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Jets safety Calvin Pryor called out Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill on Twitter after Tannehill called him "classless."
Tannehill had words for Pryor after Pryor laid a hard hit on Dolphins receiver Rishard Matthews, knocking him out the game with rib and chest injuries. Pryor celebrated the hard hit after the play while Matthews was tended to by trainers.
"That's kind of a classless move to celebrate when a guy is injured," Tannehill said (Nov. 29). "Obviously, it was a good hit, a clean hit. But to celebrate when a guy is down is a classless move."
Pryor then sent out the following tweets:
Throw a better ball next time @ryantannehill1 teammate would've never got injured!!! Sorry if you felt I was classless at the moment.
- Calvin Pryor III (@star_island25) November 30, 2015
I was definitely celebrating the great play I made. I would never celebrate someone getting injured during the game. C'mon now
- Calvin Pryor III (@star_island25) November 30, 2015
Linebacker Demario Davis said the Jets were celebrating the play rather than taunting Matthews.
"I don't think it was a taunting type of move," he said. "That's not who we are. We're not going to taunt a person who's down. I think we were more excited about CP and the hit he had, so you had celebrating. You're not noticing a guy is down. You're more celebrating with your teammate. I know me and a couple of guys, when we saw he was down, we took a knee and prayed for him. So it wasn't taunting."
Tags: Calvin Pryor , Matthew Eisenberg
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- A neater look sure suits Ryan Fitzpatrick.
The last time Fitzpatrick trimmed his beard, he threw for six touchdown passes in leading Houston to victory in 2014. The recently shorn Fitzpatrick wasn't quite as prolific Sunday for the New York Jets, connecting for a mere four scores in a 38-20 rout of Miami.
It was Fitzpatrick's best performance since joining the Jets this year, and was punctuated by Brandon Marshall's most impressive outing in green. The receiver had nine receptions for 131 yards and two TDs.
Fitzpatrick, who trimmed his Viking-like beard for his 33rd birthday this week, didn't seem bothered by the left thumb on which he had ligament surgery on March 13. He also connected with Devin Smith for the rookie's first NFL touchdown, and with Eric Decker in New York's fourth win in the last five meetings with Miami. The Jets (6-5) had lost four of their last five.
Chris Ivory clinched it with a 31-yard TD run on which he broke four tackles.
Miami (4-7) now has dropped four of five and is 3-4 under interim coach Dan Campbell, who took over after Joe Philbin was fired following the Dolphins' lopsided loss to the Jets in London.
Ryan Tannehill threw TD passes to Jarvis Landry, Greg Jennings and DeVante Parker - like Smith, the first NFL TD for the rookie - in the second half when the Jets were well ahead.
New York took control in the opening half. Miami's best threat in the half ended in Tannehill's poorly thrown attempt to Kenny Stills. Marcus Williams, a backup cornerback who leads the Jets with five interceptions, stepped in front of Stills and returned the pick 21 yards.
Williams, starting for injured Darrelle Revis, hurt his knee on the play and did not return.
The pick set up New York's first touchdown. Marshall made receptions of 20 and 16 yards before beating Brent Grimes, Miami's best cover man, for a 17-yard score.
New York outdid that impressive 72-yard drive with a 92-yarder to end the first half. It was one of the Jets' best possessions of the season, capped by Smith's post pattern on which he got a step on Jamar Taylor.
Miami gained only 81 yards, 8 rushing, in the opening half, when it lost four players to injury: center Mike Pouncey (right foot), receiver Rishard Matthews (ribs/chest), defensive tackles Earl Mitchell (calf) andC.J. Mosley (calf). The Dolphins finished with 12 yards on nine rushes.
Fitzpatrick's third scoring throw, a 2-yarder to Decker, capped a short third-period drive of 25 yards set up Jeremy Kerley's weaving 58-yard punt return.
The Dolphins finally converted a third down deep in the third quarter - the Jets had stopped them on 20 in a row, including New York's victory at London in September. The conversion came as part of a touchdown drive sparked by Grimes' 28-yard punt return. A 40-yard completion to Landry led to Landry's 5-yard TD catch to make it 21-7.
But Marshall outjumped Grimes for a 2-yard score and Ivory bulled his way home to put things out of reach. The 38 points were a season high for the Jets.
Brian Bassett, TheJetsBlog.com
The Dolphins are a team that has struggled this year for various reasons but regardless of their opponent's issues this is the sort of game that the Jets have needed to have ever since their loss to the Patriots.
For the first time since that Patriots game, I saw a Jets team that cleared the cobwebs from that loss and went out and actually dominated an opponent that they clearly could have.
The offense was able to move the ball at will through the air and on the ground. The emergence of Devin Smith with his first touchdown was an element that this team has sorely needed on offense; a third receiver other than Eric Decker or Brandon Marshall.
Defensively, the Jets played extremely well despite missing Darelle Revis for this game. The secondary looked very sharp regardless of their top cornerback's status for this game.
While the Jets let up a few gainers here and there, most of the damage seemed to happen after the game was well out of reach -- and even then the Jets did not let their opponent off the mat.
For all the platitudes and cliches about this being a must-win game, this was just that. The margin for error from here on out for the Jets is as slimy as it gets, but the Jets playoff chances live to see another week -- when they meet their MetLife Stadium co-tenants next Sunday.
As expecected, Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis (concussion) is on the inactive list for Sunday's home game against the Dolphins. Marcus Williams will for start for Revis.
Miami wide receivers Rishard Matthews (illness) and Jarvis Landry (knee) are active. They had been listed as questionable.
Defensive end Quinton Coples --- the former first-round draft pick waived last week by the Jets and claimed by the Dolphins -- is active and will play as a DE in Miami's 4-3 scheme.
Jets inactives: Revis; S Dion Bailey (ankle); QB Bryce Petty; WR Kenbrell Tompkins; OLs Dakota Dozier, Ben Ijalana; DL Josh Martin. Miami: OT Ja'Wuan James (toe); TE Brandon Williams; LB Chris McCain (hip); TE Jake Stoneburner; WR Matt Hazel; OT Ulrick John; LB James-Michael Johnson.
The Jets host the Miami Dolphins later today, aiming to stem the tide and turn their season around following four losses in the past five games. The teams already met back in Week 4 with the Jets winning comfortably, 27-14, in London. Since then, Miami has shaken up its coaching staff and looked to have bounced back to some extent, but remain a game behind the Jets at 4-6 after losing three of their last four.
Let's break down the positional groupings (BGA-style!) to try and highlight what the Jets need to look out for.
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill has had a disappointing year, although his numbers are not all that different from last season's. However, he has already thrown 10 interceptions after only throwing 12 all of last season. Most recently, he threw a pick-six to give the Cowboys the lead in Miami's loss to Dallas last week.
Tannehill has displayed good mobility in the past, but has recorded just 57 yards on 20 carries so far this season. He rushed for over 300 yards last year.
Backup Matt Moore has thrown just one pass all season, but is arguably one of the most competent back-ups in the league.
Offensive Line
Left tackle Branden Albert missed the first game against the Jets back in October and the Dolphins' line struggled without him, as had been the case for much of last season. He's back now, but still not having the kind of year expected from him. On the other side, Jason Fox has been starting in place of last year's first round pick Ju'wuan James who has been injured and remains out. Fox has struggled badly in that role as the pair have combined for 12 penalties at right tackle on the season.
Center Mike Pouncey has been Miami's best lineman so far this year, but the guards either side of him have really struggled. Rookie right guard Jamil Douglas was benched after the loss to the Jets, but his replacement Billy Turner hasn't been that much better. At left guard, Dallas Thomas has struggled all year as the Eagles' Matt Tobin is the only NFL guard to have given up more sacks.
Jeff Linkenbach, who has started at both guard and tackle in recent seasons for the Chiefs and Colts, will join Douglas on the bench.
Running Backs
Lamar Miller, coming off his first 1,000-yard season, is once again leading the Dolphins in rushing. He has 565 yards and five touchdowns, averaging five yards per carry. In addition, he has 35 receptions.
Backup Damien Williams has had some injury issues this year and not contributed much, but the team has received a boost from rookie Jay Ajayi, who has started to flash some talent in recent weeks. Ajayi could eventually be a good contributor in the passing game.
Miami does not employ a conventional fullback.
Jarvis Landry gave Buster Skrine some troubles in their recent meeting, before the Jets switched Darrelle Revis onto him and were able to prevent Miami from getting back into the game. With Revis out, that won't be an option for the Jets this time. Landry's ability to make things happen after the catch is excellent, although he hasn't had a 100-yard game since Week 2. He is questionable with a knee issue but will play.
Despite having 20 fewer receptions than Landry, Rishard Matthews leads the team in receiving yards. Veterans Kenny Stills and Greg Jennings were also expected to boost the passing game, but they've combined for just 29 receptions on the season. Rookie Devante Parker has also been a disappointment with just four catches.
Another veteran, Jordan Cameron, has 23 receptions and two touchdowns, but has been a step down from Charles Clay at tight end. In the London game, youngster Jake Stoneburner caught a touchdown pass, but he has hardly played since then as Dion Sims has returned to reprise his backup role.
Defensive Line
It was fascinating to see how the Jets handled Ndamukong Suh in the teams' first meeting earlier this year. Suh was primarily lined up opposite Brian Winters, but the Jets opted to stretch out the defensive line and got Winters on the move so he wasn't required to handle Suh directly too often. It was evident Suh was not particularly motivated at the time, but he still made some impact plays in that game. Since that time, he's really upped his game, especially in the pass rush. He has four sacks, all since that match-up.
Alongside Suh, former Texan Earl Mitchell has really struggled against the run. He is backed up by former Jet CJ Mosley. Suh doesn't need much backup as he plays the majority of the snaps and actually played every snap against the Bills a few weeks ago.
With Cameron Wake out for the season, Derrick Shelby has been starting at defensive end, which arguably upgrades them against the run. Olivier Vernon will be relied upon to provide a pass rush with Wake out and has produced well over the past few weeks. Shelby has replaced Wake directly on the left side, so Vernon will once again be matched up with D'Brickashaw Ferguson.
It will be interesting to see how much - and in what role - the Dolphins will use Quinton Coples, whom they claimed off waivers from the Jets during the week. Vernon's role is pretty much the same as the role Coples had with the Jets over the past couple of seasons.
At linebacker, starters Jelani Jenkins, Koa Misi and Kelvin Sheppard and veteran reserve Spencer Paysinger are all listed as questionable. The three other linebackers to have seen action for Miami this year are all undrafted rookies. Jenkins and Misi both missed the Dallas game with Zach Vigil and Neville Hewitt getting the call.
Sheppard has struggled this year but actually had one of his best games of the season with the rookies alongside him. The versatile Misi has had a good year against the run, but all of the linebackers have had struggled in coverage, including Jenkins who has had a somewhat disappointing season following a promising 2014 campaign.
Defensive Backs
In London, an already injury-plagued secondary suffered a few more injuries and the Jets were able to capitalize on some inexperience in the backup ranks, but the Miami secondary is healthy again now. In fact, the team only has two players on injured reserve.
Brent Grimes is Miami's best corner, but he lasted just six plays in London after getting burned by Brandon Marshall on the Jets' first snap. In recent weeks, Jamar Taylor has been the other starter although the former second round pick has struggled.
Veteran Brice McCain is listed as a starter but has been employed in the slot as a nickel back in recent games, which plays more to his strength. Reserve Zackary Bowman - who intercepted Ryan Fitzpatrick in October - also gets reps in dime packages.
While Miami lost Louis Delmas to injury during the offseason, Reshad Jones has had a good year at safety with Walt Aikens and Michael Thomas splitting time alongside him. Jones is tied with Grimes for the team lead with three interceptions.
