Stifling defense looks to be even better

The Jets’ stingy defense has kept the team in most games this season and on the fringes of playoff contention in the AFC.

But it’s also increasingly felt like the team’s stellar defensive unit needs to be even closer to perfect, with zero touchdowns scored by Zach Wilson and the offense in their past two losses.

“I don’t want to say perfect. This is an imperfect game,” veteran linebacker C.J. Mosley said Monday via Zoom. “We try to strive for perfection, but I think for us it’s just [about] consistency. At the end of the day, they’re our teammates. Those are our brothers out there, trying to do the right thing, trying to put us in the right position.

“Obviously we’re with them every single day, see them working, trying to put their best foot forward. So we understand the struggle. ... The only thing we can do is keep doing our job as a defense, and as a teammate, keep lifting our brothers up through this time of struggle.”

Defensive end Bryce Huff also said, “I don’t feel like we need to be perfect,” but he acknowledged that the Jets have “like the least margin of error as possible.”

Huff committed a costly roughing-the-passer penalty to extend a field-goal drive for the Raiders in the second quarter Sunday, the only one of the Jets’ eight penalties in the game assessed against the defense.

“It was one penalty, but that penalty did give them a field goal. If you take that field goal away, it might be a different ballgame,” Mosley said. “The offense might have a different mindset going into the last drive.

“When you look back at it, as a defense you want to be known as one of those top defenses that has played in this league since forever. So that’s just something that we got to hold ourselves to. I know it might be tough, it might be almost impossible, but that’s what we try to do every day. Try to hold ourselves to a certain standard and not let any excuses or any other expectations get in our way.”

➤ Asked if any new injuries came out of Sunday’s game, coach Robert Saleh replied, “There’s a couple of things that are still lingering. We got in at like eight in the morning. Guys are still going through the process and evaluation, so I won’t know much until Wednesday.”