CLEVELAND -- Jets coach Todd Bowles was not pleased with his team's attitude in the first half of Sunday's 31-28 win at the Browns, who are now 0-8.

The Jets trailed 20-7 at halftime. They went on a 24-0 run to start the second half. So what changed?

Bowles addressed his players at halftime, yes. But after the game, he downplayed the theatrics of his speech. It was more about the direct message, he said.

"There's no big speech to be made," he said. "You've got to have a f---ing attitude when you're getting your ass kicked."

Middle linebacker David Harris said Bowles was "angry" at halftime. Strong safety Calvin Pryor told NJ Advance Media that Bowles' speech was "definitely explicit."

The gist of Bowles' message?

"He just said, 'Play with attitude. Don't come back in here without a win,'" said defensive tackle Steve McLendon. "He said, 'You better have an attitude in the second half. Play like you have an attitude.'"

McLendon said cornerback Darrelle Revis delivered a similar message to the team at halftime -- that the Jets would not leave the Browns' stadium without a win.

"Guys got a little bit more fire up under our asses and started actually playing football," Revis said of the second half. "We definitely came out flat."

Pryor couldn't pinpoint why that happened in the first half.

"We had that feeling where we came out there and weren't ready to play, weren't ready to go," he said. "I don't know if it was the rain, man, or with them being 0-7. I don't know what the deal was."

Pryor said the Jets, in the halftime locker room, were "frustrated and pissed off" about how they played, because "we knew we were a lot better than that."

So did Bowles.

"It's all about attitude," he said. "We needed an attitude check. We didn't come out with an attitude in the first half, which we had preached all week in practice. We came out in the second half with a bunch of attitude and played a different type of game."

In the first half, Bowles said, "We didn't make any plays. We had routine assignments that we saw all week that we didn't do. It looked like we were sleepwalking."

Bowles said the Jets didn't make any major defensive adjustments for the second half, when they allowed 133 yards, compared to 274 in the first half.

"We didn't make any," Bowles said. "We just started getting in people's face and playing. We just had to get in their face and start playing."

Bowles also said "a better attitude" and more focus helped the Jets play stingier defense after halftime.

Offensively, the Jets in the second half gained 287 yards, compared to 106 in the first half.

Bowles hasn't been shy this season about using salty language in his postgame press conferences. After the Jets lost in Kansas City, he repeatedly described their performance as "sh---y."

Curiously, after dropping the b-word and f-word in his press conference Sunday, Bowles shied away from detailing what he said to the team at halftime.

"This is a local [family] show, so the words that come out of my mouth, I'm not going to talk about right now," he said.

Defensive end Leonard Williams could only smile as he reflected on Bowles' halftime message.

"He's happy now," Williams said.

But running back Matt Forte knows the Jets will doom themselves if they continue to start slow. They trailed the Ravens 16-14 at halftime last week, but won 24-16.

"We can't come out that flat and expect to win games in the long run," Forte said.

Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DarrylSlater. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.