Special Teams
The Dolphins still have two rookies kicking for them. Placekicker Andrew Franks has made eight of nine field goals on the season, while punter Matt Darr has had an underwhelming season.
Landry is a dangerous player on returns, as the Jets found out in London. In coverage, Paysinger leads the team in tackles.
I'll be back Monday to recap the game.
Tags: Miami Dolphins
Out: CB Darrelle Revis (concussion) and S Dion Bailey (ankle)
Probable: C Nick Mangold (hand) and DE Sheldon Richardson (hamstring)
Both Mangold and Richardson were full participants at practice on Friday.
Tags: Tim Reilly
New York Jets CB Darrelle Revis has officially been ruled out for this week's game against Miami. (Popper, Nov. 27).
Revis suffered a concussion in the third quarter of the Jets 24-17 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday.
Head coach Todd Bowles sent Revis home from the team's practice facility on Wednesday after doctors determined he was not healthy enough to sit in on meetings.
Marcus Williams will start in Revis' place on Sunday.
Tags: Darrelle Revis , Tim Reilly
The Jets recently added defensive lineman Mike Catapano to their active roster. He played his first game for them in the loss to Houston on Sunday, although he only saw action on one defensive snap. Jets fans might not know too much about Catapano, so I've been looking at game footage to try and assess what he brings to the table.
The 25-year-old Catapano is listed at 6'4" weighing 285 pounds and was drafted in the seventh round of the 2013 draft by the Chiefs. He saw action in 15 games as a rookie, albeit mostly on special teams, registering four tackles and a sack. He missed all of 2014 due to illness and was released this September after the preseason. Catapano was added to the Jets' practice squad in September and was promoted to the active roster last week.
Let's recap Catapano's career so far and assess some of his strengths and weaknesses...
Who is Mike Catapano?
Catapano was the 2012 Ivy League player of the year as a senior at Princeton after he recorded 12 sacks. He was also named an FCS second-team All-American. His stock rose after the pre-draft period, but he still lasted until the seventh round, where the Chiefs selected him.
In his rookie season, Catapano made some modest contributions in a backup role, recording four tackles and a sack. His best game was actually the first game of his career in which he played 33 snaps and recorded three pressures. He only played 44 snaps over the next 14 games before seeing action on 17 snaps in the last game of the year.
In 2014, Catapano missed the entire season because of a mysterious illness that was later diagnosed as a gastro-intestinal virus. In 2015, he turned up in great shape and had a terrific preseason, but was still released. The reason cited by Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was that Catapano would be a better fit on a 4-3 team.
Here are my observations from watching regular season and preseason footage from Catapano's career so far, divided into categories:
Catapano was used as a defensive end while with the Chiefs, primarily either as a five technique or shading the guard's outside shoulder. He has lined up outside the tackle at times, which is what he did most of the time in college.
Before the preseason, Catapano told the media he was "the leanest, meanest 290-pounder in the league" after having added 20 pounds and cutting down his fat percentage. When he attended his pro day, Catapano was only 271 pounds. He still showed outstanding strength, though, with 33 bench press reps. His vertical leap (37.5 inches) gives some indication of his explosiveness, which is evident from watching him on film. However, his agility numbers were also solid, with a 4.3 short shuttle and 4.75 40-yard dash.
Run defense
Catapano is able to use his strength to hold his ground well in the running game. Also, when not blocked, he is explosive enough to shoot gaps and pull down the runner in the backfield. At the NFL level, most of his regular season reps have been in pass-rushing situations, but he made some good plays against the run in preseason action.
Even in college, he was never particularly productive against the run, with no more than 20 solo tackles in any one season. He had 29 tackles for a loss in four years at college, but 19 of those were sacks.
Catapano has the strength to make arm tackles and closes well to wrap up ball carriers. He's also pretty relentless in pursuit. Catapano didn't have any missed tackles in the preseason or regular season action as a rookie, but he had two in three games this year in the preseason. One was at the point of attack and the runner was stopped after a couple more yards anyway. The other came as he dropped into coverage and then came up too fast when the quarterback scrambled up the middle.
Catapano seems to give a consistent effort and plays to the whistle. I can see him being a fan favorite if he gets his chance and plays well for the Jets. As already noted, he hasn't played many snaps at the NFL level, but did play 54 snaps in the last preseason game this year.
Pass rush
As noted, Catapano had three pressures in his first NFL game. He ended his rookie season with a sack and eight pressures in 78 pass rush attempts, which is not bad production for an interior lineman. In five preseason games, Catapano recorded 10 pressures (including five quarterback hits) in 103 pass rush attempts.
A lot of his pressure comes from the fact that he is so relentless and therefore if the coverage holds up, he will eventually get to the quarterback. He seems like he is at his best when bull-rushing. However, he also shows an ability to get off his blocker, mostly by using brute strength.
Coverage skills
Catapano has only dropped into coverage a few times at the NFL level, but he was credited with 13 pass breakups in college. While I assume most would have been batting down passes at the line, his college film does show some examples of him dropping back and sniffing out screen passes.
Catapano went to Princeton, so he's obviously intelligent. He also showed improvement each year when in college. On film, I didn't see him blow any obvious assignments. He was called for three penalties in his rookie year -- two when he jumped offsides and one when he was called for holding on a return. He also had a holding penalty on a return in the preseason this year.
Special teams
Catapano has made some good contributions as a wedge blocker on the kickoff return unit. That could be somewhere he could replace Leger Douzable, who has been inconsistent in that role, to provide the Jets with an immediate upgrade on a struggling unit.
Catapano has also contributed on the punt rush unit. He did not get any special teams reps in his first game with the Jets, though.
Scheme familiarity
It might seem weird that the Jets would jump on a player who was cut because he wasn't a good fit for a 3-4 system, but the Jets have been using a lot of four man fronts. Perhaps Catapano can fit in here after all. He was a teammate of Josh Martin in Kansas City, so the two of them may be able to help each other with the transition.
Catapano apparently had a concussion as well as the virus when he was kept off the field in 2014. In his rookie year, he missed time with an ankle injury and continued to be listed on the injury report for several weeks after he returned.
When the Jets first signed Catapano and even when he was activated, it didn't receive a lot of attention, but after this latest loss, many Jets fans are starting to reset their expectations for the season and look ahead. In that regard, Catapano can be added to the list of guys who can make an impression over the next month or so to prove they can be future contributors for the team.
In the short term, he can provide a boost to the return units as I've noted, but I'm also interested to see if he can contribute on defense.
Catapano's preseason game film was really impressive, with PFF giving him the fifth best grade at his position. If the reason behind his release really was just to do with fit, then the Jets might have stumbled upon a player with good ability and upside.
Some statistics from this article came from PFF.
Tags: Mike Catapano
Welcome to BGA Extra, where I draw a line under the previous weekend's game by responding to your questions from BGA during the week which you can read here. After the jump, I respond to your questions about the game against the Texans.
lamjones: Will the current vets (Mangold, Brick, Revis, Harris) be retired by the time we see a real winner (if we see one at all)? In other words, assuming we are on an upward trajectory what's your assessment of where we are on the curve?
I'm sure if you asked the brain trust, they would characterize these recent struggles as temporary blips on a path towards their overall objective of creating sustainable success.
How long will it take? Well, we've seen that you can go from bad to good within a year or two, although often when a team looks like they've turned the corner, it happens a year or two later than you expected. The issue, I guess, is if these recent losses are a sign that the team needs to go back to square one or can continue on the same path they've already set out on.
Those guys should be here next year, although they might not all be here the year after that. Maybe some of them will not be retired, but no longer Jets when the team finally puts it all together. It's obvious the team needs to establish a younger core to build around.
f16jet: Why does it seem like we had a worse defense last year, and still played games pretty close? We got more beef up front, and upgraded the CB's, and this defense plays worse than last year's? One thing Rex had, along with his coaches, was the knowledge of players, and what they were able to bring to the table, and to put said players in the right situation to match their talent level. I don't see this, week in, and week out, from this coaching staff. With all the talent on this D, we play like mutts. Our CB's sucked last year, and their names changed week to week, but Rex was able to do a good job with what he had. These coaches can't do a better job with better players, what's up with that? I am alone in this thinking?
You're certainly not alone to feel troubled and bemused by the team's struggles.
The front seven hasn't played as well this year and that's a combination of players being banged up, adjusting to the system and perhaps not being ideally suited to the roles required in some cases. While the personnel is better this year, that doesn't automatically make it a better defense, as we've seen.
Antonio Cromartie has struggled so badly this year that I'm not sure the cornerback position is any better off than it was. Is a team better off with two average starting cornerbacks or one good one and one bad one? Probably the former because then you don't have a bad cornerback out there ripe to be exploited all day. Also, you save quite a bit of money that could have been used elsewhere to improve the team.
I'm actually wondering why Kacy Rodgers hasn't come in for more criticism. Whenever the offense struggles, Jets fans typically blame the coordinator, but because they've had defensive minded head coaches in recent times, the head coach seems to get the blame for defensive struggles. Maybe Rodgers, a first-time coordinator, is struggling to get to grips with his role.
carlhungus: Why isn't this team able to develop talent? Do you feel it's more coaching or lack of talent to work with?
This is something that was an issue for the previous regime too and I constantly wondered if the coaching staff (ie positional coaches, not the head coach and coordinators) were to blame. It might be a little early to write off this coaching staff, but it would be nice to see some more positive results sooner in a lot of cases.
hazard2012: I realize there's a combination of factors involved [in the Jets' struggles], but what do you feel is the single biggest element (or lack thereof) in these recent failures? Individual players? Lack of talent? Schemes? Play calls? Coaching? What's the one thing that most needs to change if we're to get back to winning ways?
I don't know.
That might not seem like an enlightening answer, but in a way it is because I'd have been more prepared to give a more direct answer in recent seasons. It's too early to put my finger on where the biggest issues are with this regime right now, but those are all areas where it would be nice to see some positive progress.
Melissa Siegel: Isn't it a good thing that Coples cared more about the win than about his individual stats in the Miami game? I'd love to know which players were upset about their lack of playing time despite the victory.
It's a good point and that was certainly my read on the situation at the time. Who knows how the team viewed it though?
As for who was miserable after the win, I shouldn't really share those kind of details in respect of players that are still on the team, but what I will say is that one of them is really obvious.
Johnsec125: When is the draft?
April 28 to April 30. Should we be looking forward to the draft or dreading it?
Uncle Joe: Why didn't the Jets double team Watt? Why didn't they have a back-up plan for when Marshall was doubled all day, like getting Kerley and Decker more involved? Why not play Mauldin more, he was showing real fire getting to the passer! Is Ivory really shot, he only ran for around 37 yards with a handful of carries, and he has not been involved the way he should be the last few games? How can Bowles defense get torched by trick plays and a 3rd string QB that had not started a game since 2011 and only has 40 something passes thrown his ENTIRE career?
They did double team Watt, a lot.
They did get Eric Decker more involved in the second half. Brandon Marshall wasn't really "doubled all day" anyway.
Mauldin only plays pass rush situations because he's shown in preseason that rushing the passer is the only thing he can do at an NFL level at this time. There's only a finite number of pass rush situations in any one game and he's basically getting all of them.
JayM: Where were the safeties on the 2 TD passes to Hopkins?
I'll show you:
On the first one, Marcus Gilchrist had to cover a receiver running a deep crossing route and Calvin Pryor was sitting in the flat in case a back or tight end leaked out to that side (three stayed in to block). It looks like it's a cover-zero assignment for Darrelle Revis, so he is at fault here. Could Gilchrist have seen that Revis was beaten and abandoned his assignment? Maybe, but that would have left the deep crosser wide open for an even easier completion and still a huge gain. Also, he'd have had to change course, so Hopkins probably still gets over the top on him anyway.
