In contrast to their first two games of the season -- a loss at San Francisco and a win at Tennessee -- the Jets got off to a fast start against New England, dictated the pace and left the Patriots chasing the game in New York's strong 24-3 victory.
With quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the offense controlling the ball for 40:04, compared to New England's 19:56, the defense was able to play freely -- even without injured linebacker C.J. Mosley (toe) and edge Jermaine Johnson (Achilles tendon).
"It definitely is a different feeling going out there as a defensive player [when] you go up with a lead," safety Chuck Clark said on Monday. "The [opposing] offense kind of got to play to you, and that's kind of how it was, that is how it was on Thursday night.
"We knew that they had to try to take their shots when they had to take them, and we had to just be locked in and be ready. So yeah, it definitely feels good as a defensive player going out there and when the offense gives us some points."
On Thursday night Clark said: "[Having the lead] gave us a totally different mentality and made it a different ball game. When the offense is keeping their drives alive, the opponent feels like they have to force it. It gives us confidence that we can just go out there and attack and be aggressive."
Since Robert Saleh became the Green & White's coach for the 2021 season, the Jets have an 11-5 record when they are in the lead after the first quarter. Against the Pats, the Jets led, 7-0, scoring on their second possession of the game -- an 8-play, 73-yard series in a taut 4:13.
Jamien Sherwood Steps Up
With captain and veteran linebacker C.J. Mosley likely to return to the field for Sunday's game against visiting Denver, after missing the last six quarters with a toe injury sustained at Tennessee, Jamien Sherwood stepped in, stepped up and turned in a solid performance in Thursday night's win over the Patriots.
"Filling in for C.J. Mosley, those are big shoes to fill," said Sherwood, who is in his fourth NFL season after being selected out of Auburn in the fifth round (No. 146 overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft. "I feel like, as a defense, we were able to communicate, uphold the standard that he's [Mosley] created for our defense. And, ultimately, as you saw, we played a great game on defense."
In his rookie season Sherwood, who made the switch from safety in college to linebacker, sustained a torn Achilles tendon. In 2022, he played in all 17 games, mostly on special teams. Last season, he recorded a career-high 46 defensive stops and 3 TFL.
Playing alongside Quincy Williams, Sherwood was third on the defense with 5 tackles against the Patriots. Williams led the team with 8, followed by Chuck Clark with 7.
Two Badger Buds
When a confident 17-year-old Braelon Allen skipped his senior year of high school in Fond du Lac, WI, and moved to Madison to join the Wisconsin Badgers, his past and current teammate Joe Tippmann said the reaction was, really, that there was no reaction.
"I've said this before, but I remember him, him showing up," Tippmann said on Monday. "He was 17 years old. You know, he was like someone who's supposed to be going into his senior year, and then reclassified. Nobody knew what that meant."
In American education, reclassification means that either a person is held back a grade or jumps ahead a grade. In the case of Allen, who was recruited to Wisconsin as a safety before switching to running back, he left high school and college early, drafted by the Jets in the fourth round this past April.
"And so him walking in there, you know, we're like, all right, whatever," said Tippmann, the Badgers' and now the Jets' center. "You know, this guy thinks he can just skip his senior year of football, and then first practice, we step out there, and I think he ran over three or four dudes, and immediately everything switches."
Last week, after catching a TD pass from Aaron Rodgers and running for a second, Allen -- the youngest player in the NFL at 20 -- was named the Pepsi Zero Sugar Offensive Rookie of the Week.
Agent Zero (he wears jersey No. 0) followed up his performance against Tennessee with another strong showing in Thursday night's win over New England. He led the Jets in rushing with 55 yards, 1 more than Breece Hall. The pair of big, fast and strong running backs have given the Jets a formidable 1-2 punch through three games.
"He [Allen, 6-1, 235] brings the physicality, and it's not to say that Breece won't run over a dude," Tippmann said. "Breece is out there making those cuts, making people miss, and then Braelon comes in and he runs right over them. So I think it opens it up for him, and then opens it up for Breece to be able to make those plays further downfield. Because, you know, those safeties that are stepping up, they're going to be more scared to hit."
