What are the Jets getting with their new tight end C.J. Uzomah?
“They're gonna get someone who's one of the best damn tight ends in the league, that's what they're getting,” Uzomah said bluntly during Thursday’s introductory press conference. “As a player, they’re getting someone who is going 100 percent.
“It doesn’t matter what’s going on with me personally, injury wise, it does not matter. When I step on the field, I am 100 percent. There’s nothing else on my mind. Mentally, I’m just different. there’s a switch.”
Uzomah, after signing a three-year, $24 million deal with Gang Green this week, hopes to be a veteran presence for a youthful Jets offense led by Zach Wilson, and can provide experience in what it takes to make a deep playoff run, something his Bengals accomplished by reaching the Super Bowl last season on the shoulders of its own sophomore quarterback.
“There’s a lot of talent here,” Uzomah said. “There’s a few things that will help us, and we’re going to blow the doors open. That’s all it takes. I was eager to get here and get in the ear of some of the guys. That’s really the reason. I feel like we have something special here we’re going to be able to achieve.”
Any scent of the postseason would be special for the Jets, who haven’t reached that landmark in over a decade. As the rebuild under Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas continues, the offseason moves in addition t Uzomah’s signing show that the franchise hopes to take a big step forward in 2022, though a playoff berth still seems like a farfetched aspiration. But if it were to happen, Uzomah would have to do something special. He promised a bath in skyline chili if the Bengals won the Big Game, and if the Jets reach the postseason, he will have to get creative.
“If you guys have an idea of something I can bathe in, you guys let me know,” Uzomah laughed. “I know I’m gonna dress up for sure. I might dress up like Hamilton and walk along the streets, I’m a big musical guy. We’ll figure something out. As far as bathing in something, maybe a bath, a bubble bath, I’ll stick to that one.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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