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A reporter asked Aaron Glenn about Jamien Sherwood’s reported struggles in pass against Detroit.
And Glenn joked with the reporter that the scribe would have issues covering Gibbs as well.
Is there a linebacker in the league that can cover Gibbs one-on-one? Maybe for a few seconds, but without a pass rush, as they say in Brooklyn, “fuhgeddaboudit.”
4.36 speed, instant acceleration, quick cutting ability.
What 230-pound linebacker is going to cover this “quick as a tick” back one-on-one effectively? Not many.
When Gibbs was coming out of college, one NFC scout told NFL.com, “Whenever Alabama’s offense would hit a wall, they would get Gibbs involved in the passing game, and he could bridge the gap for them. I thought he was very valuable in that way.”
Gibbs is a heck of a receiving back, one of the best in the NFL, so to expect Sherwood or Demario Davis to cover him one-on-one, with a pedestrian pass rush, is not realistic.
And like I’ve mentioned all week, the Jets’ substandard run defense, especially up the middle, made it even tougher for the linebackers in coverage.
Nobody asked all week about the Jets’ defensive tackles’ run defense last week. I may be wrong, but they seemed culpable for some big runs up the middle.
I didn’t ask either, so I’m just as guilty as anyone.
A New York Times reporter claimed Sherwood allowed 9 catches on 10 targets for 127 yards against the Lions. I’m not going to lie, watching the game live, and then back over it during the week, I didn’t see Sherwood getting beat for 9 catches. I’m just being honest. Didn’t see it. I could be wrong, but flat-out didn’t see that.
I’m not big on analytics, because I don’t know how sites like PFF grade players. So if I don’t know how the sausage is made, I’m not going to rely on those rankings.
I’m big on the eye test. And watching the Jets-Lions game live and then going back over it during the week, to me, the Jets’ DT play against the run was more of an issue than Sherwood’s pass coverage. I could be wrong, but that is one man’s opinion.
It was “play-action palooza” for the Lions offense on Sunday, and that is because, overall, the Jets did a poor job stopping the run, and that put the Jets linebackers behind the eight ball against the pass, big-time . . .
Earlier this week, the Jets elevated guard Kohl Levao from the practice squad to the regular roster. Starting left guard Dylan Parham suffered a knee injury in Detroit and will not play this week.
Last week, when Parham got hurt during the game, he was replaced by backup swingman Jordan Meredith. However, the elevation of Levao makes you wonder who will start at left guard on Sunday.
I think many assume that Meredith will start for Parham this week, since he played for him last week, but maybe shouldn’t assume that.
First of all, Levao wasn’t active for the game, so he was not an option last week.
But now that he is on the active roster, it would not be surprising to see Levao start instead of Parham.
Remember, Levao, was with the Jets the entire off-season and summer, so he’s probably more comfortable than Meredith, a late August arrival, with the line calls and has better chemistry with center Josh Myers and left tackle Olu Fashanu.
So maybe we see Levao at left guard this week.
And if we do, you are going to see an absolute road-grader as a run blocker. The 6-5, 350-pound native of Pago Pago, American Samoa, gets a lot of push in the run game, which might be just what the doctor ordered for the Jets after having issues running the game the last two weeks . . .
The Jets need a little more from their pass rush this week than they got in Detroit. Not talking about blitzing linebackers or defensive backs, but a natural pass rush from the front four.
And they might get some help on this front because the Bears’ left tackle, Braxton Jones, has a knee injury, and the coach said he’s “week to week.”
Aaron Glenn also uses “week to week” to describe players on his injury report. And used that this week for TE Mason Taylor and RB Breece Hall, and neither is playing.
If Jones can’t play, it’s unclear who the Bears would use at left tackle, because the backup, Ozzy Trapilo, is also iffy for the game with an injury. So they might have to turn to a third option, Theo Benedet.
This is the kind of scenario where you expect an edge rusher, picked second overall, to potentially wreck the game. That is why you pick a guy like that so high, to “wreck the game” sometimes.
October 2, 2026
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