Tag: c.j. mosley

2020 wouldn’t be the first time Patrick Onwuasor replaced C.J. Mosley

If Patrick Onwuasor wins a starting job in training camp, it wouldn’t be the first time he has stepped in for C.J. Mosley.

Patrick Onwuasor knows a thing or two about stepping in for C.J. Mosley in the middle of a defense.

When Mosley left the Ravens for the Jets two offseasons ago, Onwuasor became Baltimore’s top inside linebacker. Now, with Mosley opting out of the 2020 season because of COVID-19 concerns, there is a chance Onwuasor will have to take over a starting spot for Mosley yet again.

Onwuasor is a prime contender to take Mosley’s place, but he will not be handed a starting job. Avery Williamson, Blake Cashman, Neville Hewitt and James Burgess are all more than capable of starting in Gregg Williams’ 3-4 defense. Williamson is now likely to have one of the two starting linebacker spots already locked, meaning Onwuasor, Cashman, Hewitt and Burgess will have to duke it out throughout training camp.

Cashman showed plenty of promise as a rookie, while Hewitt and Burgess filled in admirably for Mosley and Williamson last season. All three are also comfortable playing in Williams’ scheme, while Onwuasor will have the next month to figure things out.

Before Mosley’s decision to opt-out, Onwuasor was viewed as a front-runner to begin 2020 as a starter opposite his former running mate. It’s unlikely that has changed. The only difference now is that Williamson, not Mosley, would be Onwuasor’s partner in the middle.

Onwuasor took over as Baltimore’s MIKE linebacker last year and struggled in place of Mosley. Previously the weakside backer, Onwuasor was ultimately replaced by Josh Bynes in the middle of the season. Onwuasor recorded 64 tackles, six quarterback hits, five TFLs and three sacks.

With that said, Willaimson can be the MIKE linebacker. And Onwuasor’s ability to cover and experience playing in a complicated defensive scheme makes him ideal for the other starting job. Cashman was solid as a rookie, but still has a lot to prove. Hewitt was a good run-stopper but was brutal in pass coverage. Burgess profiles more as a rotational backup than he does a full-time starter.

The Jets need a proven starting linebacker to fill the shoes left by Mosley’s absence. Based on his track record, Onwuasor is the one for the job. As long as he stays healthy and shows that he is comfortable playing in New York’s defense, there is no reason why he shouldn’t be starting next to Williamson once Week 1 rolls around.

C.J. Mosley’s decision to opt-out deserves understanding, not hostility

C.J. Mosley is simply trying to mitigate the risks facing his family.

Back in June, Gregg Williams waxed poetically on a Zoom call.

The subject of the defensive coordinator’s admiration was C.J. Mosley. The middle linebacker only played in parts of two games in 2019, his first season with the Jets and Williams, but the coach was blown away by Mosley’s actions while recovering from a nagging groin injury.

“He may be the best I’ve ever been with in my life at the NFL level,” Williams said of Mosley, who delayed season-ending surgery in hopes of returning to the field. “He stayed active, energized and led this football team behind the scenes. He prepared like he was getting ready to play that week. C.J. showed tremendous leadership in doing that.”

With Williams’ praise in mind, there should be no doubt that Mosley is dedicated to his craft, that he was motivated to return to his Pro Bowl form in his second season with the Jets. And so, it stands to reason that his decision to opt-out of the 2020 campaign was not made lightly.

Mosley has yet to comment publicly on his choice, but ESPN’s Rich Cimini reported he was doing so due to family health concerns amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless of what those health concerns are — and the details are hardly anyone’s business if Mosley doesn’t want them publicized — it should go without saying that there’s nothing wrong with a person putting their family before football.

And yet, the small ounce of consideration required to realize that seems lost on some after a quick scroll through social media.

“He’s soft,” one Facebook user commented on Jets Wire’s story about Mosley’s opt-out.

“No respect,” wrote another despite knowing nothing of Mosley’s family situation.

Those are just fragments from a few of the more mundane comments, but anyone who spends time on social media knows it didn’t take long for Mosley’s decision to be met with profanity, hostility and antipathy.

