NFL DOLPHINS
NEW YORK — Two preseason games in, and the New York Jets are truly a work-in-progress. On offffffffffffense. Defense, too. And, special teams.
The starters weren’t sharp early and the Jets were called for an eye-popping 17 total penalties — including 10 in the fifirst half — in a 30-22 preseason victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Friday night.
“You aren’t going to win ballgames having 17 penalties,” coach Todd Bowles said after the game. “The effffffffffffort was great, penalties were terrible. That was way more than I imagined. We got better in some areas. We got worse there.
“We’ve got to clean that up.”
Same goes for a few other areas. Ryan Fitzpatrick played six series, leading the Jets to one touchdown drive against the Falcons’ backup defense. The veteran quarterback was 13 of 19 for 118 yards, respectable numbers, but the offffffffffffense was sluggish at times, particularly early.
There were two three-andouts, and another drive that stalled after a 13-yard catch on fifirst down by Brandon Marshall. The starters fifinished up with a 33-yard touchdown run by Chris Ivory and a 2-point conversion pass from Fitzpatrick to Marshall.
“I feel like, personally, I missed a few plays in my reads,” Fitzpatrick said. “There’s a lot of things I think I can learn from and get better from with my performance. We’ll look at the fifilm. Against a team like that, the penalties are going to kill you, too. There’s defifinitely some room to grow after that performance, but it was nice to get the touchdown at the end.”
Another positive — no turnovers. Also, it was an extended chance for Fitzpatrick to work with the fifirst- team offffffffffffense and establish chemistry, acquiring the starting job after Geno Smith had his jaw broken by a teammate in the locker room.
“As far as him throwing to the wide receivers, I defifinitely think that it was a great start for us,” Marshall said, “but we defifinitely left a lot of meat on the bones.”
The Jets’ defense, expected to be the team’s strength, had some communication issues during its two quarters. Matt Ryan and the Falcons’ starters had a quick and effifficient night, scoring two touchdowns less than 10 minutes in.
Linebacker Quinton Coples was in single coverage on fullback Collin Mooney, who caught a short pass from Ryan and rumbled to a 60-yard gain on the Falcons’ second play from scrimmage. That led to a 4-yard TD run by Terron Ward following a holding call on cornerback Darrelle Revis.
After a three-and-out by the Jets, Devin Hester took Ryan Quigley’s punt 59 yards before Bilal Powell’s TD-saving tackle at the 4. But, three plays later, Ryan found Leonard Hankerson all alone in the end zone after a busted coverage.
“We’re close,” defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson said. “A few plays kind of busted up open on the ones. The twos played pretty decent, stayed pretty stout. We’re not too far offffffffffff.”
Rookie Leonard Williams jumpstarted the Jets with a safety of T. J. Yates, and Jamari Lattimore short-circuited a Falcons drive with an interception that followed three consecutive penalties called on the Jets. Rontez Miles scooped up a botched handoffff by Sean Renfree and returned it 57 yards for a touchdown.
With Atlanta trying to drive late for a potential tying score, Joe Mays forced a fumble.
“We have to progress next week,” Bowles said. “Hopefully, the penalties go down next week.”