
With their season on life support, the Jets racked up 8 sacks of C.J. Stroud and got 3 TD passes from Aaron Rodgers – 2 of which were of the highlight reel variety from Garrett Wilson – in a 21-13 win over the Houston Texans on Thursday night at MetLife Stadium. The Jets moved to 3-6 with the win while the AFC-South leading Texans fell to 6-3.
Wilson gave the Jets a lead in the fourth quarter with what could certainly be the catch of the year in the NFL.
In a low-scoring-Halloween affair, in the fourth quarter, Wilson stuck his right mitt up on a third-and-19 heave from Aaron Rodgers and snatched the ball with one hand as his left shin landed in bounds down before the knee hit out of bounds. Initially ruled incomplete, the play was reversed after a replay review. The TD and PAT gave the Jets a 14-10 lead.
“I was talking to the ref while they were reviewing and just thought, just for the sake of posterity, you have to say that is in so that it goes down in history,” HC Jeff Ulbrich said. “That grab could rival the Odell [Beckham Jr.] catch. It was amazing. I thought because of his shin it was close enough to challenge and thankfully they got it right.”
Fellow receiver Davante Adams, who led the team with 91 receiving yards, sealed the victory on the Jets’ next possession, coming off Ka’imi Fairbairn’s missed 27-yard field goal. Adams, who missed time in the beginning of the fourth quarter when he was evaluated for a concussion, scored from 37 yards out on third-and-3 to put the home team up 21-10. He lined up in the slot and found space up the sideline, leaving Texans S Jalen Pitre behind.
The Texans kicked a field goal with less than a minute to play, but Adams recovered the onside attempt and the Green & White subsequently lined up in victory formation.
“We came in at halftime and we knew the run game was rolling, and we just came out and tried to establish that,” Ulbrich said. “Once we got that going, it just opened up the pass. It lightened up the box and gave Aaron a chance to operate, and he did what Aaron does.”
Shut out in the first half, the Jets scored on the opening possession in the second half. They marched 70 yards and forced a 7-7 tie on Rodgers’ 21-yard scoring connection to Wilson. Taking a hit in the process, Rodgers took his chances with Wilson and the third-year wideout made a jumping one-handed grab before racing into the end zone. Riley Patterson, signed to the active roster Thursday, knotted things up when his extra point rung off a goalpost and snuck past the crossbar.
The Texans grabbed the lead right back in the third quarter, answering on Fairbairn’s 54-yard strike with 4:52 remaining.
In a microcosm of how things had gone for the Jets during their five-game losing streak, Malachi Corley’s first pro TD went for naught in the second quarter when the rookie dropped the ball before crossing the goal line on an end around. Instead of a 7-0 lead, the Jets defense came onto the field after the touchback with 14:54 remaining in the half.
Later in the second quarter, the Jets failed to take advantage of the fifth-longest punt in franchise history. After Thomas Morstead’s 75-yard boom was downed at the Houston 2, C.J. Stroud led the Texans on a 14-play, 98-yard march that culminated on Joe Mixon’s 2-yard scoring run. Mixon rushed for 91 yards in the first half on 17 carries and finished with 106 yards on 24 attempts.
The Jets defense smothered Stroud from the outset. Cornerback D.J. Reed got the sack party started with a blitz from the edge and then Micheal Clemons was credited with a strip-sack inside the Jets’ red zone that was recovered by Will McDonald. Later, Quinnen Williams, coming off a game where he had 1.5 sacks, exploded up the middle for a sack of Stroud as the unit gave the offense an opportunity to get untracked. The Green & White finished with 8 sacks as Williams and Haason Reddick combined for the final sack of the night.
The Jets battled injuries throughout, especially up front along the offensive line. Already playing without starting RG Alijah Vera-Tucker, the Jets lost LG John Simpson (groin) and replacement RG Jake Hanson (hamstring) to injury during the game. The Jets patched things up with Max Mithcell at LG and rookie Olu Fashanu at RG. Adams and DB Isaiah Oliver each were evaluated for a concussion and cleared protocol.
“The performance by the O-Line is a testament to Keith [Carter] and a testament the guys that we have,” Ulbrich said. “And the fact that guys were able to play as well as they did. Olu practiced at guard very very little, so for him, especially as a rookie, to play a position that he isn’t familiar with it was exceptional.”