That’s been the case for most players who have chosen not to play their respective sport in 2020, no matter the reason or the detail in which the choice was explained. The expectation from far too many is that athletes are here to entertain the masses, their health and humanity be damned. The lack of compassion for them speaks to far greater problems in the world as the pandemic rages onto yet another calendar page roughly a month shy of the NFL season.

In the case of Mosley, maybe some are mad that the Jets lost their two best players in the span of a week after trading Jamal Adams, thus putting their love of football before common decency. Other fans may feel entitled to an explanation like the one Eagles WR Marquise Goodwin gave for his opt-out, but they’re not. Or perhaps Mosley’s fortunate position — and that of other athletes choosing to opt-out — has rubbed people the wrong way.

Mosley is one of the best at what he does and still has guaranteed money left on the five-year, $85 million contract he signed two offseasons ago — of which he’s already collected $29 million for two games — so his job likely won’t be in jeopardy when he returns to the Jets in 2021. Players who opt-out also get either a $350,000 stipend if considered medically high risk or a $150,000 salary advance, something that was agreed to by the NFL and NFLPA.

Obviously, not every person has that type of money or security to fall back on. Supermarket employees, healthcare workers, teachers and countless others have been going to work for far less money — and, in some cases, with far fewer safety protocols than sports leagues have in place — for months. Businesses across the country have been forced to shut down and millions of people have had to file for employment. Countless loved ones have been lost.

So far, 2020 has been unimaginably cruel to far too many. But that doesn’t mean we should lack empathy when someone like Mosley chooses to mitigate the risks facing his family.

Because the reality is that many of the people calling him soft would make the exact same decision if they were in his shoes. Doing so would be nothing but respectable.

C.J.Mosley’s opt-out increases Avery Williamson’s value to Jets

C.J. Mosley opting out of the 2020 season presents an unlikely opportunity for Avery Williamson.

Despite the unfortunate circumstances surrounding C.J. Mosley’s decision to voluntarily opt-out of the 2020 season, an opportunity has been created for Avery Williamson.

While Williamson was already going to get a chance to make the Jets in training camp, Mosley’s absence all but assures he will.

If Williamson can return to his pre-ACL injury form, he will be the Jets’ best middle linebacker. He is also someone who can call New York’s defensive signals, something he did during his first season with the Jets before Mosley arrived last year.

“I definitely want to go in being a leader on the defense and just knowing that I’m going to make plays,” Williamson told the team website. “That’s what I did my first year with the Jets and I’m ready to continue that. Once we get back as a group, just going out in camp and proving myself again and showing them that I still have that same fire and the same ability to make those big plays.”

The Jets have a motivated Williamson on their hands, someone who has extra incentive to prove that he can return to the player he was in 2018. During his first season in green and white, Williamson compiled a career-high 120 combined tackles, three sacks, one interception, six pass breakups and two forced fumbles.

Since entering the NFL in 2014, Williamson has tallied 154 run stops, which ranks sixth-most among linebackers in that span, according to Pro Football Focus. During the 2018 season, Williamson had PFF’s fourth-highest run defense grade for linebackers and finished with the second-highest tackling grade among linebackers. That’s a lot more than New York can ask from backups like Neville Hewitt and James Burgess.

With Gang Green already having considerable depth in the middle of the field, Williamson appeared to be a likely cap casualty, saving the Jets $6.5 million in cap space. Now, he may be the one to fill Mosley’s shoes.

Former general manager Mike Maccagnan’s plan to have a 1-2 punch of Mosley and Williamson in the field never came to fruition. Williamson’s 2019 season was over before it started after he injured his ACL on a fluke play in a preseason game. Mosley, meanwhile, played just three-quarters of healthy football for Gang Green in 2019 before succumbing to a severe groin injury that required offseason surgery. Now, New York won’t see Mosley until 2021 and Williamson is in a contract year.

The major question will be how healthy Williamson is. He’s been rehabbing from for the past 11 months and was recently placed on the team’s Physically Unable to Perform list. If all things go well, he should be ready to go later this month.

Once he takes the field, there will be a little less pressure on him to perform with Mosley gone.

Updated look at Jets’ middle linebacker depth chart after C.J. Mosley opts out

Here’s what the Jets’ linebacker depth chart will look like after the opt-out of C.J. Mosley.

