Tag: Jeff Ulbrich

10 Jets free agents who fit Jeff Ulbrich’s defense

The Jets are in need of widespread upgrades on defense. Here are 10 free agents who could fit in Jeff Ulbrich’s defense:

Scheme fit always plays a key role in the way a team shapes its free agent big board. Coaches seldom try to fit square pegs into round holes, making a player’s skill set and system fit paramount to the way free agency plays out.

Jeff Ulbrich’s defense is in need of widespread upgrades after it allowed the most points in the NFL in 2021. The Jets struggled to defend the pass and weren’t much better against the run. Fortunately for New York, there are plenty of players set to hit the open market who can fix those problems.

Here are 10 free agents who could fit in Ulbrich’s scheme.

Jets OC Mike LaFleur loves team’s ‘thirsty’ fans

Mike LaFleur can feel the passion and enthusiasm from Jets fans after just one year in New York.

Mike LaFleur knows Jets fans want to win. He’s heard and felt their passion at MetLife Stadium.

But rather than agonizing over the frustrations of the fanbase, LaFleur is embracing it all.

“This fanbase, they’re cool, man. It is a cool fanbase,” LaFleur said on The Official Jets Podcast after the Senior Bowl. “They’re thirsty. You can feel it and you want to do it for them.”

The Jets haven’t been to a Super Bowl in more than 50 years and haven’t been to the playoffs in over a decade. Robert Saleh maintains there is a plan in place to end these streaks, and LaFleur wants to help deliver that to the Gang Green faithful.

“The Jets Nation is awesome,” he said. “We want to get this thing done.”

There are a lot of changes that need to be made after LaFleur’s first year with the team. LaFleur’s offense fluctuated all season and finished 28th in scoring and 26th in yards. Improvement should come with more games from Zach Wilson, a better offensive line and more skill position players, but it’s not guaranteed. The defense is an even bigger mess after Jeff Ulbrich’s group finished last in points and yards allowed.

Whether LaFleur and Saleh execute on their promise remains a huge question mark. But at the very least, LaFleur has a desire to make things better for the people who are rooting the Jets on.

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The one thing Jeff Ulbrich has done better than Tom Brady

Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich has Tom Brady beat in one specific way ahead of ​Sunday’s matchup with the Buccaneers

The 2000 NFL draft was a memorable one for the Jets.

New York had four first-round picks, the most of any team in the history of the draft to date. The Jets used the picks to land three franchise centerpieces in John Abraham, Chad Pennington and Shawn Ellis.

That same draft, however, is when Gang Green’s Tom Brady nightmare began.

The Patriots selected Brady in the sixth round with the 199th overall pick. Brady sat on the bench for a year until Jets linebacker Mo Lewis knocked Drew Bledsoe out with an injury in Week 2 of the 2001 season. Brady hasn’t stopped dominating New York since.

Ironically, the man tasked with slowing Brady down this Sunday was selected before the quarterback in that same draft. Jets DC Jeff Ulbrich was taken by the 49ers in the third round with the 86th overall pick — 113 picks before Brady’s name was called.

“My claim to fame is that I was drafted before him,” Ulbrich said Thursday. “That’s my one thing I’ve done better than him.”

Ulbrich will never be able to claim he is the greatest football player of all time like Brady, but he had a nice career for himself in San Francisco before getting into coaching. The hard-nosed linebacker made 501 tackles over a decade in the NFL and registered 70 or more stops in a season on four separate occasions.

Brady, meanwhile, won three Super Bowls, an MVP award and secured multiple All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections during that same span. He has gone on to play 12 seasons since Ulbrich traded in his cleats for a headset in 2010, and more are likely on the way.

Brady, now a Buc, is still firing on all cylinders at age 44, throwing for 4,580 yards and 37 touchdowns to just 11 interceptions. Ulbrich’s defense has not shown it is equipped to handle a passer of Brady’s caliber at any point this season, but maybe Gang Green’s secondary can step up and deliver their defensive coordinator a second bragging right over Brady this weekend.

“Every time I throw on the tape when I have to play him, I’m anticipating and hoping that there’s going to be some sort of…he’s falling off and his skill is declining,” Ulbrich said. “And it’s not. At all. Which is just astounding.”