Jetcetera
…. For a second consecutive week, the Jets started Isaiah Oliver and Jalen Mills at safety. Tony Adams (hamstring) and Ashtyn Davis (concussion) were among the gameday inactives.
…. Prior to Thursday night’s kickoff, the Jets made several transactions including placing WR Allen Lazard (chest) and DT Leki Fotu (knee) on Injured Reserve. Lazard, who leads the Jets with 5 TDs and was a gameday inactive last Sunday against the Pats, has 30 catches for 412 receiving yards.
… The team also signed K Riley Patterson and OL Alec Lindstrom to the active roster. Patterson, who’s had stints with five teams and had made 88% of his field-goal attempts entering the night, won a kicking competition this week.
…. Following a mini-bye, the Jets will get back to work next Monday in preparation for a Week 10 date against the Cardinals in Arizona.
JETS SECOND HALF SURGE CAN IGNITE THEIR SEASON

On Halloween night, the Jets rose from the dead. With their season on life support, the boys in black said: not today.
The Jets playoff hopes live on, at least for another week.
Behind a suffocating defense and an absurd touchdown catch by Garrett Wilson, the Jets improved their record to 3-6 and took down budding superstar C.J. Stroud, holding him to under 200 passing yards on the night.
At one point it looked as though the ‘same old Jets’ mantra would hold true. A rookie goalline error by Malachi Corley meant the Jets were scoreless going into half time, but the defense had allowed just 7 points, giving the team hope that if they could find something, anything, they could come out with the W.
They did just that, behind an acrobatic Wilson, who did his best Air-Jordan impersonation by hauling in an OBJ-like one-handed grab to help the Jets outscore the Texans 21-6 in the second half and record their third win of the season. It was Wilson’s second score of the evening, guaranteeing already that he will end 2024 with a career high in touchdown receptions.
That acrobatic catch had a completion probability of just 13.6% according to Next Gen Stats, the 5th-most improbable completion of the season, and most improbable by Aaron Rodgers since 2020.
But while the touchdown grabs will get the attention, this win was so much deeper than that.
“For this team to have the resiliency to come back and play the way they did against a really good opponent… I’m proud of them.”
The Jets haven’t always handled adversity, they haven’t always shown an ability to bounce back from setbacks, but last night every single player on that field dug deep.
C.J. Stroud was sacked 8 times by the ferocious Jets pass rush. Will McDonald may not have gotten in the sack column, but the young phenom recorded a season-high 9 pressures on 33 pass rushes (27.3%). Haason Reddick generated 8 pressures on 32 pass rushes and Quinnen Williams was near-unblockable on the inside.
The Jets generated 33 pressures on the night and Jeff Ulbrich called an excellent defensive game plan to neutralise one of the best QBs in football.
Starting the game without Allen Lazard, who found himself placed on injured reserve before the game, down both starting safeties (Tony Adams, Chuck Clark) and backup safety (Ashtyn Davis), without defensive captain C.J Mosley, without starting RG Alijah Vera-Tucker and losing their two starting guards during the game, the Jets still found a way to win.
Rookie tackle Olu Fashanu played his first snaps at guard, swing tackle Max Mitchell filled in at LG and former practice squad signing Jalen Mills did a fine job in the secondary. It was the Wilson show in the highlights package, but the contributions ran up and down that lineup.
It was that ability to face adversity and come out the other side that leads you to believe that maybe, just maybe, this team can go on an improbable run. They don’t have to look far to find inspiration. Just across town, baseball’s New York Mets rebounded from 11 games below .500 to battle their way to the National League Championship Series. Oh what a story it would be.
The last time the Jets won the AFC East was 2002, that year they started 2-5 before going 7-2 the rest of the way. I’m not saying that’s going to happen this year, but every great journey starts with a first step and the Jets took that step last night.
But that step will only matter if they can take the next one, and then the one after that. Realistically the Jets will need to win out to guarantee the playoffs, and they would have a good shot to get in with a 10-7 record – the Pittsburgh Steelers got in with that record last year. In 2022, the Los Angeles Chargers got in at 10-7 and the Miami Dolphins got in at 9-8. So there remains plenty to play for.
The Jets had a tough start to the year, but their schedule eases off…at least according to the W/L records as things stand.