The second one is a one-on-one as well. Again, Gilchrist is covering a receiver running across the field. Pryor is single-high so there's no chance he could get over to Marcus Williams and obviously they were challenging T.J. Yates to attack that match-up.
I must say, in Williams' defense, DeAndre Hopkins got away with a BLATANT push-off here.
a57se: So, comparatively speaking, how good was Mo Wilkerson on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being JJ Watt yesterday?
About five or six. It was probably Muhammad Wilkerson's quietest game of the season but I still had him down for 10 positive plays and only three negatives.
Bdarc23: Did it looked like Fitz might have suffered a concussion to you on the TD run? The announcers were all over that and he did perform horribly right after with the 2 quick picks.
Oh, he got his bell rung, no question. You could tell from the way he wore that same "I'm OK, I'm fine" look on his face that a boxer has when they've been rocked by a punch but are pretending it didn't bother them. Whether or not that constitutes concussion is for the doctors to decide and I guess he convinced them he was alright.
As I already mentioned, I did thing Cromartie and Pryor also should have been looked at after they went down after colliding with each other on the play after Revis went down, but the medical staff were pre-occupied with Revis at the time and both stayed in.
lbp44: Do you think Todd Bowles is enough of a motivator to be an NFL head Coach? I know a team often adopts the characteristics of its Coach. Bowles is stoic and reserved--actually appears above the situation. Obviously he is a self-motivator but I wonder if this translates to the young men that are NFL players?
Well, we will have to see how the team responds to the fact that Bowles apparently "lit into them" after the most recent loss.
I know players love Todd Bowles, but they loved Rex Ryan too and it became apparent that Rex's style eventually started to fall on deaf ears. Maybe that's happening a lot sooner with Bowles, but hopefully it's early enough that he can adjust to it.
Hazard2012: Where's this aggressive DL play we were told would happen? Are Wilkerson, Richardson, Harrison and Williams not the players we (and everyone else) thought they were? And where are our edge rushers when we need them, especially Coples, Mauldin and Pace?
The defensive line has been plenty aggressive and has played really well against the run for the most part. The production in terms of pass rush hasn't really been there (apart from Wilkerson), but a big part of that is that teams are neutralizing that with a quick passing game.
I think all four of those guys are what we thought they were. I predicted Leonard Williams wouldn't be instantly dominant at this level. Damon Harrison has always been a one-dimensional player. Wilkerson has been great. Sheldon Richardson's just missed some time, but has made plenty of impact plays in those games he has played in.
The outside linebackers simply haven't been employed as edge rushers in this system. That's something which was temporarily successful but hasn't worked so well in recent weeks, so maybe Bowles - who has never been married to any specific scheme - will take a different approach.
BenNevis: Why are Bowles and Gailey leaning so heavily (and in such clutch situations) on rookie WRs who can't catch and why won't they use a proven clutch WR (e.g. Kerley)?
I have asked the same things. Cleary Jeremy Kerley isn't in their long term plans and Devin Smith is, but you'd at least like Smith to establish himself by having some kind of production before you have him out there on fourth down, let alone make him the target.
Disgruntled Jets Fan (via twitter): Why is Dee still not getting reps?
Bowles answered this in his presser. Apparently Dee Milliner was healthy on Sunday, but was inactive because he hadn't practiced all week, due to illness. You'd like to think they'd give him a shot to show what he can do before they decide on his long-term future, but they haven't done that with Kerley or Quinton Coples, so…
Mike (via email): Clearly the linebackers are the biggest flaw of the defense (outside of ST, the entire team). Of the current roster is there any reason to believe in improvement? Should the Jets start over next year? How do you think the Jets will approach the linebackers going forward, and how would you do it differently?
Demario Davis has been a disappointment and it seems likely he will be gone before David Harris, which had seemed extremely unlikely over the past few years.
Bowles says Erin Henderson might get more reps, but I can't say I'm that high on him being much of an upgrade.
Maybe Bowles should do what he did last year in Arizona and accept he only has one decent ILB and then pair him with an extra safety in the box to add to the versatility in the back seven.
Andy (via email): How many more wins would this team have had last year with Fitz 2015 level production from the quarterback position?
Extrapolated over a whole season, Ryan Fitzpatrick is on a pace for about 3,500 yards, 25 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. Let's call rushing and fumbles a wash and ignore sacks (even though Geno Smith probably takes more). Compared with Michael Vick/Geno in 2014, this works out as an extra 400 yards and nine touchdowns over the course of the season, but three more interceptions. Let's say they would be a touchdown better off in about half of the games. They lost one game in overtime and three by three or less. So maybe they win two of those four. Also they had three losses by seven or eight points, so maybe one of those turns into an overtime win. That would get them to 7-9.
A more interesting comparison would be 2013, where they were 8-8. A similar upgrade in that year could have made them into a 10 or 11 team. Then again, they only had one loss by fewer than 10 points all year.
And finally: The GIF of the week featuring Muhammad Wilkerson getting nasty.
CB Darrelle Revis (concussion) and S Dion Bailey (ankle) did not practice on Thursday.
C Nick Mangold (hand) was limited during practice.
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (thumb), WR Eric Decker (knee), and DE Sheldon Richardson (hamstring) were all full participants.
Tags: Darrelle Revis , Nick Mangold
Earlier this week, the Jets signed free agent linebacker Josh Martin to their active roster. Jets fans might not know too much about Martin, so I've been looking at game footage to try and assess what he brings to the table.
The 24-year old Martin is listed at 6'3" and 245 pounds and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013. He played sparingly on defense over his first two seasons, making one start. Much of his production (26 tackles, 0.5 sacks, one forced fumble) came on special teams. He has spent time with the Chiefs, Colts and Bucs so far in 2015.
Let's recap Martin's career so far and assess some of his strengths and weaknesses...
Who is Josh Martin?
Martin was a productive player in college (Columbia), but not considered likely to be selected heading into the 2013 draft, although his stock rose following a decent pro day. The Chiefs signed him as an undrafted free agent and he was with them until September.
Martin was considered a core special-teamer for the Chiefs and saw some action on defense, including one start. They placed him on injured reserve in September after he suffered a concussion dring the preseason, then released him from the reserve with an injury settlement the next day.
Martin signed for and played two games with the Bucs earlier this season, albeit solely on special teams. They also ended up releasing him with an injury settlement.Earlier this week, the Jets signed Martin from the Colts' practice squad. By rule, he must remain on the Jets' active roster for at least three weeks.
Here are my observations from watching regular season and preseason footage from Martin's career so far, divided into categories:
Martin was employed as an outside linebacker while with the Chiefs, having played as a defensive end in college. It was rare that he lined up inside, matched up in the slot or put his hand in the dirt, but he has done each of these things every now and then.
He was never really employed situationally with the Chiefs, just rotating in for a series at a time. In his rookie season, he only played in garbage time, other than the last game where he played the whole game. In year two, they got him some reps earlier on in games.
Martin made a huge impression at Rutgers pro day in 2013, running a 4.57 forty and putting up 30 reps in the bench press. However, other than his three-cone drill (7.08) the rest of his workout numbers were actually below average for his size. He does showcase his ability to get downfield and his physicality on special teams.
His listed size is perhaps a little small for an outside linebacker role within the Jets' current defensive scheme.
Run defense
Martin seems to play with good discipline and wasn't taken advantage of by blockers in the running game too much. A productive tackler in college, he hasn't produced much in the running game at the pro level. He made a good play during the preseason to stop the running back for a loss coming unblocked off the opposite edge.
Impressively, Martin has had just one missed tackle in all of his preseason and regular season appearances at the NFL level, according to PFF. That includes special teams play. That came on a fake punt as the run went outside and he made a desparate, diving attempt to try and cut down the runner before the marker.
Martin closes well on the ball carrier and shows good technique. He can also deliver some big hits, although that's how he ended up with a concussion in the preseason.
Pass rush
Martin has had half a sack and six pressures in 80 pass rush attempts at the NFL level. In addition, he's had one sack, four hits and eight pressures in 123 pass rush attempts in preseason action. That's reasonable production but nothing special.
Much of the pressure he has been generating at the NFL level has come either as he's been unblocked off the edge or on an inside stunt, although he has won some one-on-one matchups, showing an ability to get the lineman's hands off him and to duck around the edge on a speed rush. He was mostly taking advantage of backups on these plays, though.
In college, he had 17 sacks in three seasons, along with 14 quarterback hits. His career-high seven sacks in 2011 was tied for third-best in the conference.
Coverage skills
As a converted defensive end, Martin will probably not have much to offer in terms of coverage abilities. In regular season action, he hasn't dropped into coverage much, although he's done it a little more in preseason games. He's been targeted three times (all in preseason action) and given up two receptions for 16 yards. He was credited with two pass breakups in college, presumably batting passes down at the line.
You would expect Martin, who attended an Ivy League school, to have good smarts, and I didn't see him blow any obvious assignments. He's also been a disciplined player with just one penalty in NFL regular or preseason action (a holding call on a return).
Special teams
This is clearly where the Jets will be hoping for immediate contributions from Martin. He has played a variety of special teams roles over the course of his career and has been a productive tackler in coverage, with 10 in 2014. PFF named him as all-NFL for that year and gave him the best special teams grade in the league.
He consistently did a good job of getting downfield to bust the wedge on kick returns and contained return men well when he got down there.
It's not just in coverage where Martin excels. Check out this great article that gives an example of his blocking on the return units.
Scheme familiarity
While Martin has undoubtedly been brought here to contribute on special teams, the Chiefs do play a 3-4 defense. That should mean the Jets' base packages are familiar to Martin, not that they use them very often.
Martin has already been on injured reserve twice this season -- once with a concussion and once with a hamstring issue. He also missed time with a hamstring issue last season and was listed on the injury report seven times with a variety of minor issues.
By picking up someone regarded as a good special-teamer, the Jets have at last addressed an area of need which has been crying out for reinforcements since before the start of the season.
The fact that Martin replaced Quinton Coples on the roster might have some people making a direct comparison, but if Coples wasn't going to contribute, replacing him with a guy like Martin -- who can provide a much-needed upgrade to that unit -- is a much better use of a roster spot.
Whether Martin will be here long-term remains to be seen, but the Chiefs did put a lot of effort into developing him. He could certainly be a player whose contributions grow as he continues to establish himself.
Some statistics from this article came from PFF. I'm also working on a scouting report for Mike Catapano which will be posted soon...
Jets coach Todd Bowles discusses the status of Darrelle Revis after a concussion and bouncing back from the loss to the Texans.
The crew plays Fact or Fiction on a number of topics including the Jets defensive line, the offense and the depth chart.
Corey Griffin and Brian Bassett are stuffing their Thanksgiving podcast, and they're joined by Newsday's Bob Glauber (13:00) to talk about the state of the Jets, Todd Bowles, and Sunday's showdown with the Miami Dolphins.
Tags: Miami Dolphins
After losing for the fourth time in five games, Jets head coach Todd Bowles voiced his frustrations to his players in the locker room, Muhammad Wilkerson told WFAN on Tuesday (Nov. 24).
"Coach Todd, after the game, went off on us and told us, 'Losing is not acceptable,'" Wilkerson said. "He doesn't like losing, as well. I'm pretty sure that everybody in the locker room definitely needs to have that spark lit under them this week, and we need to get these wins rolling quickly."
Bowles, in his first season as Jets head coach, said after the Jets' 24-17 loss to the Texans that he was upset at his team, but would handle the matter internally.
"I'm extremely upset today, but I'm not going to take it out here," Bowles said at the time. "We'll discuss that in-house when I get back in the locker room and we get in the meeting."
The Jets started the season 4-1, but have dropped to 5-5 and sit in a four-way tie for sixth in the AFC Wild Card race heading into Sunday's game against the Dolphins. New York doesn't hold any tiebreaker over the other 5-5 teams (Chiefs, Texans and Bills).