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4 things to know about new Jets LB Javin White

Javin White is one of the best UNLV players of the last decade. Now, he’s a Jet. Get to know New York’s newest linebacker.

The Jets added a new linebacker to their active roster on Wednesday, signing Javin White from the Raiders practice squad.

New York has itself a solid linebacker duo in C.J. Mosley and Quincy Williams, but there are still reps to be had in the rotation. White is new to Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich’s defense, but he’ll have a chance to show what he can do over the final two weeks of the regular season.

Here are four things to know about New York’s newest linebacker.

Why the Jets didn’t prepare for Gardner Minshew to be Eagles’ starting QB

The Jets didn’t prepare for Gardner Minshew to be the Eagles’ starting QB despite Jalen Hurts being injured. Robert Saleh explained why:

Jalen Hurts was listed as questionable with a sore ankle all week, but the Jets prepared to play the Eagles as if Philadelphia’s starting quarterback would be on the field.

The Eagles went with Gardner Minshew against New York, letting Hurts rest ahead of their bye week. Minshew dominated the Jets through the air, going 20-25 for 242 yards and two touchdowns in a 33-18 Eagles win. The former Jaguars starter looked right at home at MetLife Stadium, dicing up Jeff Ulbrich’s secondary as if he was Philadelphia’s top passer.

Some of Minshew’s success can likely be attributed to the Jets’ lack of preparation for him. New York practiced for Hurts thinking the choice at quarterback wouldn’t impact Philadelphia’s approach.

“A system is a system,” Saleh said postgame. “They weren’t going to change their system all in one week. It was just what are they going to call more of, which we were very familiar with. We weren’t going to get the QB runs, but you’re still going to get RPOs, you’re going to get more intermediate to short game. Which is what they did.

“Everything that they did was expected. It’s all part of their game plan. The plays were all the same. It was just where is the ball going to go? Jalen might be a little more aggressive. We knew Minshew would me more intermediate and check down.”

Saleh’s comments represent how most coaching staffs approach preparing for a potential quarterback change during the week — a sentiment echoed by Bryce Hall. No team can overhaul its scheme in a week’s time to cater to a quarterback’s needs and the Eagles didn’t do anything out of left field after turning to Minshew.

However, the Jets didn’t look ready to deal with more of an intermediate passing attack. Minshew lived underneath for all four quarters and New York had no answer for him at any point in the game.

“Obviously the QB run game wasn’t there, but more RPOs, more intermediate to short game,” Saleh said. “Their O-Line is one of the best in football. They did a great job protecting him. He was able to sit back there and find time, find check-downs as our zones expanded.”

Just five of Minshew’s passes hit the MetLife Stadium turf on Sunday afternoon. He shouldn’t have been able to have as much success as he did in his first start since last season, but the Jets never showed any indication that they were ready to play him.

Even though the Jets not preparing for a backup isn’t foreign practice, they are not good enough to not account for all possibilities during the week. It looked like New York’s defense made strides against the Texans, only to take two steps back in Week 13.

This wasn’t the best look for Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich.

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Zach Wilson, Jeff Ulbrich among Jets’ Studs & Duds in loss to Eagles

Zach Wilson’s best game of the season wasn’t enough to overcome the Jets’ duds in Gang Green’s Week 13 loss to the Eagles.

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After a promising first half, the Jets fell back to Earth against the Eagles. New York failed to score a point in the second half while the defense continued to give up yards and points in a 33-18 loss.

There were a lot of failures on the Jets’ side this week. Zach Wilson’s fantastic first-half was overshadowed by poor passes, bad pocket awareness and an overthrown interception late in the game. The defense, meanwhile, couldn’t stop anything against an Eagles offense missing its starting quarterback.

Let’s take a look at New York’s studs and duds and see what went wrong and, occasionally, right in Week 13.

6 takeaways from the Jets’ Week 13 loss to the Eagles

The Jets’ defense flopped and their offense faltered in the second half of their loss to the Eagles. Takeaways from the action:

The Jets’ offense showed up to play early in their Week 13 matchup with the Eagles.