The Jets took a hit at middle linebacker on Saturday after C.J. Mosley opted out of the 2020 NFL season.

Mosley is opting out for family health concerns, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini. So with no Mosley out for another season after he missed all but two games in 2019, the Jets’ depth at inside linebacker will be tested.

Fortunately for New York, it has depth up the middle. Mosley’s absence likely means Avery Williamson can reclaim a starting spot after suffering a torn ACL last preseason. There was a chance the Jets were going to move on from Williamson this summer — doing so would have saved them $6.5 million — but Mosley’s opt-out should change that.

Patrick Onwuasor is the other most likely option to start. Mosley’s former running mate in Baltimore, he came over from the Ravens this offseason after a disappointing 2019 campaign. However, Onwuasor played well in 2018 when he recorded 5.5 sacks.

As for the rest of the depth chart, the Jets have a solid mix of experience and youth. Neville Hewitt played well in place of Williamson last season. He had 73 total tackles, three sacks, five pass defenses and two interceptions in 12 starts. The Jets also have James Burgess and Blake Cashman, who both started at times in 2019 in place of injured teammates. Burgess had 78 total tackles, one safety, five pass defenses and one interception in just 10 games while Cashman had 38 total tackles and one pass defense in seven games before tearing his labrum and fracturing his shoulder.

There is also B.J. Bello is projected as the third-string middle linebacker. An emergency option, he recorded five tackles in seven games last season.

Despite Mosley’s absence in 2020, this unit still has the potential to be impactful. Gregg Williams’ system allows players to play to their strengths rather than requiring a certain skill set, which also allows for flexibility. That siad, no one here will replicate what Mosley is capable of, something the Jets got a taste of in Mosley’s brief appearances in 2019.

Jets LB C.J. Mosley opts out of 2020 season

Jets ILB C.J. Mosley will be opting out of 2020 season amidst COVID-19 concerns.

Jets starting linebacker C.J. Mosley is the latest NFL star to opt-out of the 2020 season. Mosley will opt out due to family health concerns, ESPN’s Rich Cimini first reported.

Mosley becomes the second Jets player to opt out of the 2020 season, joining reserve offensive lineman Leo Koloamatangi.

The loss of Mosley is a huge blow to the Jets defense. New York was looking forward to getting back its anchor in the middle after he missed 14 games in 2019 due to a severe groin injury.

By the time the 2021 season rolls around, Mosley will have played just two games for Gang Green. He signed a five-year, $85 million deal with an average annual salary of $17 million just an offseason ago.

Fortunately for the Jets, they have an abundance of depth at the inside linebacker position. Avery Williamson, who was once viewed as a potential cap casualty, certainly has increased chances of making the team now. In addition, New York added Patrick Onwuasor this offseason, re-signed Neville Hewitt and James Burgess and will be returning a healthy Blake Cashman.

Now, New York will be scrambling to configure a formidable defense. Gregg Williams’ unit will now be without both Mosley and Jamal Adams for the 2020 season.

New York Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley to opt-out

Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley joins the ranks of players opting-out over COVID-19.

The list of NFL players choosing to opt-out of the upcoming season continues to grow. The latest name to add to the list is New York Jets’ linebacker C.J. Mosley:

Mosley was a big acquisition for the Jets prior to the 2019 season, after five solid years with the Baltimore Ravens. But Mosley’s 2019 campaign was a bit underwhelming, as he battled a groin injury and appeared in just two games. He was on track to be ready for the season after surgery, but with family health concerns Mosley decided to opt-out.

2020 New York Jets Position Preview: Middle Linebacker

Jets Wire breaks down New York’s middle linebacker room with training camp and the 2020 season approaching.

With the beginning of training camp less than a week away, it’s time to take a closer look at the makeup of the Jets’ roster entering the 2020 season.

While the injury bug hit the Jets in multiple positions in 2019, the middle linebacker spot took the brunt of the hits. C.J. Mosley missed 14 games with a groin injury, while Avery Williamson missed the entire campaign with a torn ACL. New York relied on patchwork depth and while the unit held its own, it got exposed at times.

