Jets DE believes Sam Howell ‘will be a good quarterback’

Jets defensive end who sacked Howell on Sunday believes the best is to come for Washington’s young QB.

You can tell the Washington Commanders and New York Jets aren’t hated rivals. After Sunday’s game, in which the Jets beat the Commanders on a last-second field goal, multiple New York players spoke to the media about Washington and were complimentary of the team and several of its players.

Veteran defensive end John Franklin-Myers and safety Jordan Whitehead shared a sack of Commanders quarterback Sam Howell on Sunday. It was New York’s only sack of the day.

It was memorable from a Washington perspective because it was the 60th sack Howell has taken this season.

The second-year quarterback’s play has slipped in recent weeks. Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy believes Howell is pressing, something quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard and head coach Ron Rivera agreed with. So, in each of the last two losses in which Howell has played poorly, Rivera benched him in favor of Jacoby Brissett.

Brissett came in during the second half of both games, leading multiple touchdown drives and getting the Commanders back into both games before ultimately losing.

After Sunday’s game, Franklin-Myers was asked what his impressions of Howell were before the game.

“He’s the most-sacked quarterback, and it’s not for a lack of trying, I’ll say that,” Franklin-Myers said via Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post. “Because he’s elusive, he’s slippery, he can make every throw. He just made some mistakes. I don’t think he’s a bad player. I think he’s a great quarterback and will be a good quarterback and is just somebody who does a good job of breaking sacks. To see that he got sacked that many times is crazy because he does a great job.”

An interesting perspective from an opposing pass rusher on Howell. Howell is a much better athlete than people realize, and he’s strong. He’s evaded pressure to make plays multiple times this season. Off-schedule plays are a strength for Howell.

Through the first half of the season, Howell was on a pace to shatter David Carr’s single-season NFL record for most sacks taken by a quarterback. That’s drastically improved lately, but, unfortunately, his overall level of play has slipped, too, since his performance in Week 10 at Seattle.

It’s always interesting to get an outside perspective on how others view Washington players, and while Howell has struggled recently, there are many who believe he can play.

Jets injury report: Wilson remains in concussion protocol as team holds Wednesday walkthrough

Jets injury report: Wilson remains in concussion protocol as team holds Wednesday walkthrough

The Jets held a walkthrough for practice Wednesday with the team banged up. Three players were listed as not practicing Wednesday, two of them being quarterbacks and it’s clear who those two are.

Zach Wilson remains in the concussion protocol. The Jets have said he can still play Sunday and would remain the starter if he clears protocol this week.

Aaron Rodgers, now back on the 53-man roster, was also listed as a non-participant in practice. Be will continue to rehab and be able to practice after being activated from injured reserve Wednesday.

The third player listed as a non-participant Wednesday was defensive end John Franklin-Myers. He is still dealing with a hip injury that has limited him to about 15 snaps in each of the last two games.

Here’s the full injury report from Wednesday, again noting that this was an estimation with the team holding a walkthrough.

Jets Week 15 snap counts: Playing time breakdown from loss vs. Dolphins

Jets Week 15 snap counts: Playing time breakdown from loss vs. Dolphins

Week 15 was a nightmare for the New York Jets. The team looked flat and out-coached, ultimately getting shut out 30-0 and seeing their playoff hopes officially end. Injuries once again took a toll on the Jets, particularly at the quarterback position. The Jets also emptied their bench late in the game with the game out of reach.

We’ll take a look at the snap counts from Sunday’s game to see how the snaps were distributed in what became the last meaningful game of the season for the Jets.

Jets Week 15 injury report: Jason Brownlee out, Carter Warren doubtful

WR Jason Brownlee is out and offensive tackle Carter Warren is doubtful for Week 15 against the Dolphins.

The Jets released their injury report and game statuses Friday for their Week 15 matchup against the Miami Dolphins. Two players — QB Aaron Rodgers and WR Jason Brownlee — are listed as out. With Rodgers practicing, he has been listed on the injury report but has yet to be activated from injured reserve. The Jets have until Wednesday to do so.

Rodgers was listed as a limited participant Thursday and Friday and was even starting to push his practice habits a little. Brownlee did not practice all week with an ankle injury.

Offensive tackle Carter Warren is doubtful for Sunday with a hip injury. After missing Week 14 against the Houston Texans, Warren did not practice all week, likely causing him to miss another game. Max Mitchell would get another start at right tackle if Warren cannot go…if Mitchell plays himself. Mitchell is questionable with a neck injury. He was limited all week.

