Sports

HERM: NEED TO HOME IN

JET NOTES

The Jets have shown uncanny success on the road under Herman Edwards. Sunday’s victory in Detroit gave the Jets a 10-3 regular-season record on the road under their current head coach.

Since 1997, the Jets own the NFL’s best road record with a 27-18 mark, which is better than second-place Tennessee (24-20) and third-place St. Louis (23-21) during that same six-season span.

“We don’t fear the road,” Edwards said yesterday. “Our mindset when we go on the road is that it’s just us. We have a way we conduct ourselves and a way we do things. We just, for some reason, know how to play that way. I talked to the players about the importance of winning on the road when we first got here and they bought into it.

“But I told them we have to win games at home, too, and they haven’t bought into that one yet.”

The Jets were 3-5 at Giants Stadium last year and are 2-3 this season entering Sunday’s home game against Buffalo.

“It would be nice if we could win one at home, especially this week,” Edwards said. “We’ve got to find a better way to play [well] at home.”

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Edwards was annoyed by the Jets’ four penalties for 45 yards, including roughing-the-passer calls on DE John Abraham (who also had an offsides infraction) and LB James Darling.

Upon further review of the Darling penalty, Edwards defended the call, saying, “It was a foul. [Darling] hit the quarterback [Joey Harrington] in the head. I don’t care if you’re jumping to the side, jumping cross ways or doing three flips. You hit the quarterback in the head, it’s a foul. You can’t hit him in the head. Period. End of story.”

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The Jets, as expected, activated veteran guard Dave Szott.

Szott, who tore the ACL in his right knee during a non-contact drill on May 28 and had surgery on June 12, has been on the physically unable to perform list until yesterday. To make room for him on the roster, the Jets released G Darnell Alford.

Edwards said, however, that Szott is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against Buffalo and it’s unlikely he’ll play. Szott will likely be in uniform in two weeks against Oakland. It’s not out of the realm of possibility for him to be starting at LG before long.

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Edwards said the film showed K John Hall’s blocked PAT was not his fault. Instead, Lions’ DE James Hall beat the Jets’ protection team with an inside move.

“We didn’t block it correctly,” Edwards said. “It wasn’t John’s fault.”