The Jets needed help from all around the defense in their 28-23 win over Jacksonville on Sunday, and that meant major contributions from rookie LB Lorenzo Mauldin and second-year CB Marcus Williams in less than major time on the field.
"It was good to see them come in and make some plays," head coach Todd Bowles said. "The plays are just part of it. We have to see how they played completely during the game."
We suspect Mauldin should grade out well. He was in for 19 defensive plays (not a career high; he had 20 vs. Miami) and had four tackles, was involved in the first three sacks of his pro career (two half-sacks, one full sack), and was in on four of the Jets' 14 hits on Jaguars QB Blake Bortles.
Mauldin, Bowles explained, "played third down. They threw the ball a lot and we were able to get our packages in a lot for him."
Williams is becoming very versatile. With CB Antonio Cromartie injuring his thigh and S Dion Bailey coming out with an ankle injury, he played both CB and S for 28 defensive plays (not close to a career high; he had 60 the week before at Oakland).
With those plays, Williams contributed three tackles, a half-sack (the first one of Bortles, shared with Mauldin), two interceptions — including the game-sealing pick with 43 seconds to play — and another third-down pass defense.
"I just try to get better every single play and focus on the plays I need to make," he said. "Just coming in and making those plays when Cro went down, you've just got to go out there, next man up. We've preached that all year and that's how it was."
Some other notes from the play count list:
■ C Nick Mangold left after 25 plays, saying it wasn't pain that forced him out but that his neck "just didn't respond well ... it just didn't do what I wanted it to do." That meant more extended play for Wesley Johnson — 40 offensive plays today, 113 the last two games.
■ G Brian Winters, who played 77 plays vs. Miami for Willie Colon, started and was in for all 65 offensive plays vs. the Jaguars for Colon.
■ LB Erin Henderson got some time at OLB and was in for 15 defensive plays and 23 on special teams, with the 38 his high play count as a Jet.
■ TE Kellen Davis turned in a big play for the second straight week, this time making the muffed-punt recovery that set up the Jets' last score. Davis played a total of 48 plays on offense and specials, his second-most as a Jet.
■ S Rontez Miles, who played on special teams vs. New Orleans in 2013, made his pro defensive debut with 10 plays at safety and added 14 ST plays.
■ P Ryan Quigley was in for 18 special teams plays due to Nick Folk's quad pull. His normal workload is 8-12 plays.
The play counts below from the NFL play-by-play for the game include all offensive, defensive and special teams plays plus some penalty plays. The numbers sometimes are revised during the week.
OFFENSIVE LINE | * POS | OFF | DEF | ST | Total |
Carpenter, James | G | 65 | 4 | 69 | |
Ferguson, D'Brickashaw | T | 65 | 4 | 69 | |
Giacomini, Breno | T | 65 | 4 | 69 | |
Winters, Brian | G | 65 | 4 | 69 | |
Johnson, Wesley | C | 40 | 4 | 40 | |
Mangold, Nick | C | 25 | 25 | ||
Qvale, Brent | T | 17 | 4 | 21 | |
WIDE RECEIVERS | POS | OFF | DEF | ST | Total |
Marshall, Brandon | WR | 60 | 1 | 61 | |
Decker, Eric | WR | 45 | 1 | 46 | |
Kerley, Jeremy | WR | 29 | 6 | 35 | |
Thompkins, Kenbrell | WR | 28 | 2 | 30 | |
Smith, Devin | WR | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
TIGHT ENDS | POS | OFF | DEF | ST | Total |
Davis, Kellen | TE | 33 | 15 | 48 | |
Cumberland, Jeff | TE | 22 | 23 | 45 | |
RUNNING BACKS | POS | OFF | DEF | ST | Total |
Ivory, Chris | RB | 51 | 51 | ||
Bohanon, Tommy | FB | 24 | 18 | 42 | |
Stacy, Zac | RB | 14 | 5 | 19 | |
QUARTERBACKS | POS | OFF | DEF | ST | Total |
Fitzpatrick, Ryan | QB | 65 | 65 | ||
DEFENSIVE LINE | POS | OFF | DEF | ST | Total |
Wilkerson, Muhammad | DE | 61 | 6 | 67 | |
Richardson, Sheldon | DT | 56 | 56 | ||
Harrison, Damon | NT | 27 | 1 | 28 | |
Williams, Leonard | DE | 39 | 6 | 45 | |
Bowen, Stephen | DE | 12 | 12 | ||
Douzable, Leger | DE | 13 | 14 | 27 | |
LINEBACKERS | POS | OFF | DEF | ST | Total |
Davis, Demario | ILB | 66 | 7 | 73 | |
Harris, David | ILB | 66 | 7 | 73 | |
Pace, Calvin | OLB | 23 | 6 | 29 | |
Mauldin, Lorenzo | OLB | 19 | 8 | 27 | |
Henderson, Erin | ILB | 15 | 23 | 38 | |
Coples, Quinton | OLB | 8 | 6 | 14 | |
Reillly, Trevor | ILB | 24 | 24 | ||
Lattimore, Jamari | ILB | 23 | 23 | ||
DEFENSIVE BACKS | POS | OFF | DEF | ST | Total |
Gilchrist, Marcus | FS | 66 | 11 | 77 | |
Revis, Darrelle | CB | 66 | 5 | 71 | |
Skrine, Buster | CB | 58 | 8 | 66 | |
Cromartie, Antonio | CB | 44 | 6 | 50 | |
Bailey, Dion | SS | 39 | 6 | 45 | |
Williams, Marcus | CB | 28 | 21 | 49 | |
Walls, Darrin | CB | 10 | 23 | 33 | |
Miles, Rontez | DB | 10 | 14 | 24 | |
McDougle, Dexter | CB | 16 | 16 | ||
SPECIALISTS | POS | OFF | DEF | ST | Total |
Quigley, Ryan | P | 18 | 18 | ||
Purdum, Tanner | LS | 13 | 13 | ||
Folk, Nick | K | 4 | 4 | ||
TEAM | 65 | 66 | 34 | 165* | |
DID NOT PLAY: Smith, Geno; Ridley, Stevan | |||||
INACTIVE: Petty, Bryce; Pryor, Calvin; Powell, Bilal; Colon, Willie; Dozier, Dakota; Ijalana, Ben; Barnes, T.J. |