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You have to wonder what . . .
some people are watching.
As you most of you know by now Darron Lee was suspended by the NFL for violating the NFL’s Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse.
You read analysis of this suspension and you would think the sky is falling on the Jets.
NFL.com wrote, “The suspension is a blow for a Jets team looking to finish strong amid another season outside of the postseason.”
No it’s not a blow.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweeted, “More bad news for the #Jets: LB Darron Lee is suspended without pay for four games for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse.”
It’s not bad news.
He’s one of the reasons the Jets run defense is 26th in the NFL. He struggles mightily getting off blocks.
Tennessee game:
*Early second quarter, Corey Davis ran reverse to the left side for 12 yards, and Darron Lee could not get off block from Jonnu Smith.
*Late first half, Derrick Henry had a gain of six up the middle – Jack Conklin took out Lee on the second level.
*Mid-third Henry ran to the left side and Lee missed tackle in the middle of the run – Henry ran through an arm tackle attempt. Then on TD run on next play from the one, Henry went into a hole created by Lee being locked-up by Jonnu Smith.
New England Patriots game:
*Late third, on a James White gain of 27 to the right side, Lee got taken out pulling Joe Thuney opening a big hole.
*Early fourth, Lee taken out by FB Joe Devlin on a Sony Michel gain of 33.
Lee is a bad fit for 3-4 ILB. Most scouts will tell you that. He’s not a 3-4 stack-and-shed linebacker, he’s a 4-3 run-and-hit linebacker. He’d be a much better fit in places like Dallas and Tampa Bay.
The two players behind Lee, Kevin Pierre-Louis and Neville Hewitt, are better at stacking and shedding, so the Jets’ run defense should improve with either one of them in there. I assume it will be Pierre-Louis, but the suspension happened after the media availability today, so we weren’t told what the plan is.
While any suspension is unfortunate, this one will not hurt the Jets . . .
Watching the Jets at practice and in the locker room, they are a very spirited, close-knit group.
And you don’t see unnamed players in the press sniping at each other or ripping the coach.
The landscape isn’t poisonous, which is something you often see with teams that are in last place and mired in a six-game losing streak.
It’s not like that in Florham Park.
The problem here isn’t the locker room or in-fighting.
It’s two-fold.
One, it’s a little bit mental – they have too many players who short-circuit in live action a blowing assignments or committing penalties.
Two, it’s accountability – they have coaches who doesn’t like benching players, and a personnel department that doesn’t like cutting players.
I mentioned this the other day – after the Arizona Cardinals got beat 45-10 by the Los Angeles Chargers on November 25, they cut two players, right tackle Andre Smith, and cornerback Bene Benwikere, both who had started eight games for them this year.
The next game, on December 2, they traveled to Green Bay and pulled one of biggest upsets of the 2018 NFL season, beating the Packers 20-17.
You don’t think cutting two players after that game got the attention of that team?
So to me, two of the biggest problems (not the only ones, obviously) for the 3-9 New York Jets are mental errors and accountability issues related to not benching or cutting under-performing players . . .
December 7, 2018
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