Across the Pond
The Jets are 3-1 playing in countries other than the U.S. in the preseason and regular season, with a 2-0 record in the regular season. The last time the Jets played overseas was in London was 2015, beating the Dolphins by 27-14 at Wembley Stadium. Playing at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday against Atlanta, head coach Robert Saleh feels prepared for the acclimating his players to the time change.
"It's a tricky week but fortunately, I've been a part of this game three times when I was in Jacksonville when we went three consecutive years," HC Robert Saleh said. "In my three years, we tried it once leaving right after our Sunday game, we tried it once leaving on a Monday and then we left on a Thursday. We feel like we have a really good plan, travel plan, going in to keep it as normal as possible for our guys. It's just a matter of getting in there, getting acclimated to the time change and playing on Sunday."
Saleh was the Jaguars' linebackers coach from 2014-16 and when the team went 2-1 in the London games.
Former Dirty Birds
The Jets have a handful of former Falcons in their organization including OC Mike LaFleur and DC Jeff Ulbrich. LaFleur was an offensive assistant with Atlanta from 2015-16 before heading to San Francisco with Kyle Shanahan. Ulbrich joined the Falcons as their linebackers coach in 2015 and stayed with the organization through last season when he took over as interim defensive coordinator.
RB Tevin Coleman was drafted by the Falcons in the third round out of Indiana in 2015 and played four seasons in Atlanta before joining LaFleur out west.
"It's going to be fun," Coleman said playing his former team. "I love those guys over there. I know a couple of those guys over there, so it's definitely going to be fun to play against them."
The Green & White totaled 66 rushing yards against the Titans, but Coleman feels the offense needs to stay dedicated to the ground game.
"We got to stay on our details and stay on our blocks and things like that to get the run game going and to keep running the ball well, to get explosive runs," he said. "So, we just got to keep on the details and keep on the same page with communication."
Under-the-Radar Falcons
For years the Falcons have been headlined by QB Matt Ryan and WR Julio Jones. With Jones now in Tennessee, Atlanta's offense still has firepower with Ryan, WR Calvin Ridley and rookie TE Kyle Pitts. Ridley, a first-round pick in 2018, finished fifth in the NFL last season with 1,374 receiving yards. Pitts was drafted fourth overall after 43 receptions, 770 yards and 12 TDs his last year at Florida.
NFL Network's Steve Wyche, who is a contributor to the Falcons' website and used to work for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, believes the Jets need to keep an eye on RB Cordarrelle Patterson.
"The Falcons rely heavily on him as a running back and a pass catcher," he said. "They find ways to get the ball in his hands. He was by far their best player this past weekend against the Washington Football Team. He's the most increasing weapon they have offensively in terms of he runs hard, he gets north and south, he can catch the ball. He had three touchdown catches against the Washington Football Team. He's still a receiving threat. Arthur Smith finds a way to use him. Cordarrelle Patterson is that guy the Jets have to focus on."
Patterson's 18 receptions and 235 yards is second on the team to Ridley, but Patterson leads the Falcons with 4 TD receptions.
Defensively, Wyche believes Jets fans should look out for a pair of inside linebackers -- Deion Jones and Foye Oluokun, the team's two leading tacklers.
"They're just real dynamic, fast," Wyche said. "Not so much downhill linebackers, but guys who can chase and cover backs. They're always around the ball. Those are the two players defensively that really jump out."