"These losses are starting to get out of hand for us," Wilkerson said.
Tags: Muhammad Wilkerson , Matthew Eisenberg
The Miami Dolphins have claimed Quinton Coples off waivers.
The former first-round draft pick was cut by the Jets on Monday.
This season for the Jets, the 25-year-old Coples had appeared in 10 games (two starts) while failing to record a sack.
The Jets play the Dolphins on Sunday.
Tags: Miami Dolphins , Quinton Coples
The Jets have signed OLB Josh Martin to the active roster, the team announced.
Martin started out as an undrafted LB with Kansas City in 2013, out of Columbia. He played his first two seasons with the Chiefs, then moved to Tampa Bay this season. He was waived/injured by the Buccaneers in October and was signed Oct. 31 to the Colts' practice squad.
Martin has half a sack, a forced fumble and 28 tackles over 21 games in the NFL.
The wide receiver and quarterback relationship is extremely important -- just ask Brandon Marshall.
Marshall shared a photo of himself on FaceTime with Ryan Fitzpatrick.
"Communication is key.. . Even over FaceTime with your QB!!!" he posted on Instagram.
Tags: Brandon Marshall , Ryan Fitzpatrick
Colin Kaepernick will not play again this season, after landing on injured reserve for a torn labrum in his shoulder. But, his 49ers career may be over, too, as he was benched in favor of their backup.
So, should the New York Jets look into trading for the quarterback?
Peter King floats the Jets as one of the options for the 49ers if they want to deal the QB.
"Because they're in need of a quarterback of the future, and offensive coordinator Chan Gailey likes versatile athlete types," King wrote in The MMQB (Nov. 24).
But, Kaepernick is owed $13.9 million next season and recovery time for his expected surgery is 4-6 months.
With Ryan Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith not looking like long-term solutions, do you think the Jets should inquire on Kaep?
Tags: San Francisco 49ers , Andrew Vazzano
Safety Ronald Martin was added back to the Jets' practice squad after clearing waivers, the team announced Monday night.
Martin was placed on waivers before Sunday's loss to the Texans. New York signed him from the practice squad to the active roster before the Jets' Week 10 loss to the Bills.
Martin, 22, is in his rookie season after attending LSU.
Tags: Ronald Martin
For all the changes the Jets made this offseason, yesterday's loss and the struggles over the past few weeks had a familiar feel to them.
However, if I told you at the start of the season that the Jets would be without Nick Mangold, Sheldon Richardson and Darrelle Revis during a November road game against a team leading their division, would you really have expected anything better than a competitive loss?
Right now, the Jets are victims of their own early-season success because the 4-1 start placed unrealistic expectations on the team. At the same time, they're not as bad as this 1-4 stretch would suggest either.
I remain extremely impressed with the Texans and hope to see them continuing to improve as the season endures. I have a feeling I'll be rooting for them come playoff time, because right now the Jets aren't showing many signs that they'll be there. However, right now this team needs to stop worrying about the playoffs and instead focus on getting back to winning ways. Hopefully, that can begin on Sunday because time is running out on the season.
There was no BGA Extra last week because you guys were kind to me and didn't ask me many questions after the Bills game. However, BGA Extra will return on Friday and I'll incorporate the few questions I did get into that article. Remember to send me your questions about the Texans game if there's anything you want be to go into more detail on.
Here are the links to each of this week's BGA articles.
- Introduction
- Quarterbacks
- Offensive Line
- Running Backs
- Wide Receivers
- Defensive Line
- Linebackers
- Defensive Backs
- Special Teams
If you have anything you'd like me to take a closer look at or any other questions for me, leave them in the comments section of this post (please re-submit any questions you've asked in any of the above posts), tweet them to @Bent_Double or email email@example.com and I'll respond in BGA Extra on Friday.
Tags: Houston Texans
Jets head coach Todd Bowles spoke with the media on Monday. Here are five things we learned...
1.) QB Ryan Fitzpatrick will start against the Dolphins on Sunday, and there wasn't much discussion regarding a potential change.
2.) The release of LB Quinton Coples was strictly a business decision.
3.) CB Darrelle Revis is still going through concussion protocol and didn't feel better on Monday.
4.) C Nick Mangold had an MRI on his hand that came back negative. However, he has 6-7 stiches in his hand and his availability for Sunday will depend on his pain tolerance.
5.) Bowles is hopeful that DE Sheldon Richardson (hamstring) will be able to play on Sunday.
I've come to appreciate Jeremy Kerley as a punt returner this year. Yes, he offers no threat whatsoever, but he's been reliable at fielding the ball and on a special teams unit that can't otherwise seem to get out of its own way, that's appreciated because an ill-timed muff would strike me as the kind of thing this team wouldn't respond well to.
However, this week, Kerley annoyed me a little bit. At least three times, it seemed like he had a ton of room to run but he didn't make the most of it. The Texans have been susceptible to return yardage over the course of the season, but Kerley was unable to exploit this, dancing around and ultimately going nowhere on one play and then indecisively running towards the sideline and out of bounds on the other two.
The blocking in front of Kerley was perhaps not the best, but he still seemed like he could have done better on those plays. He also seemed to cut a forlorn figure on the sidelines even after Brandon Marshall's game-tying touchdown, so I wonder if he's started going through the motions, seeing the writing on the wall for next year.
His returns brought back memories of Santana Moss, who I coined "The Crab" when he similarly checked out in 2004, giving a poor effort on returns and in terms of going over the middle with a contract extension - one the Jets couldn't afford and ultimately side-stepped by trading him - looming on the horizon. I called him the crab because he basically ran laterally and then just ran straight out of bounds on nearly every punt return like he was only capable of going sideways. Kerley wasn't as bad as that, but did leave some yards on the field.
Other than this, there wasn't much to report on special teams. In the kicking game, Randy Bullock made a field goal and kicked three touchbacks. Ryan Quigley had two nice punts - it was almost three, but he put one in the end zone. Tanner Purdum had a bad snap and one punt was nearly blocked as Erin Henderson left a rusher unblocked and Calvin Pryor double-teamed instead of picking that up.
On kick returns, Antonio Cromartie had a good one out to the 40. He was stuffed inside the 20 on one though, as Leger Douzable missed his block.
Finally, in coverage, the likes of Buster Skrine, Rontez Miles and Kellen Davis made nice tackles and Henderson combined with Trevor Reilly to force a fumble, although how he didn't recover it, I'll never know. Miles also nearly blocked a punt but Skrine was called for a personal foul which turned a 45-yard net punt into a 71-yard net punt in the fourth quarter.
Next up…Our final wrap-up, giving you the links to all today's articles and the opportunity to read the whole thing in one go…
Tags: Jeremy Kerley
Darrelle Revis is a great player. He's easily the Jets' best defensive back and still one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. However, it's obvious he's not the guaranteed complete-lockdown corner he was before his ACL tear even though the Jets are currently paying him like he is, with a plan to continue doing so for the next few years.
When you watch the disruptiveness of a player like J.J. Watt, it shows the contributions he makes towards the hefty salary he himself is earning. You can say that the Texans have fielded a team with a losing record in recent years, but they've done so in spite of Watt earning his keep with the most consistently disruptive play of any defensive player in the league. Every team that beat the Texans had to deal with Watt making their job harder.
Revis has been on both winning and losing teams in his time away from the Jets. Perhaps tellingly, that's what each of those teams already were before he arrived and have continued to be after his departure.
You can remove an elite cornerback's influence from a game by completely avoiding him, but there's an inherent value in that because it reduces your number of options on any given play and can also serve to remove one of your playmakers' own influences from the game. Whether that value is worth the exorbitant salaries commanded by today's top corners is up for debate, but what happens when a player's performance slips below an elite level?
We can't expect Revis to be completely flawless. However, when you're paying him almost a million dollars per game (maybe more than that if he gets hurt and misses a few), he needs to be as close to that as possible to justify his worth. He's held players like Sammy Watkins and Amari Cooper to below their usual level of production in recent weeks, but if we're going to pick apart his performance -- and with such a high salary, we have a right to do so -- he did still get badly beaten for some key conversions to each and was lucky on a couple of plays that could have made their numbers look a lot better.
In Sunday's game, Revis started off matched up with DeAndre Hopkins, but Hopkins burned him on a double-move to get deep early. The ball was overthrown and this looked like another one of those near-misses that Revis would typically overcome to hold that receiver to below their usual production. However, this time, they went after him again later on and this time connected as Revis was badly beaten on a 61-yard touchdown pass.
Revis had already given up three first downs to that point and in the second half, the Jets started getting Revis to pass Hopkins off to Marcus Gilchrist when he ran deep. They also put Buster Skrine and Antonio Cromartie on him at times instead. A concession that he couldn't handle this match-up, perhaps?
In the second half, Revis gave up another first down on third-and-long and also had two tackles where he didn't wrap up and the runner was able to get extra yardage. In the end, Revis was knocked out of the game with a suspected concussion and Hopkins beat his replacement, Marcus Williams, over the top for another touchdown.
Revis is a great player, but if he's going to be given these tough isolation assignments and can't handle them as well as he used to, the Jets' defense will suddenly be no better off than it would have if it were playing two cheaper, more conventional cornerbacks and not worrying about the traps, blitz packages and rolling coverages that leaving Revis on an island enables them to do. Unfortunately, in order to be worth what they're paying him, they need him to handle those assignments.
Cromartie might only be earning half as much as Revis but he's not even meeting the requirement of being capable of playing at a "cheaper, more conventional cornerback" level right now. Making his return from injury, he was driven well out of the play on a wildcat run early on for an easy third down conversion. He was also flagged for holding on another third down and beaten twice in coverage in the first half -- once for a first down and the other time as the throw was off target. The one good play he did make in coverage in the first half should also have been a hold or an illegal contact call.
The second half wasn't much better for Revis. As noted, he was perhaps drawn out of position on the gadget play that went for a touchdown and then gave up a huge gain when he gambled to try and break up the pass and the receiver escaped into the open field. He did make one good play in coverage, stripping the ball away from a receiver after he caught it at the marker.
Perhaps more concerning was that he noticeably seemed to shy away from contact on a couple of plays. That's something he's been accused of in the past, but not something I've seen from him as much in recent years. The one good tackle Cromartie did make -- although it was negated by a penalty anyway -- was when he was out of position and ran across late, so he was on the move as the receiver caught the ball. When a runner comes at Cromartie, he seems to be reverting to bad habits but he had the momentum in his favor on that one.
Skrine wasn't exploited in coverage, although I did notice that Cecil Shorts lost him on one third down route where the pass went elsewhere. Skrine did well to contain one wildcat run and had a good hit on a receiver downfield, although he held on to the catch.
Although he gave up that score, Williams came up big with a strip-sack and fumble recovery and a key pass break-up on third down. The only other cornerback to get any reps was Darrin Walls, who played one snap.
At safety, Gilchrist was in on a few stops and made a couple of good plays in coverage. He almost intercepted a wayward pass downfield.
Calvin Pryor made his return to the lineup and made some good contributions in the running game, although he did have one missed tackle on a bad angle. Pryor also had a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit and two nice plays in coverage. One of those saw him break up a fade route to J.J. Watt -- a player who entered the game with a 100 percent catch rate. The other saw him avoid traffic to pick up Cromartie's man near the goal line after the Texans motioned him across the formation at full speed. The sideline mics, picked up Pryor saying "[I] got you!" as Cromartie thanked him for the rescue following the throw-away.
Finally, Rontez Miles saw some brief action with Pryor out of the game for a few plays. I did notice both Cromartie and Pryor shaking out the cobwebs after one running play. It seemed odd that neither went through concussion protocol and wouldn't be surprised to hear that they're being assessed during the week. They may have benefited from the fact that Revis was already being looked at, so the doctors were preoccupied. That seems like a flaw in the system.
