Throughout the regular season, NewYorkJets.com reporters Eric Allen, Ethan Greenberg, Randy Lange, Caroline Hendershot and John Pullano will give their responses to a series of questions regarding this year's Jets.
Today's question: Which Jets player could be in store for a rebound vs. the Titans?
EA: Jermaine Johnson. The Jets fell short of their defensive standard Monday against the 49ers. At every turn this week, you heard Jets defenders stress that edge setting needs to improve. Johnson, a 2023 Pro Bowler who racked up 7.5 sacks, displayed his maturity while saying the defense got embarrassed and that he wants to be better technique-wise and with angles. After yielding 180 rush yards to the 'Niners, DC Jeff Ulbrich said he expects a response to what happened and a standard that is revealed. The Titans ran it well against the Bears (26-140-5.4-1TD) and O-line coach Bill Callahan is a future Hall of Famer. The Jets must slow down Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears on the ground and then get after QB Will Levis. Johnson runs hot and I think Sunday can't come soon enough for the third-year edge.
EG: WR Mike Williams. Williams took 9 snaps in the Week 1 loss and was not targeted. HC Robert Saleh said Friday that the plan was to have Williams take 15 snaps Monday night as he recovers from his ACL injury, and that he'll take more snaps Sunday against the Titans. Tennessee acquired CB L'Jarius Sneed in the offseason, who could match up with Jets WR Garrett Wilson, which could lead to more opportunities for Williams against other Titans defenders. Williams can help stretch the field against the Titans' defense that allowed 64 net passing yards last week, the fewest in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers is much more battle-tested than Bears rookie QB Caleb Williams, whom the Titans held to 93 passing yards in his debut and Mike Williams could see a significant workload increase, especially if the Green & White run more than 49 plays.
RL: I could see a battle of wills between Breece Hall and the Jets' restructured line against Tennessee's run defense. We know Hall is a prideful dude who wasn't happy with his game at San Fran, in which he scored the Jets' first TD of the season but also was limited to 54 yards at 3.4 yards per tote and 39 yards on 5 catches. "I had a missed read or two, a drop and a fumble," he said, "so I feel like I put that on myself and I'm going to come back and get better." But the Titans, despite their fall-from-ahead loss at Chicago, are hot defensively. From 2021 through opening night, they have the NFL's No. 1 rush defense. Then Sunday, while they posted numbers that lead the NFL in total and pass yards allowed per game and per play, their run D checks in at No. 9 per game and No. 11 per carry. Not bad but still either a chance for them to rev up their run defense in their home opener, or a soft spot for Hall to exploit for a few of the explosive plays he's been known to make in his first two Jets seasons.
CH: I think TE Tyler Conklin is in store for a bigger role against the Tennessee Titans. Conklin was targeted twice in Week 1 and had 1 catch for 6 yards. His limited production could have been a result of the offense's time of possession (21:20 compared to the Niners' 38:40), which resulted in just 49 total plays for the unit. QB Aaron Rodgers told reporters on Wednesday: "I'd love to get [Conklin] involved. … A lot of that's just play. You have 49 plays. You only have a certain amount of opportunities. We called 22 passes when I was in there. Some of them are one guy routes, some of them are two guy routes, some are full-field stuff, but it just depends on the plays that are called." Overall, I think the offense wants to get more of its weapons involved after Rodgers completed passes to three players Monday night.
JP: After Jermaine Johnson stood up in front of his teammates this week and took responsibility for his uncharacteristic performance in Week 1, it has me thinking we are in for a big-time bounce-back showing from the third-year edge rusher. Monday night, Johnson registered 2 tackles and 1 pressure against the 49ers, his fewest pressures in a game since Week 11 of last season. In Week 2, Johnson, named to the Pro Bowl for the first time last season, should have the advantage going against a Titans offensive line that struggled to protect QB Will Levis in Week 1. Levis was sacked 3 times against the Bears, hit 8 times and pressured on 26% of his drop backs. Tennessee started rookie J.C. Latham at left tackle, who allowed 5 pressures, 2 QB hits and a sack. He received a 45.1 pass-block grade from Pro Football Focus.
