The Jets defense has struggled mightily this season.
New York ranks 32nd in points and yards allowed and is on pace to set the franchise record for points allowed. The Jets have given up more than 500 offensive yards twice this season and more than 30 points in three consecutive games.
But Robert Saleh, who coached some of the NFL’s best defenses over four years with the 49ers, isn’t looking to disrupt defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich and his staff. Despite his own defensive background, Saleh won’t take on a bigger role running the Gang Green’s defense.
“I think [Ulbrich] and the staff is doing a really nice job,” Saleh said Monday. “Are there things we need to get better at? Absolutely. Does our youth show up on tape? Absolutely. Are there things we are improving on? For sure.”
There are plenty of reasons for the Jets’ defensive woes, and not all of them are on Ulbrich. Saleh touched on some, specifically New York’s youth and ever-changing personnel due to injuries.
“There’s a lot of different things that go into play other than just scheme and players and all that stuff,” Saleh said. “There’s a lot of guys fighting play-in and play-out. The biggest thing is, we just got to get things tighter.”
The most worrisome stat from the Jets’ Week 9 loss to the Colts came on the ground, where New York gave up 260 rushing yards and 7.0 yards per rush before contact. Saleh pointed out that stat specifically as an area to correct, but also an area for the Jets young defense to learn.
“That’s not just on players, that’s on us, too. And those are things we have to fix,” he said. “But at the same time, players need to understand how that space was being created so we can close it faster.”
At the end of the day, this is still a young roster with a lot of first-time coaches. It’s a major reason why Saleh won’t interject himself into the defense. The Jets wanted a CEO-type of coach who wouldn’t muddle his daily operations.
Saleh is doing just that by deferring to the staff he brought in.
“The staff is doing a really nice job. The players are doing a really nice job,” Saleh concluded. “We just had two bad games against two pretty good offenses.”
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