Next up…A pretty non-eventful day on special teams, but I'm sure I'll find something to gripe about…
Tags: Darrelle Revis
Once again, Jets fans were subjected to the all-too-familiar sight of Demario Davis arriving on the scene too late as a wide open receiver took another pass into the end zone. That doesn't necessarily mean it's always his fault but, this time, Davis did seem to be fooled by the Texans' well-designed (and well-executed) gadget play.
While the announcers correctly noted that Antonio Cromartie had completely abandoned that side of the field, it's definitely the case that the back who caught the pass was Davis' assignment initially, because he mirrored his first step before the ball was thrown to the opposite sideline.
Davis continues to struggle with the Bowles/Rodgers system for whatever reason and you have to wonder if he's going to lose playing time soon. I did notice Erin Henderson entered the game for him a couple of times, although on one of those occasions he was noticeably limping at the conclusion of the previous play, so I don't know if we can say that this is a shift in that direction quite yet. Davis only missed a total of six plays, although he had only missed two all season before yesterday.
We often discuss players in the context of whether or not they are making impact plays, but Davis is a player who is making impact mistakes nearly every week. Everyone makes a mistake from time to time, but if you compare him directly with his inside linebacking partner David Harris, it seems a lot rarer that Harris is on the wrong end of a crucial play this year.
Davis had a couple of pressures and was in on a few run stops, but was blocked out of a few run plays and missed one tackle. There was also another play where he seemed to be at fault for leaving the back uncovered for an easy third down conversion on a dump-off underneath. On the play, both Harris and Davis vacated the middle, but Harris was the only defender on the same side as the tight end so he had to take that assignment, whereas Davis tried to jump a slant route on a slot receiver that was already covered so he either needed to get back to the middle of the field quicker having done so, or should have stayed underneath and taken responsibility for the back instead.
Harris recorded eight tackles, a pass defensed and a quarterback hit. He did miss one tackle, was fooled on a wildcat play and was blocked out a few times at the second level, but - unlike Davis - he avoided any major errors.
The biggest story of the week is the fact that the Jets waived Quinton Coples after the game. Coples saw action on just five snaps, which had me wondering what the point was of even having him active if they're not going to use him even when Sheldon Richardson is out. The team obviously reached the same conclusion and took it a step further by waiving him earlier today. Coples perhaps wasn't viewed as an ideal fit for the system, but he's a player with experience and good production in multiple roles and the Jets' insistence on not using him was baffling, especially since he'd shown some early season signs that he was going to have a productive year.
When the Jets were in London, I observed that Coples was laughing around and joking following the team's win, despite the fact that his snaps had been cut, while others in the same situation were moping around despite the win. He didn't seem bothered by the fact he hadn't played a big part in the win and I wonder if the team was less than impressed with his lack of urgency to start making bigger contributions after having talked about expectations of big pass rush numbers during the offseason. Alternatively, maybe he finally got frustrated and spoke out or even asked for his release. Who knows?
I'm sure there's more to this, but Coples is going to be an interesting player to keep tabs on now the Jets have cut ties.
Calvin Pace got plenty of playing time and was able to make a few good contributions with a tackle for loss, one other run stuff and a good play in coverage. He too was fooled on a wildcat play, lost contain on another play and was blocked well off the line by a double-team on a stretch zone run, creating a big cutback lane.
Lorenzo Mauldin saw reps as a situational edge rusher in passing situations again and did get outside to record one pressure.
In relief work, Henderson was in on one run stuff but did miss a tackle. He came unblocked to create pressure on one blitz. Jamari Lattimore and Trevor Reilly continue to just play on special teams.
Next up…The Jets' expensive secondary continues to disappoint…
Tags: Demario Davis
The Jets have waived OLB Quinton Coples, the team announced on Monday.
Coples, the Jets' first round pick (16th overall) in the 2012 NFL Draft, was in his fourth season with New York.
This season for the Jets, the 25-year-old Coples had appeared in 10 games (two starts) while failing to record a sack.
Brian Bassett
This is big news and while the new regime has no loyalty to Coples, the timing of the move is unsettling. I believe we don't know the full situation and expect that more will be revealed in time.
Just to give you a sense of how little Coples has played over the two months, here's his snap counts since the start of the season according to Pro Football Focus: 54/71, 39/64, 35/73, 15/65, 8/65, 23/67, 19/64, 8/66, 8/66, 5/76. Coples has all the natural gifts that any NFL coaching staff covets, but questions of desire and attitude have followed him since his days at North Carolina.
A few weeks ago, Corey Griffin and I spoke to NFL Media's Lance Zierlein on the TJB podcast and his assessment of Coples was shrewd. In short, Zierlein said pass rushing is much like rebounding in basketball: it's a question of desire and Zierlein didn't think Coples had that trait. It's hard to blame the Jets for dropping Coples, especially in light of how Muhammad Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson and Leonard Williams have played. Three out of four ain't bad, but to drop a first rounder in the middle of the season is still quite a bombshell.
This new front office and coaching staff has zero allegiance to Coples, but what's most surprising is that the team was not able to trade him -- even if just for pennies -- at the NFL trade deadline to any team needing some defensive help a few weeks ago.
What might have been more problematic was the team already picking up his fifth year option in 2016. Had the team held onto him into the spring, they might have been on the hook to pay him and the team was not confident enough in their ability to move him for much of anything. Now Coples is free to any team wanting to put in a waiver claim. I'd be shocked if Rex Ryan and the Bills don't put just such a claim in on him.
Personally, this feels like a kick in the gut. It's hard for me to be unbiased when it comes to Quinton Coples because I've sat in his home, met both his amazing mother and sister and seen his generosity to his hometown first-hand. Every year he hosts a community day and feeds his entire hometown of Kinston, NC -- some of the best Carolina barbecue I've ever tasted -- and raises money for local charities ...
The simple truth is that not every player will work out in every situation, but I do hope that he finds a team that can make use of his talents. I will be very interested in hearing the reasoning for cutting Coples at this juncture. But one thing is for sure ... Coples was NOT the Jets' biggest problem in Houston or 11 days ago against Buffalo. At the end of the day, the team hasn't done anything to address the real problem here.
Corey Griffin and Brian Bassett are deep in the heart of a losing streak, as they take calls and comments after the Jets dropped Sunday's tilt with the Texans.
Tags: Houston Texans
Before we get onto the inevitable comparisons between JJ Watt and Muhammad Wilkerson, it would be remiss of me not to mention what a monster game Damon Harrison had at nose tackle.
Harrison smashed his career high with 12 tackles, almost doubling his highest number of solo tackles with nine. To an extent that was because the Texans kept running it up the middle while Harrison just did what he always does in those situations and held his ground then shed the block to get in on the stuff. While he didn't record a tackle for a loss, only one of those tackles came on a play that went for more than three yards as the Jets did hold the Texans to 3.3 yards per carry, even though they gave up over 120 yards on the ground.
Harrison did get blocked out of a couple of plays in the second half and was dragged for extra yardage on one play, but his consistent run stuffing helped the Jets force the Texans into a lot of passing downs with Houston converting seven of 18 third downs, including just two of eight in the second half. Harrison also created pressure with one bull rush and came close to getting pressure on a stunt.
For Wilkerson, it was a much quieter afternoon on a day when he could have put up a contractual marker for himself by matching or bettering Watt's performance.
Houston rarely ran at him and blocked him out of a couple of running plays, although he did bottle up a few runs with good penetration and ended up with three tackles. The team as a whole didn't have much success rushing the passer, but Wilkerson did record a hit and a couple of pressures in a quieter than usual performance as a pass rusher. Wilkerson's best highlight saw him take right tackle Derek Newton and basically throw him on the ground on a running play early in the game.
In the absence of Sheldon Richardson, I'm sure many Jets fans were hoping that Leonard Williams would step it up. He did actually do some good things, but he's not making many impact plays right now. Williams was the only lineman to be credited with a tackle for loss and led the team with three quarterback hits though. On one play, he hit the quarterback after beating the lineman with a nice spin move. He also came up big with pressure in a couple of key situations.
Williams did get blocked out of several running plays and had a missed tackle though. He also jumped offside on third-and-four, which was something Wilkerson almost did as well earlier on in the game.
In Richardson's absence, the Jets simply replaced him with Leger Douzable so they were back to the personnel grouping they used a lot when Richardson was suspended. Douzable was blocked out of a couple of plays and fooled on a wildcat/read option play, but he was in on a couple of run stops. He blew up one run on the edge by taking out the lead blocker. He didn't produce much as a pass rusher though.
Stephen Bowen continues to get reps as a rotational back-up. He was in on one run stop, but driven off the line on another play.
I'm not sure whether we should consider Mike Catapano as a defensive end or a linebacker, as he's done both and is something of a tweener. However, as he was brought up with Richardson inactive, I assume he was brought in for cover at that rush end position Richardson has been occupying. Obviously I'll be looking to do a full scouting report on Catapano soon, unless they quickly de-activate him again.
For what it's worth, the only time I noticed Catapano on the field on defense was that play when a third down stop was negated by a 12-men on the field penalty, although he did play one other snap - as a pass rushing end on a third-and-13 that the Texans successfully converted.
Next up…More disappointing breakdowns from the linebackers ruin a performance that was otherwise promising in places…
Tags: Damon Harrison
Last week, I praised Eric Decker for his consistency. However, I was wrong. He's arguably the least consistent player the Jets have right now. How so? Read on to find out.
Here's how I characterized his consistent play last week:
"Decker has been really consistent over the last month, catching six passes in each of the last four games with at least 60 yards per game. He's averaging 13.3 yards per catch with a 67 percent catch rate during that span and has scored a touchdown in every game this year aside from the New England one."
Sounds pretty consistent, right? And while he only had four catches in this game, he had 81 yards, so his numbers were more or less in line with his season averages of just over five catches and 71 yards per game.
However, Decker was completely shut out in the first half, continuing a somewhat remarkable streak of performances where he has always been significantly more productive in one half than he is in the other.
Here are the numbers:
Week 1: 2-37 (no catches in the second half)
Week 2: 8-97 (no catches in the second half)
Week 3: Injured
Week 4: 4-46 (no catches in the second half)
Week 5: Bye week
Week 6: 4-59 (only two catches for 13 yards in the second half)
Week 7: 6-94 (only two catches for 35 yards in the second half)
Week 8: 6-60 (only one catch for 14 yards in the first half)
Week 9: 6-79 (only one catch for 13 yards in the second half)
Week 10: 6-85 (only one catch for seven yards in the first half)
Week 11: 4-81 (no catches in the first half)
Decker always has one half where he has pretty disappointing levels of production. If he was always able to match the production in his "good" half in the other half, he would be on pace for 139 catches for 1,977 yards, extrapolated over a full season. However, if he was only able to match the level of production in his "bad" halves over a full season that would only give him 25 catches for 291 yards.
The moral, I guess, is that if you're thinking "Decker's having a good game" or "Decker seems quiet today" about halfway through the game, you should probably prepare yourself for the fact he's going to end up with his usual modest production no matter what.
This isn't a phenomenon unique to Decker. Brandon Marshall was, of course, shut out last week in the first half but did better in the second half. Also, back in 2013, the Jets had issues with their tight ends where, for a long stretch, either one or the other would be productive but never both at the same time. Of course, that's not an issue this year with both tight ends giving them basically nothing in the passing game, week in and week out.
For only the second time all season, Decker didn't score a touchdown. However, they did look for it a few times. He did make four first down catches in the second half, one which was a spectacular juggling effort.
In addition, he drew a 44-yard pass interference penalty, which at the time basically doubled the Jets' passing game output. Prior to that pass, Ryan Fitzpatrick was 6-of-14 for 47 yards. Thereafter, he was a more respectable 13-of-25 for 169 yards. Decker did false start once.
