The phrase has been heard nonstop around the Jets throughout the offseason.
“We come in waves.”
It was meant to describe the Jets’ pass rush, expected to be one of the best in the NFL after it emerged as one of the team’s strengths last year.
Those pass rushers immediately will face one of their biggest tests to those expectations Monday night in Josh Allen and the Bills.
Those waves had better start crashing.
“Outside expectations don’t bother us, because we hold ourselves to a higher standard than anyone can hold us to,” starting edge-rusher John Franklin-Myers told The Post after the Jets’ practice on Saturday. “That’s where it makes us different. People talk about the best defensive line in the world, and it’s just talk. There’s only two teams that have played so far, and nobody else has. So here’s our opportunity on Monday to go out there and show that we’re the best defensive line in the NFL.”
The Bills gave up 33 sacks last year, the eight-fewest in the league.
Even better, Buffalo surrendered just 162 yards from those sacks, tied for the second-fewest in the league.
It’s a testament to Allen and his elite scrambling and tackle-breaking ability, but the Jets won’t approach him any differently than they do other quarterbacks.
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“They have some good players on the offensive line, but I think we all kind of understand what that’s showing,” Franklin-Myers said. “The quarterback breaks a lot of tackles, he gets out of sacks, he does a good job of making sure he doesn’t get sacked. …
“I don’t think you treat it any differently. You see a lot of reps of guys rushing scared, and you kind of realize that may not be the best way to do it because the motherf–ker can throw the ball, too. And that’s the difference.”
Beyond Franklin-Myers, Carl Lawson, Jermaine Johnson, Micheal Clemons, Will McDonald and Bryce Huff make up the rest of the Jets’ group of primary pass rushers.
Other than McDonald, a rookie, all were on the team last year, when the Jets recorded 45 sacks — tied for seventh-most in the NFL.
The unit has heard ample chatter about other teams claiming they have the best pass rush in the league.
But they’re steadfast that, by the end of the season, there will only be one answer to the question of which team has the best pass rush.
“Yes, 100 percent, no question about it,” Johnson told The Post when asked if the Jets have the best pass rush in the league.
“The depth we have, the talent we have, the character of the guys that we have, it’s second to none. You can talk all you want, anybody can talk all they want. That’s what’s fun about this, that’s what I love about this game. Everybody can talk all they want, but you’ve still got to go play football.
“Whoever is out there on that side of the ball, not just the defensive line, it’s gonna be a headache for any offense.”