After taking down the 6-2 Texans (now 6-3) they’ll head west to Arizona to face the 4-4 Cardinals before returning home to take on the 4-4 Indianapolis Colts ahead of their week 12 bye. After that, it’s the 4-4 Seattle Seahawks before travelling to Florida to face the 2-5 Dolphins and 2-6 Jacksonville Jaguars.
Incremental improvement leads to bigger and better things. One game at a time.
HOW HAASON REDDICK CAN UNLOCK JETS DEFENSIVE POTENTIAL

If the Jets are going to break the longest playoff drought in North American sports they’re going to have to do it the hard way.
With the loss on Sunday Night Football to the Pittsburgh Steelers the Jets dropped to 2-5, three games out of first place in the AFC East.
Aaron Rodgers believes the team is playing “too angry” and Davante Adams wants to see players celebrate each other’s success more.
There’s still a lot of football to be played, and with one of the most talented rosters we’ve seen in decades, if any Jets team is capable of making a run then it’s this one right here.
After getting a boost last week with the addition of three-time All Pro and six-time Pro Bowler Davante Adams, the Jets will get another one this week in the arrival of Haason Reddick.
The two-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro reported to 1JD this week after the Jets and his agents were able to come to an agreement on a revised contract, ending his holdout and getting one of the best pass-rushers in football into the building.
You can never have too many pass-rushers in any defense, but particularly in the one that Jeff Ulbrich likes to run. With the early injury to Jermaine Johnson, the Jets have had to adapt and shift their approach this season.
The Jets have blitzed on 27.2% of snaps this season which is the 14th-highest mark in the NFL going into week 8. Last year that number was 16.3% which was the 2nd-lowest in football; the year before it was 14.9%, which was actually the lowest percentage in the league.
The Jets were consistently able to send four rushers and generate pressure. In 2022, with the lowest blitz rate in the league, their pressure rate of 25.4% was the third-highest in football. In 2023 with the second lowest blitz rate, their pressure rate of 26.5% was the fourth-highest. Their pressure rate of 26.3% this year is still a top-10 number (9th) but they’ve had to send 5 or more defenders to get there, which naturally leaves gaps and holes to exploit.
Enter Haason Reddick, who’s coming off four straight seasons of double-digit sacks. The hope is that with Reddick and Will McDonald in the building, the Jets can get back to their core principle of rushing four and playing tight coverage.
His speed off the edge is extremely difficult to defend; he’s too fast for offensive lineman and he’s too strong for tight ends and receivers. Last season, he generated a pressure on the QB every 8.6 snaps and the year before that it was even better, generating a pressure on the QB every 5.8 snaps.
People are well aware of his speed – it’s hard to hide it when you test in the 97th percentile for EDGEs in the 40-yard dash and 98th percentile in the broad jump – but his power is underrated. He has an elite spin move, he has that chop/swim move and you can line him up all over the formation, similar to how the Jets lined McDonald up inside on some third downs against Pittsburgh on Sunday Night.
Outside of the sacks he also creates turnovers, something that has been lacking for the Jets this season. The Jets have just six takeaways all year which puts them 24th in the league, and combined with their giveaways means the Jets are currently at a -3 turnover differential.
Reddick has 16 forced fumbles over his career and he led the league with 5 forced fumbles in 2022 – recovering three of them. And while it’s unlikely that he will bring down any interceptions, pressured QBs throw bad balls, bad balls often lead to turnovers in the secondary.
Finally, Reddick will help the Jets run game. He’s renowned for the pass-rush, but people ignore the fact that he’s no slouch in the run game either.
Sometimes it’s just about setting the edge and being disciplined. Don’t try to do too much, just do the job the coaches have set you, stay in your lane, finish your tackles and don’t give up the edge. If you do that, a lot of good things happen.
Haason Reddick won’t fix absolutely everything. But he’s going to do a lot of damage in this defense and he’s going to have a lot of fun doing it. Welcome back Haason.
HOW DAVANTE ADAMS CAN GIVE OPPONENTS DEFENSIVE HEADACHES

When you’re sitting at 2-4 with a win-now mentality, the season hasn’t started as well as you expected. You can either sit on your hands and do nothing, or make a move to shift the momentum.
This week, Joe Douglas went out and made a move that reverberated around every front office in the NFL, sending a conditional third round pick to the Las Vegas Raiders for star wide receiver Davante Adams, reuniting him with long-time friend and teammate Aaron Rodgers.