Marshall had another touchdown, schooling rookie Kevin Johnson on a post-corner fade route. On another end zone throw, he made the catch but came down just out of bounds. He did add a key third down conversion, but also had his hands on two other passes he probably would have caught earlier in the season.
Marshall has averaged just four catches and 38 yards per game over the past three weeks. Prior to that, four catches for 67 yards was his lowest single game output of the season as he had at least seven catches and over 100 yards in five of the first seven games. He's clearly been banged up and that's perhaps hurt the Jets offensively in their last three games.
Although Jeremy Kerley and Kenbrell Thompkins have proven they can be much more productive than Devin Smith and Quincy Enunwa, they found themselves sitting on the sidelines again. (Thompkins was inactive, while Kerley was back in his punt returner only role and again played just one snap).
The Kerley/Thompkins pairing had played 340 offensive snaps entering this week and Enunwa/Smith had combined for 342. That enables a pretty effective comparison of their statistical productivity. Kerley/Thompkins have 27 catches for 240 yards and two touchdowns. Enunwa/Smith have 17 catches for 198 yards and no touchdowns.
In addition, Kerley/Thompkins have a combined catch rate of 66 percent while Enunwa is at 50 percent and Smith is at 33 percent.
I know the Jets like what Enunwa and Smith bring to the table in terms of Enunwa's blocking and Smith's ability to stretch the field, but their insistence on playing these players ahead of more productive players is reminiscent of the Idzik regime's insistence on playing the struggling Dee Milliner and Brian Winters in 2013, costing them games while more reliable short-term options rode the bench.
Enunwa had a couple of nice catches and a few good blocks, but they looked for him unsuccessfully a couple of times. Smith dropped a certain touchdown over the shoulder, had one other drop on a deep ball and was unsuccessfully targeted on key third and fourth downs in the second half.
Hopefully, Enunwa can get over these struggles, because it's obvious he can get separation down the field. However, for him to be targeted four times and end up with fewer catches than Wesley Johnson is a problem.
Once again, the tight ends had no targets in the passing game. Jeff Cumberland deserves credit, though, because on Marshall's touchdown catch, he ended up single-blocking JJ Watt on the outside and held up well enough for Fitzpatrick to make the throw.
In fact, he did as good a job on that play as anyone did all day, as James Carpenter tried to get across the formation to help but didn't make it. True to form, Cumberland would get beaten inside as a run was stuffed for a loss shortly afterwards. He actually played just six snaps, a season-low.
Finally, Kellen Davis found himself blocking or helping out on Watt quite a lot and predictably got blown up several times. However, he probably did better in that role than many blockers would have.
Next up…onto the Jets' defense, where their own version of Watt failed to live up to his counterpart…
It was great to see Bilal Powell back in the line-up and the Jets have certainly missed him this year. Powell was extremely efficient, as he led the team in yards per carry and was tied for the team lead in receptions. In all, he generated 89 yards on just nine touches. Zac Stacy had rushed for the same number of yards all season - on 31 carries.
Powell did do a lot of this damage late in the game, with the Texans dropping off and conceding the dump-off pass, but he still did well in the open field, picking up 25 on one screen and breaking two tackles on one of his two other first downs.
Powell also showed his value as a blocker, picking up the blitz well on one completion. He did also drop a screen pass though, although I'm not sure that play was going anywhere.
With Powell back, Chris Ivory had a less significant role, although the fact the team was trailing likely factored into that too, because Powell typically gets all the reps when the Jets go to a pass-heavy offensive set. Ivory busted a 23-yard run in the second half, but otherwise gained just 13 yards on seven other carries. He did also gain nine yards on his only catch, a dump-off pass on the first play of the game.
Ivory was disappointingly stuffed on third-and-1 as he tried to bounce the run to the outside and also was very lucky to have a lost fumble overturned by the replay booth on the play after his long run.
After looking slow in his previous appearance, Stevan Ridley looked to have a bit more pep in his step this week, cutting back nicely to pick up a short yardage conversion. However, Ridley's five touches netted him minus-five yards and he actually has minus-six yards on eight touches for the season.
At fullback, Tommy Bohanon didn't have much of an impact. He missed his lead block on one play and was stood up on another.
With the offensive line so overmatched with no Nick Mangold, perhaps it's understandable that the running game didn't produce much and at least they augmented that with some of the short passing they did. Some of their best running success arguably came from designed quarterback draws.
It was interesting that the Texans had success running the wildcat and that the Jets took until after half time to adjust to it. Not only has Chan Gailey used such formations in the past, but most of the Jets' offensive personnel are familiar with it, so I could see them turning to this at some point in an effort to bolster their running game. However, you just know that if the Jets tried to implement this in a real game, it would fail miserably.
Next up…Plenty of near misses, but the Jets' receivers fail to generate enough actual production…
Tags: Bilal Powell
Entering this game, it was pretty obvious that the Jets were going to have to figure out a way to slow down J.J. Watt. That didn't go so well, as Watt racked up two sacks, five quarterback hits, five tackles for loss and led the Texans in total tackles.
However, they did figure out one way to slow him down, as they ran 26 plays in the fourth quarter and he had just one tackle (on a four yard run) and one quarterback hit. The Jets had run 37 plays in the other three quarters, during which he did the rest of that damage. He wasn't rested in the fourth, nor is he typically the type of player who will wear down over the course of the game. They were simply able to slow down his influence by upping the tempo and throwing more quick passes. That begs the question; why didn't they do that from the start?
Of course, what this does do is provide a nice blueprint for how those teams that can do this more efficiently than the Jets can approach their match-up with the Texans. You're never going to fully mitigate Watt's impact, but if you can slow him down by speeding yourselves up, I think that's an approach many teams will favor as the Texans continue to establish themselves as a team on the rise.
This is supposed to be the Jets' offensive line review, though, not the JJ Watt review, so we need to concern ourselves with how they handled him. Watt lined up on the left for most of the first half, so was matched up with Breno Giacomini and he pretty much made mincemeat out of him with several sacks, pressures and tackles in the backfield, even though Brian Winters and Kellen Davis were often helping out with double-teams. Giacomini was also called for holding on Watt once.
Oddly enough, despite the fact he was making hay on that side of the formation, the Texans opted to line Watt up on the right a lot in the second half and he gave D'Brickashaw Ferguson constant troubles too, driving him back to sack Ryan Fitzpatrick on one play. Ferguson, who didn't get the same kind of help Giacomini did, had held up well in the first half. However, after having struggled with Watt, he continued to struggle in the rest of the second half, even when no longer matched up with Watt.
The Jets' offensive gameplan was thrown into disarray when center Nick Mangold injured his right hand. This forced Wesley Johnson back into action. Mangold snaps the ball with his right hand, so he couldn't play. However, when Kevin Mawae broke his right hand in 2004, he taught himself to snap left-handed during the week and remained in the line-up with a club on his right hand. Could we see something similar from Mangold?
To his credit, Johnson didn't hold up too badly, although he did have one bad snap and a couple of plays where he couldn't sustain his block. There was a key short yardage play on third down where he allowed Vince Wilfork to leverage a double-team laterally to close the running lane up the middle. While the announcers rightly credited Watt with splitting his own double-team to make the tackle, that was only possible because the running back was forced to change course.
Where the Jets really lose out with Johnson in for Mangold is that Mangold can handle one-on-one assignments against just about anybody, enabling the guards to be re-deployed in helping out the tackles or able to get out to the second level. With Johnson in there, this is less feasible and played a big part in the lack of success in the running game. Even on the few successful runs the Jets did have, they tended to be because the runner made a good cut or broke a tackle to avoid someone who was able to get penetration or shed their block.
Winters gave up a couple of hits, including one where Watt made a spin move to get past him despite a Chris Ivory chip block. He didn't have many successful blocks in the running game either. In fact, not many players did - although Giacomini set the edge well a couple of times.
James Carpenter remains the team's most reliable offensive lineman, as has been the case in recent weeks. He had a few good run blocks, not many mistakes and only gave up a couple of pressures. I'm not sure he's good enough to get the running game going on his own though.
Next up…Each of the backs had their moments, but their disappointing overall output probably wasn't helped by Mangold's injury…
Tags: Breno Giacomini , Brian Winters , D'Brickashaw Ferguson , James Carpenter , Nick Mangold , Wesley Johnson
This isn't the first time this season that the Jets have been thoroughly outplayed only to end the game with a late chance to tie or win it. (It's actually the third.) Theoretically, the Jets could have come back to win all of those. Add in the Patriots game which they also had a chance to win and that's how close the Jets are to what would be a laughably misleading 9-1 record.
While this creates the illusion that the Jets were competitive in those games, it disguises the fact they were second-best for most of the day and only able to pull it close as their opponent tried to protect their lead by being conservative on both sides of the ball. The quarterback is a big part of this, of couse.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, out there when some athletes wouldn't even have suited up, showed an admirable toughness and will-to-win in bringing the Jets close but came up short when it counted most. This gutsy performance doesn't change the fact he was off-line with a lot of his throws and didn't really get anything going until the Texans had a two-score lead and the Jets were playing from behind.
You can make the usual excuses for him that his receivers dropped some well-thrown balls and that he was under a lot of pressure, and that's fair. However, that's the case every week and he should still be able to produce more than he did in that first half. The Texans gained more yards on one play - DeAndre Hopkins' first touchdown - than the entire Jets team did in the first half.
You'd like to think the Jets would have done a better job of attacking some of the Texans' less-experienced defensive backs, but they did do that to some extent down the stretch. Tellingly, their one experienced starter - Jonathan Joseph - made several terrific plays when they went after him. Can this Jets' passing game only have success against inexperienced youngsters and prevent-style defences?
I criticized the playcalling last week because the Jets opened up by throwing downfield three times rather than giving Fitzpatrick a chance to get into a rhythm first. This week was an improvement on that, as he opened up with some short passes, completing his first three. It really didn't help him much though, as he continued to be unsuccessful on downfield throws after that, including on the first possession of the second half as the Jets went three and out on three straight incompletions, again with a couple of unsuccessful downfield passes. To be fair, any attempts to get Fitzpatrick into an early rhythm were torpedoed by the fact that the Jets only had one possession in the first quarter anyway.
While the two interceptions he threw may have been late in the game, they were still worrying. The first came on fourth-and-5, so he may not have had much option other than to throw it to Devin Smith despite the fact he was clearly blanketed the whole time. Why they would throw to a player with a 33 percent catch rate on such an important play is another matter.
The second one was more concerning, as he telegraphed the slant pattern to Brandon Marshall and Andre Hal jumped the route. The fact Fitzpatrick failed to read the safety on that play is made all the more troubling by the fact that Hal reacted to a hard count seconds before the snap, which should have alerted Fitzpatrick to the fact he was obviously sitting on that route from the start.
I was also going to get on at him for taking too much punishment when he runs with the ball, but I think I'll let that slide.
Next up…The absolute last thing this team needed…
Tags: Ryan Fitzpatrick
Welcome to BGA! We'll be here the day after every Jets game for an in-depth review of what happened. We'll look at each position group throughout the day, so keep coming back to TJB to check it out.
Let's move on to discuss yesterday's game…
I tend not to make predictions on the record, because no matter how informed you think you are, it's really just a guess. However, this year, I've been pretty much on the money as far as the Jets are concerned and this game went about how I expected. 24-17 was even the exact scoreline I had in my head and the game transpired more or less as I had feared.
If you saw the Bengals-Texans game last Monday night, you saw a well-coached Houston team that is establishing an identity and starting to look like a force to be reckoned with. There's no shame in losing to the Texans in Houston because they're probably going to win their division and be a tough out in the postseason.
Where there is shame, however, is in the disappointing nature of the Jets' performance. They blew opportunities, showed more signs that they are a fragile unit that responds negatively to adversity and gave the impression that they knew they were the second-best team on the field for the majority of the game. The defensive breakdowns were especially troubling, giving an inexperienced quarterback easy opportunities to exploit them.
