Tag: Jets vs. Giants

Adam Gase praises rookie CB Bless Austin’s strong start

Jets head coach Adam Gase has high praise for rookie cornerback Bless Austin, who missed the past 14 months recovering from an ACL injury.

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After being away from football for over a year, Jets rookie cornerback Bless Austin has jumped onto the scene with New York desperately thin at corner.

After an increasingly long layoff — 14 months without playing football — Austin’s dominant performances through his first two NFL games have caught the eye of many. That includes his head coach.

“He was driving us nuts on the scout team,” Adam Gase said following Thursday’s practice. “When you’re making receivers angry… you know he’s got something to him.”

Austin dons No. 31, the same number Antonio Cromartie did when he was a shutdown cornerback for the Jets. If Austin carves himself out a nice career like Cromartie, it would be a nice parting gift from Mike Maccagnan in his last draft.

Austin, who spent the first eight games on the Non-Football Injury list as he recovered from his second ACL surgery, has held up well in two starts. He has allowed only six catches for 59 yards as the closest defender, per NFL Next Gen Stats.

In his second NFL game, Sunday against the Redskins, Pro Football Focus graded him (77.2), the Jets’ best defensive player.

In a small sample size, Austin has proved himself a worthy candidate to watch down the stretch. If he can stay healthy, the Jets might have found themselves a second-round talent in the sixth-round.

The ACL injuries have taken a toll on Austin, but he’s emerging as a reliable cornerback when desperate times have called for desperate measures. On a whim, New York benched struggling CB Nate Hairston in favor of Austin in the midst of the Giants game. The Jets may never look back.

Jamal Adams predicts he’ll break defensive back sack record

Jets safety Jamal Adams believes he will break the NFL single-season sack record that’s currently held by former Cardinals S Adrian Wilson.

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Jamal Adams has always been a big believer in himself.

The safety always carries a chip on his shoulder and oozes confidence, so it’s no surprise that he said he will break the NFL single-season sack record for defensive backs.

“If you’re asking, am I going to beat the record? Yes, I will beat the record,” he told reporters after practice on Wednesday. “That’s something I will get.”

The Jets’ third-year safety is three sacks away from holding the NFL single-season record for most sacks by a defensive back. Two weeks ago, the feat didn’t seem possible. Now, he’s ready to blitz himself into the NFL record book.

The NFL record for most sacks by a defensive back in a single season is eight, set by former Cardinals S Adrian Wilson in 2005. Adams has six sacks with six games left to play.

Adams entered the Giants game two weeks ago as a disruptive force, but he only had one sack to his name. After two breathtaking performances, one earning him the AFC Defensive Player of the Week, Adams is now five sacks richer.

He tallied three sacks in Week 11 after finishing Week 10 with nine tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery touchdown.

Gregg Williams has finally found the best use for Adams, deploying him as an edge rusher. Adams loves to blitz and he just might be the best pass-rusher on the team.

His infectious energy and ability to get after the quarterback is rubbing off on the rest of the team and has helped lead the Jets defense to two dominating performances over two NFC East foes.

“To me, it starts with the energy and the attitude,” Adam Gase said of Adams’ performances. “I mean, you feel him the whole game — the sideline, the field, he’s bringing everything he has. He’s just laying it all out there. Some of the plays he’s making, it’s very impressive to watch him play.”

Jets S Jamal Adams named AFC Defensive Player of the Week

Following a lackluster performance, Jamal Adams silenced critics and played well enough to be named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week.

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Jamal Adams was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week following his impressive performance against the New York Giants on Sunday.

After struggling against the Dolphins amid frustrations with the Jets’ consistent losing and trade rumors, Adams silenced critics with arguably the best game of his career.

Adams finished with a team-high nine tackles and two sacks in the 34-27 win over the Giants, including a strip-sack in which he pick-pocketed the ball out of Daniel Jones’ hands and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown. It was his second touchdown of the season.

“Before the game, he told us, ‘Match my intensity today,'” linebacker Brandon Copeland said. “And he delivered. Not too many players you see can say something like that and deliver.”

Adams’ intensity on Sunday helped lead the Jets out of a three-game losing streak.

In nine games played this season, Adams has 43 solo tackles, five for a loss, five quarterback hits, three sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception.

Patience with Nathan Shepherd may pay off for Jets

After returning from a six-game suspension, Jets’ second-year defensive lineman Nathan Shepherd had a sack and three tackles for loss.

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A week ago, Nathan Shepherd returned to the Jets following a six-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs.

On Sunday, he turned in what was easily his best game as a pro. The second-year defensive lineman had a sack and three tackles for loss in the Jets’ 34-27 win over the Giants. Shepherd would have recorded another sack, too, had CB Nate Hariston — who was eventually benched — not erased the play with a holding penalty.

The sack was the first of Shepherd’s career. Playing in 16 games as a rookie last season, he recorded 15 tackles in five starts. Overall, he did little to show why former general manager Mike Maccagnan invested a third-round pick on a Division II product.

Shepherd flashed the potential that impressed NFL scouts on Sunday, though. He finished the game with a Pro Football Focus grade of 82.0, coming off a decent 68.7 grade in the Jets’ 26-18 loss to Miami in Week 9.

Since returning from his suspension, Shepherd has provided a much-needed boost for a Jets team that had been previously reeling.

“It’s good to have him back,” Adam Gase said following Sunday’s game. “His energy level, he’s so happy to be playing football again. That stuff’s contagious.”

It would have been easy for the Jets to dismiss Shepherd after he was suspended for two separate violations of the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy. He didn’t perform well as a rookie and New York’s new regime had no attachment to the Maccagnan holdover.

Instead, Gase and Joe Douglas stuck with the 26-year-old. The sample size has been small, but so far the decision has paid off.

“I feel like I used eight of my nine lives,” Shepherd told NFL Network following his suspension. “I kind of have to treat it like I have a peanut allergy — if I get one more, it’s going to be over for me. That’s just my reality and I accept that.”

A third violation of the NFL’s PED policy would equal a minimum of a two-year ban for Shepherd.

Shepherd’s two failed tests came on June 27 and July 25 while he was recovering from shoulder and groin injuries. The shoulder injury could eventually require surgery. He underwent an MRI on his groin that revealed he needed sports hernia surgery. In response to a change in posture, Shepherd had multiple herniated discs in his back.

Rehabilitating and coming back from suspension, the Leonard Williams trade allowed Shepherd the opportunity to prove that he was still worthy of a roster spot. With his NFL future in limbo, he rose to the occasion on Sunday.

He’s become an asset for the league’s No. 1 rushing defense and the Jets third-round pick from a year ago is finally coming around. It took some patience, but the investment in Shepherd may turn out to be worth it if he continues to play like he did Sunday.

4 interesting stats from Jets’ Week 10 win over Giants

The Jets won their second game of the season by defeating their roommates 34-27 in a battle of young quarterbacks in the area.

The Jets weren’t perfect Sunday, but they came from behind and beat the Giants, 34-27.

After three consecutive weeks of losing, Sam Darnold turned in his best performance since the Dallas game, throwing no interceptions on the day. Jamal Adams had one of the best games of his young career, while the defense made big stops when it needed to, especially in the trenches.

Let’s take a look at some interesting stats from Gang Green’s second win of the season.

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