No hard feelings in locker room between old foes
The Jets’ trade for defensive end Shaq Lawson on Sunday creates one interesting dynamic in the locker room.
Lawson and center Connor McGovern had a postgame confrontation two years ago when Lawson was on the Bills and McGovern was a Bronco. After a game in Buffalo in which he had two sacks, Lawson went after McGovern, cursing him out and saying he had “two sacks on your ass. … You’ll remember me now.” The video is easy to find and McGovern laughed when asked about it Monday and said there is no lingering animosity.
“If you just type my name into Twitter, it’s always the first thing that comes up,” McGovern said. “To start off, we played each other twice last year. It was all cordial. He was in Miami. I’ve played him since then and nothing. It was just playing any other opponent. It’s game time. Everybody’s in the moment and what have you.
“We talked after the last two times we played each other. That video is from two years ago. The last two times we played each other. It was fine. I think we actually laughed about it when we played down in Miami last year.”
Linebacker C.J. Mosely said he saw the video on Instagram on Monday shortly after learning the Jets acquired Lawson from the Texans.
“I saw a flashback with McGovern and him talking after the game,” Mosley joked. “I was like, ‘Oh well, I guess we’ve got him now. Team chemistry is going to be real high.’ ”
➤ McGovern was asked the difference between Robert Saleh and former coach Adam Gase on Monday. While he was careful not to take a direct shot at Gase, he clearly is happy there was a change made.
“I mean this is the nicest way possible. The Jets’ previous head coaches have been gurus,” McGovern said. “They have been into Xs and Os and we’re going to beat you with the better scheme. Saleh is ‘We’re going to beat you because we work harder and play with higher effort.’ He is what I would call a leader of men. He doesn’t think Xs and Os win football games. He knows players win football games.”
➤ RB Michael Carter (lower body) and WR Vyncint Smith (heel) did not practice Monday. Saleh said Carter should be back Wednesday when the Jets practice again. OT George Fant was excused for personal reasons. … The Jets activated S Ashtyn Davis (foot) off the PUP list.
➤ NFL teams need to trim their rosters to 53 players by 4 p.m. on Tuesday. The Jets began that process Monday, officially cutting S J.T. Hassell , DL Aaron Adeoye , CB Lamar Jackson ,OL Corey Levin, WR Lawrence Cager , DE Jeremiah Valoaga and S Bennett Jackson, according to various sources . ... The Jets worked out DE Dion Jordan, the former No. 3 pick in the draft, according to the league’s transaction wire.