The two formed one of the best partnerships in football over eight years in Green Bay, and while they have been apart since Adams made the move to Las Vegas before the 2022 season, the hope for the Jets is they can pick up right where they left off.
The addition of Adams gives the Jets one of the most formidable receiving duos in football and his veteran experience can only be a good thing for Garrett Wilson.
Since coming into the league in 2021, Wilson has been double-covered on 88 targets which is the fourth highest mark in football. Davante Adams has been doubled on 77 targets over that same timeframe, which is the seventh highest mark in football. Defences will have to pick their poison, they simply can’t double both. Especially with Allen Lazard lurking, the same Lazard who currently shares the league lead in receiving touchdowns with 5.
The kind of chemistry that Lazard and Rodgers have takes time and we’re starting to see some real chemistry develop between the Jets QB and Wilson, but the Adams/Rodgers connection is on another level. That’s what happens when you play over 100 games together.
Over the course of those 108 games played, Adams became the star receiver we see today. 622 catches, 7,590 yards and 69 touchdowns. He had four 1,000+ yard seasons and five seasons with double-digit touchdown totals. The Jets are hoping that he can bring a little of that magic to turn around a season that’s still extremely young.
What Adams brings outside of his chemistry with Rodgers is the ability to get open. ESPN tracks wide receiver open rates and in Aaron Rodgers’ 2020 MVP season, Adams received a perfect 99 open rate score, which probably explains why he hit 18 touchdowns while only playing 14 games. In 2021, Rodgers won another MVP award, with Adams again earning an elite open rate score of 85 on his way to a 1500+ receiving yard season and 11 touchdowns.
Just to prove that he wasn’t totally reliant on the QB, Adams moved to Las Vegas to play with his former college QB Derek Carr in 2022 and put up another elite open rate score of 81 on the way to a 1500+ yard season and 14 touchdowns. Put simply: when he plays, he’s elite.
According to PFF, Adams was targeted on no fewer than 19.5% of his routes in seasons where Rodgers started and finished the year with Adams as his WR1. In three of those seasons he finished with a target share of 29.5%. I’m not sure it’s going to be as high as 30% with the Jets when you consider we have Wilson, but it’s very clear that Rodgers trusts Adams and that’s been earned over years of production.
If Adams is targeted on 20% of his routes run, that means there are plenty of targets to go around and with Adams drawing more attention from defensive coordinators, Wilson will see more isolated single coverage, which is great for the Jets, great for Rodgers and great for Wilson.
Adams has only managed to play in three games this season while dealing with a nagging hamstring injury, but he said he felt great in an appearance on the Pat McAfee show on Tuesday afternoon and practiced on Wednesday and Thursday before confirming to reporters he felt ready:
“Definitely, I’ll be ready to roll. I’m feeling good right now… felt good running around”
Coach Jeff Ulbrich stopped short of promising that Adams would make his debut for the Jets in Pittsburgh on Sunday Night, but by the sounds of it… he’s good to go.
JETS PREPARE FOR NEW ERA UNDER ULBRICH

This week, the Jets decided that if they want to squeeze the best out of this roster, it was time for a change. After three and a half years under Robert Saleh, Jets owner Woody Johnson made the decision to go in another direction, promoting defensive coordinator to interim Head Coach for the rest of the campaign.
“This is one of the most-talented teams that has ever been assembled by the New York Jets,” Johnson said. “I wanted to give this team the [best] opportunity to win this this season. I feel that we had to go in a different direction and that’s why I did that today. The change that we made today, that I made, I believe will bring new energy and positivity that will lead to more wins, starting now.”
Now the Jets need to try and deliver on the pre-season promises of a season to remember and Jeff Ulbrich has been trusted to lead the way.
But what can we expect from Coach Ulbrich?
Ask anyone about Ulbrich and two words will come up more often than not: that he was gritty as a player and that he’s respected as a coach. When he talks, people listen. Part of that comes from him having played the game and that’s something that Jets owner Woody Johnson picked up on over the last three years.
“When he talks, they listen to him in a way that probably represents the fact that he did play the sport at linebacker for 10 years, which is pretty unique,” Johnson said. “So he brings that knowledge and the respect.”