Their defense? Not so much.

New York allowed Gardner Minshew to channel his “Minshew Mania” days with the Jaguars and the offense couldn’t keep up. Minshew, playing in place of the injured Jalen Hurts, threw for over 240 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Philadelphia got back in the win column with a 33-18 victory.

The Jets moved the ball well in the first half and Zach Wilson looked the best he has in a while, but he still could not avoid turning the ball over at a key point in the game.

Here are six takeaways from Gang Green’s ninth loss of the season.

6 adjustments the Jets defense needs to make

The Jets have the worst defense in the NFL. Here are six ways New York can attempt to change that.

The Jets have the worst defense in the NFL.

That’s a statement many didn’t expect to hear after New York hired former 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh last offseason. But it’s true. New York ranks last in points and yards allowed heading into Week 11. The Jets gave up at least 45 points for the third time this season when they fell to the Bills in Week 10, and they’ve allowed at least 30 points in their past four games. The Jets have also given up at least 400 yards of offense in five of their nine games under Jeff Ulbrich.

Here, we’ll break down some adjustments the Jets defense needs to make in the final eight games of the 2021 season.

Robert Saleh won’t take over defensive play-calling with Jets struggling

Robert Saleh is not getting involved in the Jets’ defensive play-calling despite the unit’s recent struggles.

The Jets have the worst defense in the NFL and it’s not even close.

New York has allowed a mind-boggling 175 points in its last four games. Three of its last four opponents have scored 45 points or more, while the Colts and the Bills have combined for 1,021 yards of offense in the last two weeks.

Robert Saleh cut his teeth building a top-tier defense with the 49ers before becoming a head coach, but he does not have designs on getting involved in the Jets’ defensive play-calling despite their recent struggles.

“We’re year one in the system,” Saleh said Monday. “[Jeff] Ulbrich and his staff are trying to figure this out, just as well as the players are. They’re going to hit a groove, too. Am I there to assist? Absolutely. Do I sit in on meetings? Absolutely. Is play-calling going to change anything? It’s not going to change anything. It’s execution.”

Saleh said from day one that New York’s defense is Ulbrich’s unit and he is sticking with that approach — for better or worse. It has been tough for the Jets to compete with their defense resembling a revolving door, and that reared its ugly head against the Bills. New York did not benefit from having Mike White throw four interceptions, but its defense could not consistently come up with key stops when it needed to despite a relatively strong start. It allowed Josh Allen to bounce back from a porous performance against the Jaguars with ease, and Buffalo’s rushing attack scored four touchdowns.

“For the most part, in that first half, we were playing some good ball,” Saleh said. “It was 10-3 with about 1:55 to go. Had some big-time stops and some bad situations. We get beat on a double move to start the two-minute drive, which sets up a touchdown, so they go into the locker room with a 17-3 lead.

“We get lapped, it’s 24-3, and the very next play we have a turnover. They score, which makes it 31-3 and the game’s over. It was a four-series sequence there where it kind of got out of hand, but we really liked the way we were playing for the most part. The first two drives of the third quarter were just not near anything we were doing in the first half. So, there’s a level of consistency that we’re lacking and obviously, we have to coach it a lot better.”

The Dolphins represent a softer matchup for the Jets this weekend, but New York’s secondary probably couldn’t stop 60-year-old Dan Marino with the way it has played recently. If its issues persist for another week, Saleh’s hand might be forced when it comes to assuming some play-calling duties.

Until then, it’s still Ulbrich’s defense to orchestrate.

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The Jets’ 6 biggest disappointments so far this season

These six Jets players and coaches have underwhelmed so far in 2021:

The Jets were never in a position to contend this season, but Robert Saleh’s first year as the team’s head coach has still been disappointing to an extent.

New York sits at 2-6 after allowing the Colts to post over 500 yards of offense in a 45-30 defeat on Thursday Night Football. Gang Green has shown some flashes of its potential this season, but it has also been embarrassed numerous times.

With the old halfway point in the NFL schedule here, let’s look at some of the Jets’ biggest disappointments so far this season. There is still time for these players to turn the tide, but it has been a rough go of it for them so far.

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