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Defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins signed with the Jets. The new Jets coach, Robert Saleh, had a lot to do with it.
“It starts, of course, with the captain, with Coach Saleh,” Rankins told SiriusXM NFL Radio. ‘He’s from San Fran and I know guys who played there, played for him and could tell me the type of leader of men he really is. When he called me and expressed his interest and wanted me to be part of the vision he has for me and Quinnen [Williams] are and Carl [Lawson] on the edge, it fueled me. It made me want to be a part of something special. ”
Saleh has become a respected defense coordinator with the 49ers, and it’s important to him to have the right players to implement his vision on what the Jets are going to be. There were a lot of good players playing for him, and a lot of good players know about him. This enables Saleh to target the players he wants and pursue them.
Rankins, a first-choice pick from the Saints in 2016, played very well in 2018. He suffered a torn Achilles tendon during the playoffs, and he hasn’t really been the same since.
“I think I feel again that I feel like I did in 2018, which is obviously my best year, where I felt I was coming to my senses as a leading D-tackle in this league,” Rankins said . . ‘The last two years have been frustrating because as a player I go through everything and anything I can fight to be out there and fight with my teammates. And sometimes they see, from the outside perspective, not all the things I’m struggling with, and they just see that I’m not productive or not explosive, or that I’m not the guy I was, because I’m not. did not know everything I was dealing with.
‘So it’s hard, mentally, physically hard, but weak people and weak people are not playing this game. So I was able to struggle through it and continue to work and stay confident in my own process, relying on my own abilities and remaining confident that there will be a point where I feel like I do again. And once I get to that point, it’s time to turn off all noise. ‘
If that happens in 2021, it’s going to be good news for a Jets team trying to be like it was for a long time.