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A big focus for the Jets this week in preparing for Arizona’s Kyler Murray is to not run past the QB, because if you do, you are playing right into the mobile QB’s hands.
Bill Belichick was critical of new Jets defensive end Haason Reddick for running past quarterbacks in the Jets’ recent loss to New England.
“Reddick came into the game and just ran past the quarterback multiple times, whether it was [Drake] Maye or Jacoby, and created those scramble lanes that the Patriots took advantage of,” Belichick said on ESPN.
Reddick wasn’t happy about this comment.
“Aye someone call Bill Belichick and give him a job. Seems like he’s home bored and can’t keep me out of his mouth. Come up for air why don’t ya (no diddy),”
What does “No Diddy” mean?
“It is a phrase popularized by rappers to dismiss any implied homosexuality or gender nonconformity,” according to Distractify, a pop culture website.
I don’t want to get into all that, but just focus on what Belichick said after the Jets-New England game.
Reddick and some other Jets defensive linemen, who have a proclivity to run past the QB, can’t afford to do that this week.
The teams that have had the most success against Murray rush with discipline, and keep the 5-9 QB in the pocket, where he has a hard time seeing the field . . .
Some thought, with the Jets’ run defense struggling, they would add a defensive lineman this week, but it didn’t happen.
The Buffalo Bills added defensive tackles Quinton Jefferson and Jordan Phillips, but the Jets stayed put.
Jefferson might have made sense because he played for them last year amassing a career-high six sacks, and knows the system, but the Jets are sticking with their current defensive line rotation, which features three undrafted rookie free agents . . .
I saw a Jets player today with a shirt that read “King of Strain.”
That was a major mantra of Robert Saleh – it’s about giving your maximum effort on the field.
And that is important, but I feel sometimes this emphasis on strain and hustle hurts the Jets’ defense.
This might sound like a weird thing to say, but let me explain.
Playing with a great motor and top-shelf effort is important, but not if you are consistently running past ball carriers or quarterbacks, playing out of control.
Here is a perfect example:
In the third quarter of the Jets’ recent loss to Pittsburgh, on a third-and-eight, Russell Wilson threw a short pass in the right flat to RB Jaylen Warren and both Brandon Echols and Quincy Williams overran the play and what should have been a third down stop turned into an 11 yard gain.
Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden had a saying: “Be quick but don’t hurry.”
And that is a mantra the Jets should embrace.
Especially this week, facing Murray . . .
A player who could help the Jets’ run defense is linebacker Chazz Surratt, an instinctive, tough ballhawk.
However, he’s hurt, again, now with a heel injury.
Surratt has a lot of talent, but due to no fault of his own, has had a hard time staying healthy since joining the Jets in 2022.
We will see if he can go this week. He was limited in practice today.
The Jets probably need to tweak their lineup to help fix their run issues. In the last three games they gave up 149 yards to both Pittsburgh and New England, and then 187 to Houston.
Three weeks in a row of this is more than an aberration, and it’s not like it just started three weeks ago . . .
Three Jets guards all missed practice today – Alijah Vera-Tucker (ankle), John Simpson (groin) and Jake Hanson (hamstring). They are pictured above in white jerseys in the rehab area Jets practice today.
There is a chance all three could miss this game.
If they can’t go, Max Mitchell would start at one of the guard spots, and either Olu Fashanu or Alec Lindstrom, a former UFL player from Boston College, at the other spot.
What might help the Jets cause a little bit with their injury issues at guard is the Arizona Cardinals’ defensive line isn’t the strength of their team.
November 6, 2024
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