing,” Marshall said of what he learned this season. ”And my timing was bad at times. Meaning that, after a loss, that is not always the best time to address some tough issues. Sometimes you have to wait until Monday morning or Tuesday morning to have those types of conversations. So, I learned my lessons, some things blew up on my face. I’ll take that. I’ll chalk it up.
”And I will be a better person next year.”
Marshall added that he was ”very disappointed” about recent criticisms by Richardson, but added that he has ”no ill will toward Sheldon. That’s my teammate. I think he is a hell of a player.”
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