When Jets head coach Robert Saleh presented each of his players with an end-of-season gift of a T-shirt bearing the single command — FINISH — he wasn’t referring to finishing a meal or finishing a nap. It was about finishing games and a season, so that a promising 7-3 start doesn’t turn into a gut-churning 7-9 finish.
But Solomon Thomas is taking the word to heart.
“I’m training my tail off. I’m getting after it right now,” said the Jets’ thoughtful player who was a cog in the Jets’ interior defensive line rotation last season. “I’m in a great place mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally. Anything I do, any workout, I’m thinking about that fourth-and-1, about that third-and-long, whatever it is, and getting it in my mind: Finish every rep, finish every play.
“Whether it’s training, reading, whatever I’m doing, I’m just trying to make sure, hey, finish-finish-finish.”
The reason Thomas can think about finishing in green and white is because he’ll be starting his second season with the Jets in 2023. He was an unrestricted free agent last month but quickly re-signed with the team and the head coach who brought him to One Jets Drive as a free agent a year ago.
“Free agency’s different. It can be tough,” Thomas told newyorkjets.com‘s Caroline Hendershot. “You hear a lot about how you’re valued, you worry about where you’re going to go and making the right decision. But it all fizzles out to where you’re supposed to be, and for me, I knew I always wanted to come back here.
“I loved my year here last year, I loved my teammates, I loved the form I got to at the end of the year. I knew this was a place where I could excel and be my best, but I also know what’s being built here and I wanted to be here.”
It is definitely true that Thomas came on toward the end of the season, increasing his tackle rate, his tackles for loss/no gain and his pass rushing metrics after the Jets’ bye week compared to before:
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