Last week the Jets defense gave up 383 yards of offense to the Raiders, which was very un-Jet-like under coach Rex Ryan. They also gave up 171 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns to Raiders running back Darren McFadden.
Most of the rushing yards came on the edges where McFadden could use his speed and outrun the defense. The Jets have focused on this problem this week at practice.
“It’s a copycat league; all teams we face will try to run the edges on us,” Jets linebacker Bart Scott told reporters. “We worked on our system and it should be fine the rest of the way.”
“It’s a long season,” coach Rex Ryan said, “We’re certainly not starting off with a bang, but I have confidence that we’ll get it fixed.”
The Jets were ranked in the top five on defense the past two years in a row. Going against the Ravens this week, the Ravens have a solid defense, and will want to get running back Ray Rice rolling early.
I have a good feeling though, that the Jets will come out “hungry and angry,” and give a much better effort on Sunday night.
Grab Bag…
Center Nick Mangold [high ankle sprain] was limited in practice Wednesday. He does expect to play Sunday against Ravens.
Defensive Back Antonio Cromartie [ribs] also limited in practice Wednesday. Expects to play Sunday, if he can’t second year Defensive Back Kyle Wilson would start.
The Jets have resigned defensive end / linebacker Aaron Maybin this week. He was waived last month, but brought back to help the pass rush. Maybin said he was frustrated not having a team to be with in the first month of the season, but as he said, “It’s a business and I’m just happy to be back with the Jets.” Maybin was a former first round pick of the Bills two years ago who was called a bust and waived by the Bills during training camp this year.
Rex Ryan was asked if he had any hard feelings toward John Harbaugh and the Ravens for hiring Harbaugh over him when the Ravens were looking for a new head coach. Ryan was “frustrated,” but added, I just wanted to be the best assistant coach i could be under Harbaugh, who kept him on staff when he was hired. Ryan new he would one day get his chance as a NFL head coach.
Mark Sanchez has a broken nose, which he suffered against the Raiders last week. He said, “It’s not an issue and will be able to play.” He will wear a visor to protect the nose.
Wide receiver Derrick Mason is returning to Baltimore after being waived by them this summer. “It came out of left field for me,” Mason said. “But that’s football, man, you can’t be mad at nobody. You just gotta deal with it and move on.” He explained his excitement at coming to the Jets, “I wanted to come into a situation where I had the potential of winning a Super Bowl.”
