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The Patriots have some injury decisions to make this week, related to players like WR A.J. Brown (ankle), left tackle Will Campbell (knee), cornerbacks Christian Gonzalez (shoulder), Carlton Davis (neck), edge Dre’Mont Jones (shoulder), RB TreVeyon Henderson (ankle) and others.
It sounds like Campbell isn’t going to play, and Gonzalez will.
But one thing to keep in mind with all these injuries is the Patriots’ schedule.
After playing the Jets on Sunday, they have to turn around and travel to Chicago for a Thursday Night Football game.
You have to be naive to think the short week that follows won’t impact some of their injury decisions for the Jets game.
In some cases, they might end up saying, “Let’s give this guy a few extra days and get him ready for Thursday.”
There is no doubt teams do that when they have to play on Sunday and then turn around and play on Thursday…
Speaking of injuries, you get the sense that Jets guard Dylan Parham (knee) is getting closer to a return. He is not wearing a brace on his left knee, but just a compression sleeve.
The man replacing him, Jordan Meredith, gives you everything he’s got, but he’s the kind of player that scouts might describe as someone who “can get you through a few games.”
His lack of ideal arm length can present some matchup problems at times.
In the second quarter on Sunday, he was called for holding Browns defensive tackle Isaiah McGuire. Also in the second quarter, on a third-and-long, he was beat by DT Adin Huntington, who pressured Geno Smith into throwing short of the first down.
While Meredith is considered the Jets’ backup swing player, so he needs to be able to player guard and center, his best position is center.
“Smaller, short-armed interior lineman who might require a camp shift to center due to his physical limitations,” wrote Lance Zeirlein when the player came out of Western Kentucky in 2021 as an undrafted free agent.
Some might be surprised the Jets didn’t use Kohl Levao at guard with the injury to Parham, and use Meredith as the backup swing man. Levao has the better frame and arm length for guard . . .
David Bailey was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his three-sack performance against the Cleveland Browns. He also had seven tackles, three tackles for loss and four QB hits.
And think you all know what is coming in this space – “Let’s not put in him Canton just yet, fellas.”
That famous Bill Parcells quote was usually about young players who he felt were getting too much media praise, early in their careers.
While Bailey played well against Cleveland, he did quite a bit of damage against backup right tackle Dewand Jones, filling in for Tytus Howard, who got hurt in the first half. The 6’8 1/4″ Jones plays with a high pad level, and Bailey did a good job of dipping under him. Also, Jones is 374 lbs, which hurts his foot quickness, and Bailey did a good job taking advantage of that.
Perhaps an ideal matchup for Bailey, and to his credit, he took advantage of it.
But before this game, Bailey was somewhat quiet in the first four games. And let’s not forget the Jets gave up 232 yards rushing and a little pass rush against Chicago, playing a line with a third-string left tackle.
So let’s see what Bailey does moving forward and assess him with a bigger sample size.
In this era of talking head shows, the narrative often change week-to-week.
“This coach is great, this coach is average, this player is great, this player is average.”
The swinging narratives in this league can give you vertigo…
The Jets’ loss to the Chicago Bears didn’t age well.
A week later, the Bears got destroyed by Green Bay, 31-7.
Their defense went from looking like the ’85 Bears against the Jets to playing like the ’26 New Orleans Saints against Green Bay.
Against the Bears’ defense, Geno Smith was 8-15 for 119 yards and 1 TD. 58 of those passing yards came on a late TD pass to Isaiah Williams.
Green Bay Packers QB Jordan Love was 25-for-31 for 367 yards and two touchdowns.
The bottom line is the Jets’ offense made the Bears’ defense look way better than they were.
They weren’t much better against Cleveland, though, in fairness, the weather was awful
But the bottom line is, if the Jets need more from their offense than we have seen the last two weeks to beat New England…
There were some questions in a few press conferences today about Garrett Wilson’s targets. Aaron Glenn, Geno Smith, and Wilson were asked if they go into games with a certain number of targets in mind.
It’s never a good idea to go into a game thinking about how many times you want to target one weapon in the passing game, and Smith said as much.
“You just read the defense,” Smith said. “The ball goes where it goes. You can’t force it to anybody.”
So, let’s say Gonzalez is covering Wilson tight; throw the damn ball to Isaiah Williams, Tim Patrick or somebody else.
Never force it to anybody.
“Football to me is about throwing the ball to the guy who’s open,” Tom Brady once said…
October 14, 2026
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