Jeff Ulbrich had a message about his defense after Thursday's practice, and it sounded similar notes to the messages sent earlier in the day by Jets head coach Robert Saleh and by Ulbrich's fellow Jets coordinators.
But because his defense has been top-five quality in the NFL the past two years and aspires to be top-one quality this season, Ulbrich's message was made from concentrate.
"It wasn't good enough," the Jets D-coordinator said of San Francisco's 401 yards of offense, eight consecutive scoring drives and other elements in the Jets' 32-19 opening-night loss. "That was not to our standard by any means. And that's everyone involved — the coaches, every single player, the calls, all of it. And it starts with me. We've got to be better, and we will be better."
Ulbrich pointed to a few situational culprits that victimized the Jets that night. One was the run defense, which the organization worked to improve this season but which yielded 180 yards on 38 carries and a 28-for-147 night for Jordan Mason, who did an uncanny impersonation of the injured Christian McCaffrey.
"Edge-setting was a thing that needs to improve," he said. "The perimeter run game was where the majority of the yards came from. We weren't setting the edges that we're accustomed to around here. So we've got to set better edges, because I thought the pursuit from inside out was what it needs to be. That was to our standard. The edge-setting was not."
Then there was the issue of third down. While the Jets offense faced an average down-and-distance of third-and-4.7 yards — a good thing for OC Nathaniel Hackett's crew — the defense was allowing the 49ers an average of third-and-4.5 yards — not so good for Brick's blood pressure.
"If you're living in third-and-2-to-6, third-and-2-to-5, that's kind of where we were living," he said. "It's hard to get home in those windows. The ball is coming out so quickly, especially against San Francisco with such a timing thrower in [Brock] Purdy. We just did not get the opportunity to really let our guys get in track stances and jump off the ball. And to do that, you've got to win on first down and second down, you've got to stop the run. Like Quinnen [Williams] said, you've got to earn the right to rush this passer. We did not do that."
Ulbrich also had some praise for his frequently praiseworthy D. Individually, he gave positive marks for such matchups as Sauce Gardner when he traveled with WR Brandon Aiyuk, limited to two catches for 28 yards — not unexpected from the two-time All-Pro CB — and Jermaine Johnson winning his share of battles with LT Trent Williams, who the DC said is "one of the best that's ever done it at left tackle — ever."
But his big tribute was to the defense as a whole, which had a specific reaction to the realization that they were not playing up to their standard, Niners or not.
"It's just like anything in life when it's not going your way. It's frustration and a little bit of anger," Ulbrich said. "At the same time, I was happy about the demeanor of the group. A lot of groups going through that, especially a group that's not accustomed to that happening to them, can go sideways and you can get finger-pointing and a whole lot of bad body language. You can get guys turning on each other.
"None of that occurred. The group stayed together. It was a good session on Wednesday morning when we watched it, and guys acknowledged it, they stood up and took it, coaches and players alike. And because of that, we've got a real good opportunity to grow from that."
The opportunity begins with a chance to star not far from Broadway — Nashville's Broadway, not New York's — with a bounceback showing against the Titans on Sunday afternoon. Brick expects to see some things borrowed (from what worked for the Niners) and some things blue (the Titans' own offensive scheme, fashioned by former Jets assistant Bill Callahan, now calling plays, and his son, Brian, the team's first-year head coach).
"I think that's every week in the NFL. There's a copycat component to it," Ulbrich said. "At the same time, you've got Callahan, senior and junior, both that are amazing tacticians and guys that will have their own scheme as well that has presented some difficulties for us the past couple of years."
And what does Ulbrich expect to see from his Jets in response? "A response," he said, only somewhat cryptically. "Yeah, a response to what happened and for our standard to be revealed. It's really our style of play more than anything. I think sometimes when you get so hyperfocused on results, things can go sideways.
"At the end of the day, it's about winning games And we've got to do whatever it takes to win this game."
