Gang hopes Cashman and Hewitt can firm up ‘D’

The Jets may be starting an unproven linebacker duo in the middle of their defense this year.

Neville Hewitt and Blake Cashman appear to have the inside track on the starting inside linebacker jobs throughout the first few days of training camp. If everything was going to plan, C.J. Mosley and Avery Williamson would be the Jets’ starting linebackers right now. However, Mosley opted out for the season and Williamson is still on the Physically Unable to Perform List following a torn ACL from last preseason.

Head coach Adam Gase didn’t seem too torn up about the Jets’ inside linebacker situation after Monday’s practice.

“This is one thing that we talk about as a staff all the time where injuries occur, we have the ‘next man up’ philosophy.” Gase said. “We try to put our players in the best position possible. So, when guys do go down, when we do have some kind of change, we can’t flinch as coaches, we just adjust what we’re doing. We do everything we can to put those guys in the best position possible. Sometimes it’s through trial and error, sometimes it’s, ‘Hey prove to us that you either can do something or you can’t.’ That comes through the entire time of training camp.”

Gase had plenty of kind words for Cashman, who started five games as a rookie. Cashman had 40 tackles, three tackles for loss and half a sack in seven total games. Cashman, who ran a 4.5 40-yard dash at the 2019 NFL Combine, is one of the most athletic linebackers in the NFL. He has the athletic ability to be a chess piece for the Jets defense.

“He has a lot of strengths,” Gase said about Cashman. “Obviously he has the ability to play man-to-man as a linebacker. He’s a guy that can find the ball, he can run and hit. He’s a very good special teams player. Anytime you see him kind of walking to that starting linebacker you see (Brant) Boyer’s shoulders go down a little bit more (joking), because that’s one of his dudes that he loves having on four phases. But when you’re a starting linebacker, you kind of lose him in a couple phases. But that’s what makes Blake valuable.”

Cashman said that his second year in Gregg Williams’ defense has gone smoother than his first season.

“This offseason, instead of just putting in the installs and learning the basics, we’ve been able to touch up on the little details,” said Cashman, who will be playing middle and weakside linebacker this year.

Hewitt said he’s been playing middle linebacker for the majority of camp, so expect Cashman to take over the weakside role. Cashman said that he likes playing weakside linebacker because it allows him to play in space more and gives him a bit more freedom.

Hewitt and Cashman could both be leaned on to be significant contributors for the Jets’ defense this season. In order for the Jets to have a dominant run defense again, they’ll need to exceed expectations.