Also listed as questionable for the Jets: DE John Franklin-Myers (ankle), FB Nick Bawden (knee), C Joe Tippmann (shoulder) and DE Will McDonald (knee). Franklin-Myers, Bawden and Tippmann all practiced in full Friday while McDonald was a late add Friday with a knee injury and did not practice.

Quarterback Zach Wilson was on the report with a knee injury but practiced in full all week. He is good to go for Sunday.

For the Dolphins, safety DeShon Elliott (concussion) and guard Robert Hunt (hamstring) are both out. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill highlights the questionable Dolphins as he did not practice all week with an ankle injury.

Also listed as questionable for the Dolphins: RB De’Von Achane (toe), OT Terron Armstead (knee/ankle), OL Liam Eichenberg (calf), FS Jevon Holland (knees), CB Xavien Howard (hip), OT Austin Jackson (oblique) and OLB Andrew Van Ginkel (oblique). All were listed as limited participants Friday.

6 Jets to watch in Week 4 vs. Chiefs

Here are six players to watch from the Jets in their Week 4 matchup against the Chiefs.

The New York Jets are in one of the primetime slots again in Week 4, hosting the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football. Defeating the reigning Super Bowl champions will be easier said than done, especially if Zach Wilson continues to struggle at the quarterback position.

The Chiefs enter Sunday’s matchup having beaten the Chicago Bears 41-10 in Week 3 to improve to 2-1. Meanwhile, the Jets fell to 1-2 on the season after losing 15-10 to the New England Patriots last week as they’ve been outscored 45-20 since Week 1.

With the Jets desperately trying to get back into the win column, here are six players to watch on Sunday night versus the Chiefs.

NFL says penalty against John Franklin-Myers should not have been called

The NFL said sorry for the roughing call on JFM.

The Jets were hanging with the Dallas Cowboys heading into halftime of their game Sunday. Dallas was driving, but New York was looking to at least hold them to a field goal which could have kept the game at least 13-7 heading into the locker room. New York got a stop on third down and thought they had accomplished just that.

Roughing the passer, defense, No. 91. Automatic first down.

The Jets couldn’t believe they just got tagged with a roughing the passer call. The hit John Franklin-Myers had on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott seemed just fine. The call was questionable at best. Turns out, it was a fine hit.

The league told the Jets Wednesday the call against Franklin-Myers should not have been called at all. It was a legal hit.

Instead, Dallas later found the end zone (following a defensive pass interference call on Brandin Echols) and, thanks to another roughing call on Micheal Clemons, Dallas punched it in for two. So instead of 13-7 at the half, it was 18-7.

That call turned into a crucial turning point in the game. It’s obviously too late to do anything about it now. The league just simply shrugged their shoulders and said sorry.

John Franklin-Myers, Micheal Clemons could see more work inside

More inside work possibly coming for JFM and Clemons.

The Jets have a lot of bodies on the edge to help rush the passer. That includes first-round pick Will McDonald IV. They say you can never have enough pass-rushers in the NFL. Sometimes, you even can move those rushers inside and let them just go right up the middle.

The Jets could potentially test that with John Franklin-Myers (five sacks in 2022) and Micheal Clemons (2.5 sacks). Both already have the ability to move inside if need be and they could be asked to do so even more in 2023.

Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich spoke to the media this week and talked about that possibility.

“JFM obviously has done that (playing interior) his entire career. I’ve always believed that’s kind of his superpower when you reduce inside on passing downs and let him work guards and do his thing in there. And I think Mike has the same ability. Mike is, as you’ve probably seen, he’s not a small man. I don’t know exactly what he was weighing last year, but he’s in the 290’s, I think, so he’s a guy that could easily reduce inside and have a lot of success in there. He’s a guy that’s a good athlete outside, but he’s a great athlete inside, so it’ll be fun to see him get work at both.”

Ulbrich also touched on Clemons being in a good spot being at about 290 pounds.

“I think ultimately that’s kind of like the JFM big end type role where on first and second down, he can absolutely demolish the edge and be a great edge setter and do all that and still provide some rush out there, but then on the passing downs, utilizing his athleticism and speed on the guards and centers.”

The Jets also recently restructured the contract of Franklin-Myers, showing a bit of faith in the 26-year-old.

Behind Quinnen Williams, New York also has Quinton Jefferson, Al Woods, Solomon Thomas, Tanzel Smart, Marquiss Spencer and Isaiah Mack at defensive tackle. Franklin-Myers and Clemons could also help with depth there.

The more the Jets can move around their defensive linemen, the more versatile the defense can be and the better the team will be overall in what is shaping up to be a big season for the Jets, at least they hope.

