This old Jets hallmark is now one of their biggest concerns
One may be the loneliest number, but 29 doesn’t feel too good either. Just ask any member of the Jets’ defensive unit.
Defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers gathered his charges this week in preparation for Sunday’s Week 5 game at Cleveland and hit them with a cold, hard truth: When it comes to stopping the run, the Jets rank 29th of 32 teams in the NFL. It was not a “feel good” moment.
“Even though he didn’t point out any specific position group for the cause of that — and we looked at our defense as a whole for the cause of that — I still took it personally,” defensive lineman Leonard Williams said. “Since I’ve been here, that’s something our defense has prided itself on and it’s something our D-line has prided itself on: stopping the run. Being ranked 29th now is definitely not a spot where we want to be.”
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“You should take it personally. Each and every guy in this locker room on the defense should take it personally. It should make you mad,” defensive lineman Steve McLendon said. “That was a challenge: All of us have to do what’s necessary to get us back to where we need to be.”
The Jets’ defense gave up a lot of rushing yards and a lot of points the first two weeks of the season: 370 yards and 66 points in a pair of losses. The embarrassment over those performances appeared to bring out the best in their third game and they allowed just 30 rushing yards to Miami in a 20-6 win. It was temporary.
Though the defense played an overall better game last Sunday in the win over Jacksonville, the Jaguars ran for 175 yards — the third time in four games the Jets have allowed that many. Rodgers said Jags’ back Leonard Fournette made runs where “some of those gains should have been 2 [yards], and he was turning them into 4 or 5.”
He thought it time to challenge his unit.
“I’m just pointing out where we stood. … I know we have a lot of prideful guys in that room, and I just wanted them to know that’s an area we have to improve,” Rodgers said. “Each week as a defense we talk about getting better every week, and that’s an area that steadily needs to improve. … Our standard has to be high.”
And while the defensive line tends to bear the brunt of the blame in such situations, Rodgers said he was talking to everyone who plays on that side of the ball because the Jets “look at it as a whole — the D-line, inside linebackers, outside linebackers, secondary supporting it.”
“If we keep winning it’s going to come down from 29 to where we want it to be, maybe the top five,” McLendon said.
The No. 29 ranking isn’t the only surprising stat on the defensive side. Neither Muhammad Wilkerson nor Williams has recorded a sack. They combined for 15 two years ago and 11.5 last season. Williams believes the opportunity to record sacks may be in the offing.
“I’ll definitely still have opportunities to get those numbers,” he said. “We’re going against Cleveland. I’ve been studying them. They have a young, rookie quarterback [DeShone Kizer] that holds on to the ball a lot. I’m definitely going to try to get after it this week.”
Rodgers said he believed his message resonated with the group and clearly the players are taking it to heart. As McLendon said, “stopping the run is now the priority.”