With Nick Mangold and Darrelle Revis joining Sheldon Richardson on the sidelines, the Jets were downgraded at three key positions and it cost them in the end. Their quarterback played like he had hardly practiced all week (which was to be expected), and the teams' respective gameplans suggested that the Jets had been forced to deal with a short week, while the Texans had additional time to prepare (which was the opposite of what should have been expected).
I've been reminded of the 2008 team by the Jets in recent weeks. That 2008 team - with an aging veteran at the quarterback position - were the NFL's flavor of the month as they went 8-3 to begin the season, only to then lose four of their last five games to miss out on the postseason despite the fact they had an easy schedule down the stretch.
This 1-4 stretch is eerily reminiscent of that. It just happens to have come earlier in the season. Teams are exploiting some very obvious weaknesses in the Jets, while the running game they leaned heavily on to start the year has deserted them. As was the case in 2008, the warning signs have been there all along.
While parts of the media anointed the Jets as a serious contender because they nearly beat New England (who is overrated, but might end up 16-0 anyway because their schedule is so easy), what I saw was a team that had some glaring weak points that have yet to be fixed, just as in 2008 that 8-3 record included some sloppy wins against poor teams, involving a lot of luck.
While the 2008 Jets were picked apart by the likes of Tyler Thigpen, Shaun Hill, Seneca Wallace, Matt Cassel and a young Ryan Fitzpatrick, the 2015 iteration is already compiling its own list of inexperienced quarterbacks that are making them look bad. T.J. Yates is the latest to join that list.
Ironically, the postseason success in 2009 and 2010 instilled a belief in Jets fans that if they could just sneak into the playoffs, they had a chance to make some noise. You didn't need to be that impressive, as the Jets proved you could be a team that gets humiliatingly blown out and throws away easy wins with poor execution during the season but still had a chance to peak when it mattered. This meant that in the years since then, hope was not lost even as the team was falling out of contention. As long as there was a mathematical chance of making it, there was hope the team would emulate their success from a few years earlier.
This team? It's right in the postseason mix, even with the recent slump. If the Jets can get healthy, figure a few things out and get back into winning habits, they still have hopes of making the postseason. Even so, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get enthused about their chances if they did make it.
Sometimes when you feel like you need a pick-me-up, the Jets deliver. Unfortunately, more often than not, they leave you feeling even worse.
Next up…Ryan Fitzpatrick may have toughed it out, but he couldn't pull it out in the end…
Tags: Darrelle Revis , Ryan Fitzpatrick
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Jets coach Todd Bowles was critical of rookie wide receiver Devin Smith after Sunday's 24-17 loss to the Texans at NRG Stadium.
Smith, New York's second-round pick from Ohio State, dropped what would have been a 46-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick late in the third quarter. The play would have brought the Jets within one possession, but instead, they punted later that drive.
Last week, Smith, 23, fumbled on a kick return that the Bills recovered and ran for a touchdown.
"Our rookies have to stop being rookies," Bowles said after the Jets suffered their fourth loss in their last five games. "They need to grow up. They get paid like everybody else and they've got to start acting like they're not in college anymore."
Smith led national champion Ohio State last season with 931 yards and 12 touchdowns. However, in just seven games this season, Smith has been targeted 22 times, but has just seven catches for 82 yards. He did not have a catch on Sunday in four targets.
"It's tough, but I know my time is coming," Smith said. "So I'm just going to keep working hard. When that day comes, everybody will know."
Tags: Devin Smith , Matthew Eisenberg
Jets center Nick Mangold needed to receive stitches after suffering "severe lacerations" on his right hand in the second quarter of Sunday's 24-17 loss to the Texans, head coach Todd Bowles said.
Mangold was seen on the sideline with his hand wrapped and did not return to the game afterward. He suffered a cut between his pinky and ring finger.
"I came to the sideline and I saw some blood," Mangold said. "I looked down and that's when we went inside [the locker room]. ... It was completely random. I haven't seen anything like this before. This is a new one."
Mangold underwent X-rays, which came back negative, but will undergo an MRI on Monday to see if he sustained any ligament damage.
He said he was unable to grip the ball, and Wesley Johnson replaced him.
"That's all I needed to do, roll a couple of snaps and screw the team over," Mangold said.
Tags: Nick Mangold
Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis suffered a concussion in Sunday's 24-17 loss to the Texans, head coach Todd Bowles said.
Revis sustained the injury trying to make a tackle in the third quarter and left the game.
Revis was burned on a 61-yard touchdown reception from T.J. Yates to DeAndre Hopkins in the second quarter.
Marcus Williams, a second-year cornerback from North Dakota State, replaced Revis.
Tags: Darrelle Revis
HOUSTON -- Quarterback T.J. Yates was solid in his first start since 2012. He got some help in the passing game from receiver Cecil Shorts, who threw a touchdown pass to help the Houston Texans to a victory.
Yates tossed two TDs to DeAndre Hopkins, who had 118 yards receiving, and Alfred Blue caught the pass from Shorts in a 24-17 win over the New York Jets (5-5).
The Texans (5-5) have won three games in a row for the first time since 2012. And they did it with Yates, who threw for 229 yards in his first start since Jan. 15, 2012, in the playoffs for Houston as a rookie.
Yates, who was signed on Oct. 28 after Ryan Mallett was released, started in place of Brian Hoyer who was out with a concussion.
The game was tied in the third quarter when the TD pass by Shorts made it 17-10. Yates and Hopkins linked up for a 20-yard score on the next possession.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, who played after having surgery on his non-throwing thumb on Nov. 13, got New York within 24-17 with a touchdown run with 4 1/2 minutes left, but was intercepted on the next two drives to seal the win for Houston. Fitzpatrick was 19 of 39 for 216 yards with a touchdown against the team he started 12 games for last year.
The Texans didn't manage a first down in the fourth quarter, but held on for the win thanks to interceptions by Eddie Pleasant and Andre Hal.
Hopkins tied a franchise record held by Andre Johnson with nine receiving touchdown this season. He beat Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis repeatedly before the cornerback left the game in the third quarter with a head injury.
J.J. Watt had eight tackles and two sacks, but it was a day where his perfect record on offense was blemished.
The Texans had a first down at the 6 in the first quarter, but their offense stalled after that and they settled for a 20-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead. Watt got in on offense on that drive and for the first time in his career didn't catch a pass thrown to him.
He came in on second-and-2 from the 2-yard line and Yates targeted him in the corner of the end zone. But he couldn't grab the ball under heavy pressure from Calvin Pryor.
It was the fourth time in his career he'd had a pass thrown to him and had reeled in each of the previous three for touchdowns. All of those scores came last season.
Shorts, a quarterback early in his college career at Mount Union, took a lateral from Yates and tossed a 21-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Blue to make it 17-10 with about eight minutes left in the third quarter.
Shorts was the star of that entire drive, grabbing a 16-yard reception on third-and-13 before grabbing a 35-yard reception on the next play. He took a direct snap and ran for 5 yards two plays before the TD throw.
The Texans made it 24-10 when Hopkins caught a 20-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter.
The Jets tied at 10-10 early in the third when Fitzpatrick connected with Brandon Marshall for a 21-yard touchdown. New York got a boost on that drive from a 44-yard pass interference penalty on Quintin Demps.
Hopkins put the Texans on top when he got in front of Revis and grabbed a 61-yard touchdown reception to make it 10-3 with about three minutes left in the first half. The play came two plays after another big catch by Hopkins, where he again beat Revis and snagged the ball one-handed for an 18-yard gain.
Williams sacked Yates, who fumbled the ball in the second quarter. Williams pounced on it to give New York the ball near midfield. Randy Bullock, who was cut by the Texans earlier this season, made a 40-yard field goal to tie it at 3 with about nine minutes left in the second.
NOTES: Jets C Nick Mangold left in the first quarter with a hand injury and didn't return. ... Houston CB A.J. Bouye didn't return after leaving in the second quarter to be evaluated for a concussion.
Brian Bassett, TheJetsBlog.com
I'm not really sure where to begin here other than this was a total system failure. From the poor tackling by the defense, specifically Antonio Cromartie, to the poor read progressions and turnovers on offense, to the inability to fight for the ball by Devin Smith, to the offensive line's inability to have an answer let alone a double team for JJ Watt ... this list could keep going and going.
What's most unfortunate about this team is the way the season started and the brutal change of direction that has taken place over the last month and a half. What started off so well has fallen apart devastatingly quickly.
After it all, the Jets still desperately need answers at the quarterback position. While some might have believed Ryan Fitzpatrick could steady the ship, he's not proven to be the mid to long-term answer regardless of his injury. From here, everything needs to starting bending towards what makes them the best possible team in 2016.
The Jets are on the road today to visit the Texans in Houston.
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
Stadium, surface: Reliant Stadium (dome), grass
TV: CBS The Line: Jets by 2.5
The Series: Jets lead, 5-1
Last meeting: Texans beat Jets 23-17, Oct. 8, 2012
Last week: Jets lost to Bills 22-17 Nov. 12;
Jets notes: Jets QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, who had surgery on thumb ligament of left hand on Nov. 13, has thrown at least two touchdown passes in seven of last nine games. He started 12 games for Houston last season and is expected to start Sunday. ... RB Chris Ivory has four touchdowns in his last six games combined. ... WR Brandon Marshall has 25 receptions for 293 yards and one touchdown in three meetings with Texans. ... WR Eric Decker has touchdown catch in eight of his last nine games. ... DE Muhammad Wilkerson has seven sacks, including two last week. ... CB Darrelle Revis leads NFL with six takeaways, including three fumble recoveries and three interceptions. ... LB Demario Davis had his first sack this season last week.
Texans notes: Houston QB Brian Hoyer (concussion). ... QB T.J. Yates played first game since September 2014 when he took over for Hoyer in third quarter Monday and threw for winning touchdown to DeAndre Hopkins. ... RB Alfred Blue has averaged 105.5 yards of total offense in last two home starts. ... WR Hopkins is third in the NFL with 927 yards receiving and seven touchdowns. ... LB Brian Cushing leads team with 76 tackles. ... OLB Whitney Mercilus has 5 1/2 sacks in last four games. ... DE J.J. Watt is second in NFL with 9 1/2 sacks.
Series notes: The Bills have won the last three games between the team in decisive fashion, by an average margin of 39.3 to 13.3. The Bills seek their first four-game winning streak in the series since 1995-1997, when they swept all six meetings with NYJ.
Jets defensive end Sheldon Richardson (hamstring) and defensive back Dee Milliner (illness) are inactive for Sunday's game at Houston.
Richardson was hurt two Thursdays ago against Buffalo. The Jets promoted defensive end Mike Catapano from the practice squad to the active roster Saturday.
This is the first time Richardson has missed a game due to injury. He served a four-game marijuana suspension to begin this season.
Milliner missed practice Wednesday and Thursday because of an illness. He practiced fully Friday and was listed as probable.
Jet inactives: S Dion Bailey (ankle); QB Bryce Pett;y WR Kenbrell Thompkins CB Dee Milliner; OG Dakota Dozier; OT Ben Ijalana; DE Sheldon Richardson (hamstring)
Texans: QB Brian Hoyer (concussion); RB Chris Polk (hamstring); CB Kareem Jackson (ankle); FS Rahim Moore ILB Akeem Dent (hamstring); OG Oday Aboushi; TE Garrett Graham
In the Jets Sunday matchup against the Houston Texans, here's some concerns the Jets must effectively navigate to have a chance to win on the road.