A third round pick of the San Francisco 49ers, Ulbrich had to fight his way into the starting lineup of defensive coordinator Jim Mora and then Willy Robinson, Bill Davis, Greg Manusky before retiring following a concussion in 2009.
Before his retirement he racked up plenty of stats to hang his hat on. 120 games played, 501 tackles, 32 TFL, 6 forced fumbles and a handful of playoff appearances as well. Playing linebacker in the NFL is always tough, but playing linebacker in the NFL at the turn of the century was about as physically taxing as football gets.
Ulbrich has been in the trenches, he’s fought that fight and he’s capable of clearly communicating and teaching the lessons learned over that 10 year period.
Once he decided to hang up his playing cleats he dived into coaching, first under Pete Carroll in Seattle then under his old defensive coordinator Jim Mora at UCLA. When Dan Quinn became the Head Coach over in Atlanta he hired Ulbrich, who he knew from San Francisco.
It says a lot about a man and a coach when people who know you opt to bring you with them when they’re trying to establish their own legacy. Ulbrich has been hand-picked every step of the way.
Working under so many defensive coaches it’s easy to see why Ulbrich is gaining a reputation for adaptability. Defensively the Jets have been able to make in-game adjustments to stifle opponents. The Vikings game on Sunday is a perfect example, after surrendering 17 first half points the Jets shut the door, allowing two field goals over the final 30 minutes. That adaptability gave the Jets a chance to win that game, but unfortunately we came up just short.
Working with such great minds like Carroll and Mora will almost certainly help you with X’s and O’s and philosophical approaches to how to run a defense, but it also gives you an opportunity to learn about running a team, 53 individuals plus coaching and backroom staff. That’s a lot of human beings with different needs, different approaches and different buttons to push. Something that Pete Carroll is renowned for and something that Ulbrich spoke about on the official Jets podcast.
“I was from the outside looking in, I was so intrigued by his approach and have such admiration for it,” Ulbrich said. “He had tremendous success at USC, it was his first year in Seattle. He was everything I thought he was and more. It wasn’t just random juice, but focused energy, focused passion. He’s so deliberate in what he does and he really helped me”
This won’t be the first time Jeff has led a team after being given the opportunity to do so at the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl. An experience that should give him a level of confidence heading into this period of his career.
Defensively the hope is that nothing changes. Despite the 2-3 record the Jets have continued to improve on the defensive side of the ball each week. The run defense has noticeably improved and the pass-defense has lowered the opponents’ team passer rating each week, starting with the 89.9 put up by San Francisco to the 54.6 put up by the red-hot Minnesota Vikings.
Jeff Ulbrich has overseen an attacking front that plays complementary defense, a quick pass-rush to force poor throws, and tight coverage to allow time for the pass-rush to get home. Under his tutelage we’ve seen Quincy Williams go from waiver-wire pick-up to NFL All-Pro, UDFA Bryce Huff become one of the best pass-rushers in football and the Jets consistently put out a unit that offenses fear.
His challenge will be on the other side of the ball.
How do the Jets get the most out of this talented offense led by future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers? How do you get the most out of this run-game? There’s far too much talent on that side of the ball for the Jets to be ranked 27th in total offense, 32nd in rush yards per game and 25th in points per game.
For Ulbrich, everything is on the table when it comes to figuring out the solution.
“I think everything’s on the table right now,” he said. “We’re not playing to our potential right now – we’re not. We’re too talented to put the product we put out there the last couple of weeks especially, so we have to take a hard look at everything and be honest with ourselves.”
In his first game in charge, he’ll be lifted by an energized home crowd as the Jets fight for first place against the Bills. There are a lot of decisions to be made between now and then, including whether the play-callers remain the same. Will Jeff Ulbrich keep defensive play-calling duties? Will Nathaniel Hackett keep offensive play-calling duties? These are the decisions of a Head Coach; these are now the decisions of Jeff Ulbrich.
THE MIKE WILLIAMS IMPACT ON THE NEW YORK JETS OFFENCE

I think we all want to dispatch that Denver game into the darkest corners of our memory and while it was disappointing and raised plenty of questions, we have to remember that it’s just one game and there is still a lot of football to be played.
So instead of looking back, we’ve made the decision to look forward, which seems fitting considering the Jets are on their way to London town. Jets fans from all over the UK (and beyond) will descend on the capital this weekend in the hope of seeing an Aaron Rodgers masterclass coupled with a dominant defensive display. Standing in their way is an old friend in Sam Darnold, who’s playing the best football of his career while guiding Minnesota to a 4-0 start.
