Shaun Ellis spoke up at halftime yesterday and gave the Jets plenty of motivation to step up their games.
Then at halftime, the Jets changed their scheme against the run, and veteran defensive end Shaun Ellis delivered a fiery halftime speech imploring his teammates to step it up.
"He manned up," defensive tackle Trevor Pryce said, "and said the stuff we needed to hear."
The Jets were simply pushed around up front by Cleveland's offensive line in the first half. They played with much better leverage in the second half. It sounds like Ellis really lit a fire under them.
That's veteran leadership. It's good to see the Jets have it. Teams can't go very far without it. It's one of the reasons I'm hoping the team can work out a new contract with the free agent to be. It might be difficult without a CBA in place, but he would be difficult to replace both on the field, where he is still playing at a high level, and in the locker room.