MARSHALL PLAN FUMBLED
Absent Eric not concerned with touches
Eric Decker, normally a key ingredient for the Jets offense, went almost completely missing in Sunday’s 24-3 meltdown loss to the Chiefs. The Gang Green receiver had just one catch for 31 yards. Ryan Fitzpatrick, who threw six interceptions, blamed himself for the lack of involvement of his No. 2 receiver.
“The thing about Eric is, I mean I could sense his frustration, but he’s also a guy that’s gonna go out there and all he wants to do is win,” Fitzpatrick said. “That’s something that as a quarterback and as a friend too that I really appreciate about him.”
Decker echoed that sentiment when he was asked if he was, indeed, frustrated.
“Of course,” he said. “If you’re losing, you’re down, it should be frustrating if you care. It’s not the fact that I wasn’t getting the ball, it was just the fact that we weren’t executing. We weren’t taking advantage of some of the opportunities.”
Decker did receive six targets, though four of them came in the fourth quarter.
“He needs to be a big part of our offense with his skill set, how good of a player he is,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick’s turnovers were the main story out of Sunday’s loss, but Jalin Marshall had a critical fumble — his second of the year.
Halfway through the second quarter, Marshall returned a kick, but when he received a big hit the ball popped out and landed in the arms of Demetrius Harris, who returned it 27 yards for a touchdown.
Asked if he could keep running the rookie out there, Todd Bowles said, “Not if he’s going to turn the ball over.
“But like I said, we had a lot of turnovers Could it get any worse than six interceptions and a fumble? This was a complete and utter nightmare. Despite Todd Bowles’ comments, the defense played OK. They had trouble with Travis Kelce, but overall held the Chiefs to 10 points.
SPECIAL TEAMS
DThat Jalin Marshall fumble returned for a touchdown was a killer. Very difficult to recover from that. today, it wasn’t just Jalin.”
Asked to what he attributes the fumbles, Marshall said, “Just a lack of focus sometimes.
“It’s something that I’ve got to fix,” he added.
Marshall left the game early with a shoulder injury but said he got it X-rayed and it came out fine.