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Patriots coach Mike Vrabel praised the Jets for doing a good job protecting the football so far this season.
“It’s a team that has taken care of the football,” Vrabel said. “The offense has only turned the ball over three times – we could do that in a half.”
The Patriots have turned the ball over 11 times in the first five games. The Jets have turned the ball over three times in five games.
We all know that how all coaches preach the importance of ball security, and the Jets have done a solid job in that department, but like we got into after the Jets 17-12 win over the Cleveland Browns, some might make the argument, Smith is very conservative.
“He’s too careful,” said one long-time Jets observer. “It’s drilled into this head. Maybe it’s because he has a defensive-minded head coach.”
As former Tampa Bay and Arizona head coach Bruce Arians, loved to say, “No risk-it, not biscuit.”
That quote was pertaining to Arians love of dialing up passing plays for his quarterbacks down field.
Look, Smith is a big upgrade over the Jets QB play from last season, and he’s made a lot of nice plays in the passing game, but some might argue he’s risk averse.
So while the Jets not having any picks through five games is impressive to a degree, it should also be point out that part of that is the somewhat conservative mindset of the man pulling the trigger.
Don’t take this as a criticism of Smith, who has clearly upgraded the Jets QB position from last year. This is just a nuanced point on perhaps why they have no picks through five games . . .
The Jets have had slot cornerback D’Angelo Ponds back in action the last couple of week since being sidelined with a calf injury since early in training camp.
However, the team has still “started” Jarvis Brownlee at slot corner the last two games.
The reasons “started” is in parenthesis is that some don’t consider slot corners “starters,’ but in a pass happy league like the NFL, teams are in their nickel packages so much, slot corners are essentially starters.
So what gives. First of all, Brownlee is playing fairly well. Also, Ponds missed a lot of valuable reps in the summer.
So while he’s a smart kid, he still has some things to catch-up on mentally in the playbook.
In Chicago, there was a play early in the game that might be a case in point about how Ponds is still getting comfortable in the scheme.
On a third-and-six on first series, there were two wide receivers lined up left. Ponds and Brandon Stephens were lined up over the two wideouts. After the snap Ponds joined Stephens covering a player who ran an out to the left sideline (TE Colston Loveland), and WR Rome Odunze, slanted upfield and nobody covered him, and he gained 21. Why didn’t Ponds follow him?
Look, without having access to the playbook, I can’t say with 100 percent certainly that Ponds made a mistake here, but clearly one of the two corners did, and most would probably error on the side of the veteran doing the right thing. If I’m wrong here, I will print a retraction.
Look, Ponds is a very cerebral player, but he is a rookie who missed a ton of time, so the Jets are doing the right thing easing him in slowly.
But eventually, they will make the change from Brownlee to Ponds, not just because of draft status, but for another reason – range.
Brownlee is one of the toughest DBs you will find (as we saw on his myriad blitzes last week), but he’s not a burner. He ran a 4.54 forty when he came out of Louisville, and that is one of the reasons he slipped to the fifth round, where he was picked by Tennessee.
Ponds displayed world class speed at the combine, running a 4.37 forty.
Brownlee gives you every once of his being whenever he’s on the field, but there are times, due to no fault of his own, he has issues keeping up with speedy receivers.
So once Pond is totally comfortable in the the scheme, he should be the starting slot cornerback. However, even when that happens, Brownlee should still play a ton because he brings a lot to the table . . .
Jets edge Joseph Ossai is out this week with an ankle injury. You could argue it’s ankle and foot injuries. He hurt his ankle last week, and has been playing this season with a plantar fasciitis injury in his foot.
It is pretty amazing that he came back into the game last week after hurting his ankle on top of having plantar fasciitis.
This guy is a true warrior and consummate team player, but dealing with those two injuries were just too much for him to overcome this week.
With Braiden McGregor on IR, and now Ossai out, expect Nate Lynn to see more action. Lynn is an edge out of The College of William and Mary who Aaron Glenn coached in Detroit in 2024 . . .
October 16, 2026
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