Jets Pro Bowl CB Sauce Gardner amassed a career-high 4 pass defenses and continued his spectacular rookie season as the Jets fell to the Seahawks 23-6 at Lumen Field Sunday.
The No. 4 overall selection in April's NFL Draft has tallied a PD in 11 games and Sunday's effort marked his third game with at least 3 pass defenses. Additionally, Gardner leads the NFL with 20 pass defenses. His 4 tackles against Seattle were his ninth game with at least 4 takedowns.
With the Jets trailing 7-0 in the first quarter, QB Geno Smith targeted WR D.K. Metcalf on third-and-goal from the Jets' 6-yard-line. Gardner stuck his hand in the passing lane to break up the pass and force the Seahawks into a field goal. Later, with the Jets down 17-3 in the third quarter, Gardner blanketed the Ole Miss product again to force a third-down incompletion and another field goal.
Metcalf was held to a season-low 1 reception for 3 yards and Gardner recorded 2 PDs on Metcalf targets. Entering Week 17, Metcalf had at least 5 receptions in eight consecutive games and hadn't been held under 35 yards since Week 7.
Gardner was excellent from the first whistle to the final horn. In the fourth quarter, Smith floated a pass toward TE Noah Fant near the front pylon of the endzone and Gardner tipped the ball away -- his third PD of the game. The drive ended in a missed field goal.
Tyler Lockett, who returned to the lineup, was held to a season-low 15 yards receiving on 2 receptions and Smith threw for a season-low 182 yards.
"We lost," Gardner said. "The end result was not what we wanted. We don't think about that stuff unless we got the win. That would have been another bonus to talk about, but we are a team. We don't single stuff out.
"We have to go back and watch the film because we don't want to have this feeling anymore. We are going to put in the work that we have to put in."
Rookie WR Garrett Wilson, who was taken six spots behind Gardner in the first round, surpassed 1,000 yards receiving with an 8-yard catch in the second quarter. The Ohio State product finished with 3 receptions for 18 yards and has 1,014 yards with one game remaining in the regular season.
Additionally, rookie DL Micheal Clemons converged on Smith with DL Solomon Thomas for one of the Jets' 3 sacks. Clemons, a fourth-round selection in April's draft (117th), also had 3 tackles and elevated his season sack total to 2.5 with the half sack.
