Coming into Sunday's matchup against the Tennessee Titans, DE Muhammad Wilkerson was leading the Green & White defense and tied for fifth in the NFL with nine sacks.
And after the Jets' 30-8 victory over the Titans, Wilkerson had moved up to fourth in the league with a new career high of 12 sacks.
"He had a great game," said head coach Todd Bowles during his postgame presser. "He came off the ball. He had three sacks. He missed one or two or else he would have had more. He came out with a lot of energy and set the tone."
"It's just another key to victory," said Wilkerson. "I stopped the run and got after the passer. I missed one, so I had to make up for that. There were plays there for me to make and I made them."
On a day where the Jets' main mission was to get off to a fast start, the Green & White did just that and held rookie QB Marcus Mariota and company scoreless after a full half of football.
"We know he is an elusive guy," said Wilkerson at his locker. "But our job as pass rushers is to have precise rushing lanes and I think we did pretty well today."
Wilkerson made his presence felt late in the second quarter, sacking Mariota twice. The first sack came with 4:18 left on the clock with Wilkerson bringing Mariota to the turf for a loss of 7 yards. In the closing seconds of the half, he chased the rookie signalcaller from the pocket and took him down again for a loss of 12 yards.
"We like to get after it," said the fifth-year defensive lineman. "We knew they wanted to put points on the board and try to get the ball down the field. Our job, of course, is to go and get the quarterback and myself and the other guys, we did that."
The Jets also held Tennessee to 24 rushing yards on 13 carries and allowed only three of 14 third-down conversation in making the Titans one-dimensional.
They also forced one turnover when CB Buster Skrine intercepted Mariota for his first grab as a Jet, which led to a Randy Bullock field goal.
Big Mo wouldn't be the only one to get in on the sack exchange for the day. LB Demario Davis and rookie DE Leonard Williams would both register solo sacks on the Titans' first-year quarterback.
"I think the game ball goes to the defensive line," said CB Darrelle Revis, who was back in the starting lineup after missing two weeks. "They did a great job, they stayed in their rush lanes throughout the course of the game. One of the big things that we emphasized was that he could scramble with his legs, let's keep him inside the pocket and make him a pocket passer. We did a great job of that."
When asked how he felt about 12 sack in 12 games, Wilkerson replied, "It feels good but there is a lot of games to be played and there is more to do."