As training camp and the beginning of the regular season inch closer, Jets Wire will provide a look at each of New York’s position groups and what could be in store for the unit in 2020. Let’s breakdown the middle linebacker room at One Jets Drive.

The Starter

A healthy Mosley means the world for the Jets defense. He showed just a  glimpse of what he’s capable of during the first three quarters of the Jets’ Week 1 matchup against the Bills. Mosley was the best player on the field for nearly 45 minutes, coming away with a pick-six, fumble recovery and six tackles in his debut in green and white.

The Jets prematurely rushed Mosley back from a significant groin injury, which led to him requiring season-ending surgery. With Mosley given the all-clear to return to the field, the Jets defense is getting back an elite-player who can change the dynamic of games, just as he showed in his Jets debut.

Getting a player of Mosley’s caliber back into the starting lineup should pay dividends for New York’s defense. Even without Mosley, the injury-riddled unit was able to finish seventh in the league in total yards allowed.

Depth

The Jets’ depth at inside linebacker was tested last year and it could remain one of the team’s strong suits if Mosley and Williamson are granted clean bills of health. Despite his resume, Williamson will have to audition for a starting spot. While New York can save around $6.5 million in cap space, Williamson will be given an opportunity to make the team. After a fluke ACL injury cost him his 2019 season, Williamson is motivated by his year away from the game and looking to return to form. In 2018, he compiled a career-high 120 combined tackles, three sacks, one interception, six pass breakups and two forced fumbles.

Vying to beat out Williamson are Blake Cashman, Neville Hewitt and newest addition Patrick Onwuasor. Cashman, a former fifth-round pick out of Minnesota, had 40 total tackles and a half-sack in seven games before a torn labrum and fractured shoulder derailed his rookie campaign. Cashman has a nose for the football, but he’s still very raw and a reserve role is more likely.

As for Hewitt, he had the best season of his career in 2019, setting multiple personal bests. In 12 starts, Hewitt played 762 defensive snaps, adding 78 total tackles, two interceptions, five passes defended, three sacks and eight quarterback hits. Hewitt is a perfect depth piece for New York considering his play doesn’t level off when he enters the starting lineup.

Onwuasor is the only new face in the middle, but he does have familiarity playing next to Mosley from their days in Baltimore. Onwuasor is a versatile chess piece but was benched by the Ravens after they thought he could be Mosley’s heir on the strongside. With something to prove and a return to the weakside in the cards, Onwuasor has an opportunity to start in New York.

James Burgess and B.J. Bello round out the Jets’ middle linebacker depth chart. Burgess is a favorite of Gregg Williams dating back to their days in Cleveland. He did an admirable job filling in the second half of the 2019 season, recording 69 tackles and an interception in New York’s final eight games. A career journeyman at just 25, Bello could be a special teams contributor. He returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in the Jets’ Week 15 loss to the Ravens.

Outlook

Mosley has a chance to be a game-changer in the middle as he returns to the starting lineup. Who will be playing next to him in Williams’ 3-4 scheme will be determined in New York’s limited training camp, but the Jets have the necessary and formidable depth to cover their bases in the middle of the field.

Williamson will have an expensive audition, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll be able to return to form in the coming weeks. Onwuasor’s knowledge of the defensive scheme and experience playing with Mosley gives him the best chance of being part of the Jets’ starting lineup come Week 1.

Jets LB Avery Williamson motivated after lost 2019

After missing the entire 2019 season with an ACL injury, Jets LB Avery Williamson is using his year away from football as motivation.

Last season was supposed to be a big one for Avery Williamson. Paired with an All-Pro in C.J. Mosley and a defensive guru in Gregg Williams, the hope was that he would continue to develop into a Pro-Bowl caliber player.

Instead, Williamson never played a regular season game.

In an inexplicable move, Adam Gase left his starting inside linebacker on the field in the late second quarter of a preseason game. Then disaster struck. Williamson, the only starter still remaining in the game, injured his ACL on a fluke play and ultimately was forced to miss the entire 2019 season.

New York will give Williamson an expensive audition this summer, as it will allow him every opportunity to outright make the team. Williamson’s recovery from  ACL surgery remains a looming determining factor for Gang Green, even though cutting Williamson would allow the Jets to save around $6.5 million in cap space.

