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All things considered
Mike White played pretty well.
His worst play was clearly that deep out to Elijah Moore that was picked off by J.C. Jackson. He should not have thrown it. Moore was not open.
But I will cut him slack on the other pick. Ryan Griffin was open and he was trying to fit the ball in-between linebackers and defensive backs, and it was a little high and went off the tight end’s hand. No picks are good, but he was trying to make a play here down 34-13. It happens.
But interceptions aside, he was clearly an upgrade from what we have seen from Zach Wilson. I know that might upset the sensibilities of some people for me to have the gumption to say that, but’s true. Does Wilson have more of an upside than White? Of course, but right now, before the injury, he was holding the ball too long on many plays, and was somewhat indecisive. White came in, made quick decisions, and did a better job of going through his progressions than Wilson has.
His TD pass to Corey Davis right after Wilson’s injury was a thing of beauty, and he also led the Jets on two long drives, one that ended with an Elijah Moore TD run on a reverse, and the other, like so many other Jets drives, ended on a failed fourth-and-one run. But before this failed run on the Patriots’ 28, White had driven the Jets from their own 28 to the Pats 28. The Jets’ ineffective short-rushing attack isn’t White’s fault. This drive could have resulted in the very least as a field goal, and perhaps they should have tried the field goal because it would have made it 24-10.
The TD drive by White early in the third quarter that ended with the Moore TD, was 7 plays, 77 yards, including passes of 17 yards to Corey Davis on third-and-four, and 21-yard completion on the next play to Ty Johnson.
No injuries are good, but in a way, White playing the next few games for Wilson, could be good for Wilson. He needs to watch for a few weeks and then re-emerged. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport announced today that Wilson will miss at least two weeks with the PCL sprain. Wilson is represented by The William Morris Agency.
After I wrote this the Jets traded for Joe Flacco. Odd move for a last place team going nowhere to trade for a 36-year-old QB in-season. Does he play defense? Strange days indeed . . .
I’m not sure what is going on with Ashtyn Davis in pass coverage, but just like last year, he’s making almost no plays on the ball, and on Sunday, he got beat soundly for a TD by TE Hunter Henry on a double move.
Davis is a former track star who runs very well, so the perception was he’d help the Jets coverage. So far it hasn’t happened. He had one PD and no picks in six starts (and 10 games) last year, and this year in three games, no PD’s or picks . . .
The Jets’ defense is an absolute dumpster fire now, and not sure how they fix it. If you can’t fix it coming off a bye-week, how are you going to fix it during the season? In all my years covering the Jets, Sunday’s defensive performance in New England, was one of the worst I’ve ever seen.
True C.J. Mosley was out yesterday, and that certainly didn’t help the Jets’ cause, but the myriad blown assignments were aplenty around him all season.
And to replace him with a 216-pound rookie who played safety in college is a concept I just don’t get and don’t tell me that had no choice. Del’Shawn Phillips came in the game to spell Jamien Sherwood, and was an upgrade, but then after they had to go back to Sherwood. Why? Maybe playing favorites. I don’t know.
And he ended up blowing out his achilles and is done for the year.
I don’t blame Sherwood one iota for his struggles. Not his fault at all. He’s a good kid, very hard working and tough, but when you draft a college safety, especially later in the draft, and you are converting him to linebacker, you don’t start him this quickly, under any circumstances.
Yes, the Jets are young in the back seven and that is leading to a lot of blown assignments, but with some of these guys, it’s not just youth, but some of them don’t have good instincts, and I’m not sure that is going to change much moving forward. You can’t teach instincts.
October 25, 2021
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