Spread the love -- The Jets have to get the ball into the hands of receivers NOT named Brandon Marshall. Since Week 1, Ryan Fitzpatrick has force the ball too often to his top receiver, a play who is north of 30 and who seems to be grinding down as a result. For as good as Marshall is, the wear and tear of the season and constantly facing double coverage is making it harder for him to be as efficient as the Jets need him to be. Last week against the Bills Marshall caught a season low 30% of the passes thrown his way and the Jets offense ground to a halt as a result. Eric Decker has been efficient over the course of the season and the Jets need to manufacture more targets in his direction but also to the tertiary options in the offense. That means plays like Devin Smith, Jeremy Kerley, Quincy Enunwa and the running backs HAVE TO do a better job of beating their assignments for their quarterback. Maybe this team misses a player like Jace Amaro a lot more than they ever let on, although they certainly had a funny way of showing it. Decker and Marshall account for over 50% of the total market share of Jets passing targets ... that number has to get distributed more evenly if this team wants to keep Marshall as a viable part of the offense into December, forget about January.
Pressure Yates to eliminate Hopkins -- One of the best tonics for any team desperate for wins is getting a chance to take on a backup (or even a backup backup) quarterback like TJ Yates. Yates is over two seasons removed from game action and the Jets should dial up the blitz to rattle Yates early on in this game. Todd Bowles is known for his aggressive scheme and this would be one of the best opportunities to use that play style to devastating effect. Of course for the Jets, this also means that they must account for one of the NFL's best young playmakers at wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. "Nuk" might be one of the very best talents in the game right now and while Revis has had a good season on the whole, he's struggled against some of the better playmakers in the league like Allen Robinson two weeks ago. Expect Nuk to do some serious damage against the Jets, but for Bowles it will come down to minimizing the work of a impact player like Hopkins.
Stop Watt -- The biggest challenge for the Jets this weekend will have to be finding ways to neutralize JJ Watt. Watt is arguably the best defensive player in football and has been an unparalleled disruptive force for at least the past three seasons. The problem for the Jets is that other talented defensive front players like Whitney Mercilus (6.5 sacks) and John Simon (3.0 sacks) are playing well in the wake of JJ Watt and will have to be accounted for as well ... not even mentioning the oft-dinged up former first overall draft pick Jadaveon Clowney (1.0 sack) who is slated to return today.
Takeaway game -- At the start of the season, the Jets were blistering hot in their give/take rates when it came to controlling the football. Since that start, the team has tumbled to 10th overall with a differential of three in their favor. Over their last six games the Jets have been unable to put the same pressure on forcing turnovers on opposing teams, but maybe more importantly their offense has coughed up the ball at rates that have outpaced the hot start. JJ Watt is by far one of the best strip-sackers in the league. With Ryan Fitzpatrick coming off thumb surgery last week the team has to find ways to take the air out of the football and throw short higher percentage passes while Fitzy manages the pain of his injury for at least a few more weeks.
The Jets take on the Houston Texans in search of their sixth win of the season. However, New York will most likely be playing without starting defensive linemen Sheldon Richardson, who is dealing with a hamstring issue.
Richardson did not practice at all this week, and on Saturday the Jets promoted defensive end Mike Catapano from the practice squad in case Richardson can't suit up.
Richardson also missed the first four games of the season due to a suspension for violating the subtance abuse policy. On the season, the defensive end has 2.5 sacks and one forced fumble
Tags: Sheldon Richardson
During the season, Bent's Game Analysis charts games for some of the Jets' upcoming opponents, enabling a breakdown of what to watch out for on gameday…
Just a few weeks ago, the Jets' schedule from mid-November to mid-December was looking pretty easy for the Jets. However, it seems like each of their opponents over that month have regrouped - either due to key veterans making their return from injury, a positive response to coaching changes or the maturation of key youngsters. The Texans looked like a complete mess as they trailed 41-0 to Miami at halftime three weeks ago. Since that time, they've held their opponents without a touchdown for 10 quarters and have won two straight games, outscoring their opponents 56-15 and ending the Bengals' unbeaten streak. While they may have issues at the quarterback position, they do boast arguably the best defensive player of this era.
After the jump, I break down the positional groupings (BGA-style!) to try and highlight what the Jets need to look out for.
Head coach Bill O'Brien admitted he had pulled the plug on Brian Hoyer too soon and Hoyer had been a big part of their recent resurgence. He had put up pretty good numbers since returning to the line-up following the ill-fated Ryan Mallett experiment, but - unfortunately for the Texans - he got hurt in the Bengals game and will not suit up today due to memory loss.
TJ Yates will fill in for Hoyer. He doesn't have a ton of regular season experience - just four touchdown passes - but did once win a playoff game. No doubt the Jets gameplan will involve getting after him and creating pressure.
Backing up Yates is Brandon Weeden, who was just claimed off waivers a couple of days ago. He was most recently starting games across state for the Cowboys as Tony Romo's emergency replacement; an experiment which lasted about as long as the Mallett experiment did.
Offensive Line
There's a familiar face on the Texans' offensive line - former Jets guard Oday Aboushi, whom the Texans claimed when the Jets waived him in week two. However, Aboushi has been relegated to the bench after making four starts at left guard earlier in the season. Instead, second year pro Xavier Su'a-Filo started his second game of the year at left guard last week. Su'a-Filo has good potential but has struggled in pass protection so far in his career.
The Texans are still widely associated with being a zone blocking scheme and that's typically been the case since Alex Gibbs was there for a couple of years at the end of the last decade. However, with long-term starting center Chris Myers retiring during the offseason, the Texans moved the bigger Ben Jones - a former starting guard - to center. Their offensive line coach is now Mike Devlin, who was in the same role last year with the Jets. As we know, he runs a more varied system with both power and zone elements.
The Texans' best - and most expensive - lineman is left tackle Duane Brown, who is in the third year of a six-year $53 million deal. However, Brandon Brooks is also an emerging talent at right guard. Derek Newton completes the starting line-up at right tackle, although he's also started games at both guard positions this year.
Other than Aboushi, the back-ups are veteran Chris Clark, who has made a couple of starts at tackle this year but gave up three sacks to Miami and hasn't played since, and undrafted rookie Kendall Lamm. Lamm is a player I identified as a potential sleeper during the offseason and he's made some good contributions, playing over 150 snaps as an extra lineman in jumbo packages and a rotational role. The Texans will often play some of their starters in a rotation, so you could see any or all of the three reserves getting reps.
Running Backs
The Texans haven't lost many key players to season-ending injuries this year, but Arian Foster's Achilles tear was a blow. In his absence, Alfred Blue is the starter. Blue ran for 139 yards against the Bucs in week three, but has gained just 108 yards on 41 carries since then.
Veteran Chris Polk and former Jet Jonathan Grimes back up Blue. The three of them combined for just 68 yards on 22 carries in the Bengals game. Of the three, Grimes is probably the best pass catcher. Polk is dealing with hamstring issues.
Jay Prosch - a 256-pounder who was a 6th round pick last season - is the team's fullback and averages about 10 snaps per game.
With Andre Johnson gone, DeAndre Hopkins is having a break-out season as the unquestioned number one receiver. Hopkins had already had a monster year last year - 71 catches, 1,210 yards and six scores - but this year has been something else. He's already beaten last year's total with seven touchdown catches and needs just six receptions to beat his career best for receptions in a season. While his average per reception is down, he needs just 73 more yards to record another thousand-yard season and should present a formidable challenge for Darrelle Revis, regardless of who's throwing him the ball.
Two veterans provide support to Hopkins in the passing game; former Jaguar Cecil Shorts III and former Titan Nate Washington. Washington remains a dangerous deep threat and leads the team with a 15.8 yards per catch average. He's a player who has burned Antonio Cromartie more than once in the recent past. Shorts is a good possession option, but also possesses good quickness.
Two rookies - Keith Mumphrey and Jaelen Strong - complete the rotation. Despite being the less-heralded pick, Mumphrey has played a lot more and Strong has just three catches so far.
At tight end, another youngster - last year's third round pick CJ Fiedorowicz - is listed as the starter. He and veteran back-ups Garrett Graham and Ryan Griffin have combined for 19 receptions. The youngster is probably the best blocker of the three.
Defensive Line
I'm surprised the media isn't making more of a big deal over the battle between Vince Wilfork and Nick Mangold, which often used to be a hot topic when the Jets met the Patriots over the years. Wilfork left New England in the offseason and has been starting at nose tackle for Houston. He's no longer the elite player he once was, but still gives the team a solid space stuffer in there.
Starting alongside Wilfork in the Texans' 3-4 base is Jared Crick. Crick held his own as he made the transition from rotational back-up to full time starter last year, but hasn't quite had the same success this year.
Beyond the starters, the Texans don't have a lot of experience on their bench. However, I could see them starting to find more reps for rookie Christian Covington as the season progresses. Covington had his first NFL sack against the Bengals.
Oh, and they have this guy called JJ Watt. He's pretty good too.
Recent number one pick Jadeveon Clowney has flashed against the run this season, but hasn't done much as a pass rusher yet. He has just one sack and has yet to fully live up to the hype. Clowney has been outshone by former first-rounder Whitney Mercilus, who was on the brink of being dumped by the old regime, but seems to have found a new lease of life this season. He's racked up 6.5 sacks already.
John Simon has done a solid job of starting on the other side, but he doesn't get many pass rush reps because Watt will often line up as a pass rushing end on pass downs. Simon has more of a versatile role, which requires him to drop into coverage a lot more than Mercilus or Clowney do.
On the inside, Brian Cushing continues to play an every-snap role with rookie Benardrick McKinney currently listed as the other starter alongside him. From what I've seen of McKinney, he seems to be developing nicely, and there is also veteran depth behind him with Justin Tuggle and Akeem Dent, although Dent is listed as questionable.
Defensive Backs
Three quarters of the Houston starting secondary according to the official depth chart have good experience, although Kareem Jackson will miss today's game with an ankle injury. The exception is safety Andre Hal, who only made his first NFL start last month. He did mark it with two interceptions though, which is good enough to lead the team.
At corner, Johnathan Joseph is still playing well and had a big interception against the Bengals. The other starter at safety is Quintin Demps, who was almost out of the league before Houston signed him late in the offseason. Demps was previously a Texan from 2010-2012 but spend last year with the Giants.
Former Bronco Rahim Moore was benched after the Miami debacle and hasn't played since. Demps played just 10 snaps that day, having missed the previous two weeks through injury. Eddie Pleasant is probably ahead of Moore on the safety depth chart right now, although he's not even listed.
The team has some intriguing young depth with first round rookie Kevin Johnson having started the last three games and Hard Knocks favorite Charles James II having seen his role increase over the past few weeks. Expect to see him working a lot out of the slot.
Special Teams
The Texans have one of the best punters in recent memory - Shane Lechler - although he may be past his prime these days. The kicking game is less established. They dumped current Jet Randy Bullock last month and replaced him with former Jet Nick Novak. Novak has missed just one of his seven field goal attempts so far.
The Texans have given up the third highest total of punt return yards in the NFL this season. They've not given up a touchdown though and the longest returns they've given up were 50 yards on a kickoff and 37 on a punt. Dent and Pleasant are their most productive tacklers in coverage.
Mumphrey has been handling return duties, but hasn't had much success yet. His longest return was a 41-yarder on a kick-off.
>>> I'll be back tomorrow to recap the game.
Stats from PFF were used in the completion of this article.
The Jets activated wide receiver Quincy Enunwa and signed defensive end Mike Catapano for Sunday's game against the Texans.
Enunwa will return to the Jets after serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. He has eight catches for 94 yards this season.
Catapano, 25, will join the Jets after spending the 2013 season with the Chiefs, playing 15 games. A third-year player out of Princeton, Catapano was a seventh-round draft pick in 2013.
To make room on the roster, the Jets placed running back Zac Stacy, who suffered a fractured ankle in the Jets' Nov. 12 game against the Bills, on injured reserve and waived safety Ronald Martin.