The Jets could theoretically start any of Patrick Onwuasor, Blake Cashman or Neville Hewitt next to Mosley and not think twice. However, they want to see what Williamson has left in the tank. Now, Williamson is using his year away as the fuel and motivation he needs to secure a roster spot.

“The biggest thing was motivating myself to go to therapy every day and trying to get better,” Williamson told the team website when asked what he took away from his absence. “It’s a silent grind. You’re on your own working and it can definitely be a tough mental challenge. Being mentally tough is something I can take away from it.”

Without OTAs and a limited training camp, Williamson will need to prove himself, but his lone season in New York speaks for itself. In 2018, he compiled a career-high 120 combined tackles, three sacks, one interception, six pass breakups and two forced fumbles.

“I definitely want to go in being a leader on the defense and just knowing that I’m going to make plays,” Williamson said. “That’s what I did my first year with the Jets and I’m ready to continue that. Once we get back as a group, just going out in camp and proving myself again and showing them that I still have that same fire and the same ability to make those big plays.”

Jets RB Frank Gore: Police once ‘put a gun to my head’

Frank Gore recalled an incident in which police held a gun to his head as a teenager in a Q&A with the New York Post.

Jets running back Frank Gore is no stranger to social and racial injustice in the United States.

Gore, 35, was born in Miami and raised in Coconut Grove, Fla., which is known as one of the toughest neighborhoods in Miami-Dade County. Throughout his childhood, Gore kept his head down, stayed out of trouble and focused on football, starring at Coral Gables High School before ascending to the University of Miami. That did not stop local police from racially profiling him, though.

In a Q&A session with the New York Post’s Steve Serby, Gore offered his thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement while recounting a run-in with police as a high school student that resulted in him being held at gunpoint.

“We just need to keep going with it,” Gore said of the Black Lives Matter movement. “Me growing up in a tough neighborhood, I’ve been through some stuff that … and I was a good kid, man. When I was a young kid, I used to have dreads and I used to have golds (teeth). I remember one time police jumped out on me, put a gun to my head and everything, just because where I was at, and how I looked.

With a gun aimed at his head, Gore thought about running away from the police. However, the rising high school  junior elected to stay put, comply and hope for the best.

“I just stayed there and had my hands up,” Gore said. “I was scared, man. In my neighborhood, no good areas where we come up from. I did what they told me to. They thought I was gonna run. When I went back to school and I told my coaches, my coaches made me cut my hair. I was scared. My first instinct was about to run.”

Gore is the latest Jets player to speak out against police brutality in America since the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derrick Chauvin and numerous other instances of police brutality across the country.

Jamal Adams, Le’Veon Bell, Quincy Enunwa and C.J. Mosley have all been vocal in their pursuit of racial equality in America. Given his own experiences with police, Gore brings a unique and much-needed perspective to the conversation.

New Jets LB Patrick Onwuasor shares childhood pic of him in a Gang Green uniform

Patrick Onwuasor posted a picture of him in a Jets uniform during his youth football days.

The 2020 season won’t be Patrick Onwuasor’s first in a Jets uniform.

The linebacker recently shared a childhood photo of himself on Instagram in an Inglewood Jets uniform. In the picture from his youth football days, Onwuasor said that he has always been a Jet.

The Jets signed Onwuasor to a one-year deal worth $2 million this offseason. He has spent the last four seasons of his career in Baltimore, primarily as a starting linebacker alongside former Raven and current Jet C.J. Mosley.

Onwuasor put himself on the map during the 2017 season when he recorded 86 total tackles, two pass defenses and one sack. In 2018, Onwuasor finished with a career-high 5.5 sacks in addition to 59 total tackles, three pass defenses and one interception. He struggled mightily in 2019, however, and lost his starting job after Week 5.

The 27-year-old now has a chance to compete for the starting inside linebacker position next to Mosley. He’ll be joined by Neville Hewitt, Avery Williamson and Blake Cahsman.

If Onwuasor doesn’t win the starting job, he’ll serve as a solid depth piece. The Jets had an abundance of injuries at linebacker last season, so Onwuasor can fit right in with the starting experience he accumulated in Baltimore.