Jets restructure John Franklin-Myers’ contract, save $4.8 million

Jets with another contract restructure

The Jets continued their cap maneuvering Monday night as they restructured the contract of defensive end John Franklin-Myers, converting $6 million of his base salary into a signing bonus, per ESPN’s Field Yates. The Jets saved $4.8 million in salary cap space as a result.

Franklin-Myers was set to make $11.4 million in base salary in 2023. This move allows him to get that $6 million up front and will still have a base salary of $5.4 million. The move adds $2 million to his cap hits for 2024 and 2025 but it does drop his cap hit for this season to $7.6 million.

What the defense had to say about their performance and the game Sunday

What the defense had to say about their performance and the game Sunday

The defense for the New York Jets did just about everything they could to help the team finally defeat the New England Patriots and take over first place in the AFC East. Until the final play, the Jets had held the Patriots to just three points, helped by two missed field goals by Nick Folk.

The defense sacked Patriots quarterback Mac Jones six times for the second time this season and it seemed like the Jets were going to steal one in Foxborough.

Then Marcus Jones broke the hearts of Jets’ fans everywhere with his 84-yard touchdown return to win the game, 10-3. Needless to say, the defense was deflated after the game.

Here’s what some of the defensive players had to say after the game.

“We had a great game plan,” said John Franklin-Myers on the play of the defense. “Obviously it wasn’t good enough. I think Coach did a good job of putting us in the correct position. We have to capitalize more. They got a couple out on us, we have to go correct that, but overall I think we did well. It’s a mindset. You go out every game expecting to shut them out. It’s just another game, another opportunity, to do that. The Patriots have some great players, some great running backs who break a lot of tackles. We understood that. We understood we had to get people to the ball and I think we did a good job of that.”

“It goes back to Coach putting us in good positions, understanding how to rush with each other, play off one another,” Franklin-Myers added regarding the six sacks. “The game plan was great. I can’t really say too many bad things about what we are doing as far as pass rush. We expect to win every one-on-one.”

“It hurts watching something like that,” Franklin-Myers said about the punt return. “You don’t want to see anything like that. You just want a blade of grass to defend, and we didn’t get that. We could have done better throughout the game and maybe that wouldn’t have happened. Hindsight is 20/20 and we have to go back and learn from that.”

Bryce Huff, who was also part of the sack party, said, “We did what we do. Stopping the run and earning the right to get to the quarterback. We came in and executed.    Going out there not giving anything, making the plays you are supposed to make and capitalizing on the opportunities. We go out there every day and give full effort. We did the things that we practice every day. All of us come out and it’s a product of all of us working together and building together. That was just the result of our work.”

C.J. Mosley, who led the team with nine tackles Sunday, said, ““That’s just our mentality every time, it doesn’t matter the opponent. When you have defensive linemen like we have here, and everybody trusting each other, we get excited every time we step out on the field. Any time we get the moment we make the best of it.”

Mosley added: “It was a tough loss, that’s for sure. But it’s not the end of the world. We have a chance to go out there next week, and try to put our best foot forward and be great as a team. So that’s what we’re looking forward too.”

“We were doing our best to not let the other team score and just taking it play-by-play, communicating and trusting what we see out there,” said D.J. Reed, who had six tackles and nearly recovered a fumble. “We were really confident. That is one of toughest games I’ve played in as far as how the outcome went. We are going to stick together. We have got to watch the film and get better. Me, myself, I have to watch the film and get better. I gave up about four catches. They were tight windows, but four catches. Short yardage but I have to look at the film and grow from there. It was the game we wanted. We were smiling, we were happy. The defense thought it was going to overtime. We were ready to go to see what would happen from there.”

John Franklin-Myers comes with fighting words on Bills QB Josh Allen

John Franklin-Myers wasn’t afraid to speak his mind on Josh Allen

Sunday’s battle between the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium is already interesting enough as a historical rivalry that is getting some added fuel thanks to some fighting words between players and one player that has gone right after the face of the Bills is Jets DE John Franklin-Myers.

Franklin-Myers talked about Bills QB Josh Allen Wednesday and definitely had some very interesting words regarding the MVP candidate.

Some strong words, indeed, and we’ll see if that gives the Jets some fuel to get after Allen and test him on breaking tackles. Allen has only been sacked 11 times this season in seven games. For comparison’s sake, the Jets allowed Joe Flacco to be sacked nine times in the three games he started and Zach Wilson has been sacked ten times in five games.

Franklin-Myers may have also just drawn a huge target on his back, but do you think he cares? Didn’t think so. The Jets will try to throw everything but the kitchen sink at Allen to try and get into his head and pull the upset.