Sheard takes needed step forward
FOXBORO — It took a little longer than expected, but the Jabaal Sheard from last season made an appearance against the Texans last Thursday. If the Patriots’ pass rush — and defense as a whole — wants to live up to its potential, Sheard’s edge presence must hit that peak with consistency.
After registering just one tackle against the Dolphins, Sheard made his first two sacks of the season in the 27-0 win over Houston. While fellow defensive end Chris Long has been a force each week, Sheard’s limited impact was a bit of a surprise.
After yesterday’s walkthrough, Sheard shrugged off any tangible reason for why he seemed more active last week.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Plays just ended up coming my way. I didn’t do anything different, feel anything different. That’s it.”
When the Patriots traded defensive end Chandler Jones to the Cardinals for Jonathan Cooper, Sheard’s skills were part of the reason why the team felt it could make that move without a noticeable dropoff.
Last season, Sheard only started one game in a three-man rotation with Jones and Rob Ninkovich, but he was the team’s most efficient pass-rusher with eight sacks. (Although Jones finished with 12.5 and Ninkovich 6.5, Sheard accumulated his total on a smaller snap count and missed three games due to an ankle injury.)
In that 31-24 win over Miami, the team registered no sacks, and in the second half when the Dolphins nearly rallied from a 28-point deficit, the pressure on quarterback Ryan Tannehill was minimal. The rush against the Texans played a huge role in that shutout, and should only continue to improve once Ninkovich returns from his PED suspension next week against the Browns.
“Every week you just get better and better,” Sheard said. “I feel like this week should be a good week. We’re going up against Buffalo and just going to try and defeat them and get better this week.”
There’s a chance Sheard plays as well this week without it showing up in the stat sheet. Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor is as gifted as it gets when it comes to eluding the rush, extending plays and finding open receivers downfield. So while Sheard may get in the backfield just as much, the speedy Taylor could still leave Sheard with a goose egg in the sack department.
But that won’t stop Sheard from trying to chase Taylor into mistakes on Sunday afternoon. The less time the Bills’ signalcaller has to find receivers on scramble plays, the better.
“We’re just trying to go out there and play disciplined against this offense and just do our job,” Sheard said.
And if Sheard continues to do his, both he and the rest of the defense could meet the high expectations they came into the season with.