Throughout the season, NewYorkJets.com will provide a Stock Report focusing on the Jets' upcoming matchup.
This week's report features players and/or themes that are trending before the Green & White take on the Patriots at Gillette Stadium Sunday.
📈 Jets Pass Rush
Led by second-year LB Will McDonald IV, the Jets' defense has generated the sixth-highest pressure percentage in the NFL at 39.5% this season. McDonald, who leads the team and ranks second in the NFL with 8 sacks, is coming off a career-high 7 pressures against the Steelers. The No. 16 overall pick in 2023 had 2 of the Green & White's 7 sacks when the Jets and Pats played in Week 3.
"I'm just going to try to do the same thing, if not better," he said of Sunday's game, "Just going to do the same thing I did the first match we played. Just continue to ball out."
McDonald will now be paired across from two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Haason Reddick, who is likely to make his Jets debut Sunday. Reddick has 50.5 sacks since 2020, which is the fourth-most in the league in that span. The Patriots have allowed a league-high 46.5 pressure percentage in 2024 and their 25 sacks allowed are the second-most in the NFL.
"We're going to be the dynamic duo," McDonald said. "That's really all I got to say about that.
"I've already learned a lot from him based off technique, alignment, two-point stance. I've already learned numerous things from. I still got a lot more to learn from. He's definitely going to be a factor of how far this is going to go for me because I'm just going to keep that mentality of learning and working, especially that I got him here now. It's going to give me a lot of pieces I didn't have before."
📈 Patriots QB Drake Maye
Rookie quarterback Drake Maye has impressed in his two starts even though he's searching for his first win. Maye, the No. 3 overall pick out of North Carolina, is the first rookie QB since 1950 with 500-plus passing yards, 5-plus passing touchdowns and 50-plus rushing yards in his first two career starts.
Maye completed 70.3% of his passes (26 of 37) last week in a 32-16 loss to the Jaguars in London that extended the Patriots (1-5) losing streak to five games. He threw for 276 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions for a 109.7 rating.
📉 Patriots Run Defense
The Patriots have allowed 363 rushing yards over the last two games (181.5 avg). The Jets ran for 133 yards on 33 carries when these teams played in Week 3 (4.0 avg) and RB Breece Hall ran for a career-high 178 yards the last time the Green & White played in Foxborough (Week 18 last season).
"They do a lot, but there's some parts of their defense you can take advantage of," Hall said of New England's rushing defense. "They do so much that they can confuse you, but if you're on your Ps and Qs, you can find little holes in their defense and make them pay for it."
Hall, who's coming off a game with 141 scrimmage yards (103 receiving), is the only running back in the NFL with at least 300 yards rushing and receiving. He leads all RBs with 307 receiving yards.
📉 Starters' Injuries
The Jets and Patriots each listed 15 players on Wednesday's injury report. The Green & White had six DNPs in Wednesday's walk through including starters S Tony Adams (hamstring), RG Alijah Vera-Tucker (ankle) and WR Allen Lazard (chest).
For the Pats, LB Anfernee Jennings (shoulder, knee), T Vederian Lowe (ankle), WR Ja'Lynn Polk (concussion), G Layden Robinson (ankle) DE Keion White (ankle) and RB Rhamondre Stevenson (foot, personal reasons) did not participate in Wednesday's practice. They are listed as starters on the team's unofficial depth chart.
