Sheldon Richardson confident in Jets ahead of Week 7

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — If the New York Jets win on Sunday at the New England Patriots, and Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson thinks his team is capable of that, then it won’t validate their season to date. Instead, Richardson tells Metro, it will simply be another win.

After a preseason where the Jets were thought by most insiders to be improved but still would be decidedly mediocre, the team has rolled out to a 4-1 start. Brimming with confidence and owning what is arguably the best defense in the league, the Jets head into a divisional match-up in Foxboro that has huge implications in the AFC East and for the postseason.

The six-time defending AFC East champions are 5-0 but that doesn’t mean that Richardson thinks they’ll be getting their sixth win this weekend. Richardson wasn’t afraid to state his opinion when asked if this game has the potential to validate the Jets’ rebuilding process.

“This is going to be another win for us. We’ll let you all write the columns about validating wins and stuff like that. This is going to be another win in the win column if we got out there and execute and do what we’re supposed to do,” Richardson told Metro.

“We’re going to be up in the division, that’s how we’re going to look at it. We’re going to be the front-runners, that’s how we look at it.”

Richardson made his season debut last week after serving a four-game suspension handed down by the league. He recorded three tackles and half-a-sack in a win over the Washington Redskins.

He will be counted on heavily in this game to get in the backfield and pressure Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. His task might be made easier with the injuries that have hit the Patriots, in particular on the offensive line.

“We stack up well but they always find a way when they’re not stacked up well to find a way to win anyway,” Richardson said. “Them losing a left tackle, it doesn’t end up being another void because they pull out another win.”

The content of this story has been changed to better reflect Sheldon Richardson’s intent when the interview was conducted.