A season that began with fresh ink on a three-year contract extension and great expectations for Jets' slot cornerback Michael Carter II was derailed by a nagging back injury that cost him significant playing time this past season.
"It was definitely tough," Carter told team reporter Ethan Greenberg. "I mean, just knowing who I am as a player, I still feel like I'm a dominant player, especially when I'm healthy. So it was definitely different. And a new challenge, a new kind of adversity I've never had to deal with as far as an injury of this sort.
"You know this type of thing you can't really kind of get over it. There's no rest in the game, especially in the context of football. But I definitely learned a lot about myself and kind of being like a servant leader and trying to be the best I can be in the role that I had to be in this season. I just can't wait to rehab and get right. And definitely somebody, somebody got to pay for this one."
Carter played a single snap on defense against Minnesota in London in Week 5 in early October before he sustained the back injury that kept him sidelined in the next two games -- vs. Buffalo and at Pittsburgh. He powered through the next seven games, seeing limited action, and then was inactive in two of the final three games of the season. In total, Carter took 286 (24.9%) snaps on defense, the fewest in his four seasons with the Green & White since he was selected in the fifth round (No. 154 overall) out of Duke in the 2021 NFL Draft.
"I really just got to rest," Carter said about his approach early in the offseason. "That's really it, just resting and rehabbing."
During his tenure with the Jets, Carter (5-10, 184) has been a stalwart, if often unsung fixture in the middle of the defensive backfield. In the 2023 season, he had career bests in receiving yards allowed (344), passer rating allowed (76.4) and completion percentage allowed (55.6%) while allowing 1 TD. He registered 47 tackles and 9 PDs and had 5 QB pressures and a forced fumble.
The lucrative contract extension he signed last September was confirmation of his value and importance, now and looking ahead to his place as the team's new head coach Aaron Glenn begins to settle in. But before anything can happen, Carter said he needs to personally right the ship.
"Just get back to basics, get back to me," he said. "First, get healthy. And then just take it to another level, another level that people haven't seen from me yet. Tap into a different mindset going into the offseason.
"Everything happens for a reason and the adversity is going to build you and make you a better person."
He added: "I never quit on this team. I tried to be out there every week. But then also I learned, taking a kind of step back and really looking around and seeing what everybody was going through. [O-lineman] Morgan [Moses], everything he was going through, but he was still fighting and being out there, learning from him. Even the coaches when they had to ... things were getting shuffled around, but they still showed up to work.
"All the adversity taught me a lot just by being a professional and a man, too. You still got to go about your business the same way.
"I'm here for a while, so we're gonna get this thing right."
