New slack city
Gang Green secondary yet to live up to its nickname
With each Blake Bortles completion, the less intimidating the Jets secondary looked. Each pass the Jaguars quarterback threw with little resistance made it seem silly this unit has its own nickname, New Jack City, with T-shirts to match.
On social media, the jokes were flying about the defensive backfield that has failed to reach expectations. But, a few days after that debacle, it would be hard to tell the group had just been shredded by Bortles for 388 yards and two touchdowns or has yet to resemble the force many predicted.
Members of the unit spoke with the same confidence about its ability, believing the slow start is merely a hiccup on the road to a big season, as it had throughout the summer.
“Every time we step on the field, we always believe we’re the best group out there,” safety Marcus Maye said.
They don’t look back with regret at the nickname — a take on the 1991 Wesley Snipes movie, which came from defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson — or everything that goes with it.
“We’re not going to change who we are,” Maye said. “We’re not going to change our mentality. We’re not going to change the way we play. We just got to find a way to put a complete game together.
“We’re still going to be New Jack City. We got each other’s back, and that’s what it’s all about.”
The unit was expected to be the team’s strength, the backbone to the defense. Instead, it has underwhelmed — committing needless penalties, giving up big plays and not making nearly enough of them. Maye, the quarterback of the secondary, just played in his first game after missing the first three with a foot injury. Newcomer Trumaine Johnson hasn’t played up to his $72.5 million contract at cornerback. Morris Claiborne, the other starting corner, has regressed after a strong first season with the Jets. Only second-year safety Jamal Adams has impressed.
“We can play better,” said Claiborne — who like Johnson, has been flagged three times. “We’re losing. We got to fix everything.”
The unit hasn’t necessarily played poorly — the Jets are ranked 14th against the pass despite an incon- sistent pass rush that too often needs to blitz to generate pressure — but not nearly to the level that was expected. Though a good percentage of Bortles’ big day was on underneath routes, meaning some blame should fall on the linebackers, they did give up a pair of 100-yard days to nondescript receivers Dede Westbrook and Donte Moncrief, the latter burning Johnson on a 67-yard touchdown. Jarvis Landry torched them for eight catches and 103 in Week 2, and in the opener Kenny Golladay went over the 100-yard mark.
“We’ve just got to put a full game together,” Maye said.
On the big play to Moncrief, in which the Jags receiver ran past Johnson on a go-route, Jets coach Todd Bowles pointed out the problem was at the line of scrimmage, when Johnson failed to jam him.
“Any time you don’t get hands on a guy at the line, you’re going to be in trouble,” Bowles said. “We trust him, I trust him. We just got to play better.”
Asked if the quartet has underachieved so far, Bowles declined to directly answer, saying the season is too young to make an assessment. He said the play of the secondary is directly connected to the pressure — or, in some instances, the lack thereof — the defensive line is creating.
“They help each other,” Bowles said. “You don’t get sacks unless the secondary is covering, and you don’t get picks unless the D-line is passrushing, so they go hand in hand. It’s not one without the other.”
Still, the belief in this group hasn’t changed. As Maye said, they don’t regret the nickname or the T-shirts or the big talk. When asked where the group’s confidence is at, Claiborne said: “High.” “We’re New Jack City, period,” he said.
Jets wide receiver Robby Anderson won’t be losing any playing time due to his recent arrests.
The NFL said Wednesday it is done looking into the two arrests of Anderson in the past 17 months, and he will not be suspended by the league. The 25-year-old wideout may have been fined by the league, though Anderson declined to reveal if he has.
“This matter has been addressed. There will be no suspension,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an email.
“All along I wasn’t expecting it to happen,” Anderson said, referring to a possible suspension. “I wouldn’t say I was ever worried about being suspended. I didn’t think that it would ever happen, to be honest.”
Anderson was arrested in May 2017 for allegedly pushing a police officer. Those charges were later dropped. He was then arrested in January after being pulled over after a police officer clocked him doing 105 mph. Anderson was arrested on suspicion of reckless driving, evading police and threatening a public servant after he initially failed to yield during a traffic stop. Most of those charges were dropped. He pleaded no contest to a reckless driving charge and was sentenced to six months of probation.
A day after safety Jamal Adams said on WFAN the Jets defense would begin holding players-only meetings after practice on Fridays to fix communication issues, coach Todd Bowles said that wouldn’t be anything new.
“It’s happened every year since I’ve been here,” the Jets coach said.
Bowles doesn’t believe he has to simplify the scheme after the Jets allowed 503 total yards in a lopsided loss to the Jaguars on Sunday. “It wasn’t that difficult,” he said.
TE Neal Sterling (concussion) and WR Charone Peake (hamstring) didn’t practice. C Spencer Long (knee/finger) and S Marcus Maye (ankle/foot) were limited.