James Burgess led the way for the Jets in a 13-6 win over the Bills in the season finale on Sunday.
Burgess finished the game with nine total tackles, one pass breakup and an interception. For his performance, he is Jets Wire’s player of the game for Week 17 of the regular season.
The inside linebacker arguably had his best game of the season. He did a little of everything, including coming up with his first career interception. On that play, Burgess completely duped Matt Barkley into making a bad throw. He dropped back in zone coverage and came flying over to make the pick.
For Burgess, he has really progressed since having to step in for the injured Jets linebackers. His tackling has drastically improved and he has the ability to play in coverage. In 10 games, Burgess had 51 total tackles, 0.5 sacks, a safety, five pass defenses and an interception.
The 25-year-old linebacker is a restricted free agent this offseason. If the Jets were smart, they’d tender him a contract. With C.J. Mosley back next season along with Avery Williamson, Neville Hewitt and Blake Cashman, Burgess makes for a good depth piece.
He’s not a good enough player for 16 games, but in case a linebacker goes down next season he can come in and hold down the position for a few games.