When asked to choose an X-Factor for the game on Sunday, the fans went with one of our newest additions in former LA Charger Mike Williams, who arrived in New York on a one-year deal with a little help from a Taylor Ham, Egg & Cheese sandwich (thanks NYJ_Matt).
Unfortunately for Williams, his 2023 season was cut short thanks to a torn ACL suffered during a week three matchup for the Chargers against this week’s opponent, the Minnesota Vikings.
As they did with Breece Hall last year, Robert Saleh and the Jets have stuck to their word when it comes to easing a player back following a serious injury.
In week one against the San Francisco 49ers Williams appeared in just 18% of the offensive snaps. In week two that increased to 65%, before dropping slightly to 45% in week three before another jump back up to 58% in week four. It’s likely that as the season progresses he’ll start hitting the 75%+ threshold that he became accustomed to in LA.
“These last few weeks I have been building up and getting better every week. I have been trying to take advantage of every opportunity I get. When the ball comes my way, I make a play. I am excited for my role to keep growing and make plays.” – Williams told the official Jets website.
So far we’ve seen glimpses of what a healthy Mike Williams can bring to a starting offense, including this remarkable catch on Sunday against the Broncos
“When the ball is in the air, I kind of zone out,” Williams said. “I don’t see too much around me, I just see the football. I know where I am on the field, so I can just let my feet die so they can land in bounds. I knew it was a catch and started celebrating. Then I saw everyone trying to get into a hurry-up play, but I knew it was a catch, and I got out of bounds for the clock to stop.”
One thing the Jets have missed recently is that big, powerful, imposing wide receiver who is capable of climbing the ladder to make contested catches while absorbing contact. Bringing that kind of skill-set into the building offered a perfect complement to Garrett Wilson.
Williams built a reputation in LA for making difficult catches look very easy and he’s brought that to the east coast this season.
Through the first four weeks of the season he is averaging 15 yards per reception on 8 catches for 120 yards, with his best game coming on Sunday against the Broncos (4 catches for 67 yards).
But if you look at the advanced numbers, it’s even more impressive. He’s caught 80% of all his targets, he is also catching 80% of all contested catches (4 from 5). When Aaron Rodgers looks his way his passer rating is 116.7 and Williams is yet to come close to dropping a ball. He has zero penalties and 6 of his 8 catches have resulted in first downs.
In short, he’s a reliable chain mover who should become more and more involved the longer the season goes, and these numbers are not an aberration.
Over the course of his entire career, he has just 22 drops on 517 targets. He catches 62.7% of all those targets and holds a contested catch rate of 54.3%.
But while Williams is one of the better contested catchers in the NFL, he wants to be known as so much more and it’s easy to understand why. 95 of his career NFL catches have been on contested balls, meaning 219 were gained in other scenarios. Through his speed, his intelligence, his route-running and his savvy.
“When you get somewhere and do something so well, people only see you as that,” Williams said. “I feel like I can do a lot more than that one thing. You want to get your routes called so you can run them in a game, and the ball doesn’t always come your way, so you need to take advantage of when it does. I caught a slant a couple games ago and it was my first opportunity. I just need to keep attacking those moments.”
The Jets have a good one and considering Minnesota have the 32nd ranked defense in the league, this weekend may be the best time to unleash him.
HOW TIGHT END TYLER CONKLIN OFFERS JETS VERSATILITY

Aaron Rodgers confirmed what we all thought to be true: through the first three weeks of the season, opposing defensive coordinators have committed to stopping Garrett Wilson.
You can’t really stop someone like Wilson, your best hope is to slow him down. Through the first three weeks of the season Wilson has caught 15 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown.
But when defences are keying in on one player it opens up opportunities for others.
Tyler Conklin may not get all the plaudits on a weekly basis but the former Minnesota Viking has been one of the key contributors through the first three weeks of the season.
In the week two win against the Tennessee Titans it was his blocking in focus, as he sealed the outside on a long gain by Breece Hall. Although he only recorded a single reception for 10 yards, he was a key part of the team that walked out of Music City with a victory.
Last week, we saw Tyler Conklin the receiver as he worked his way to a career best 93 yards on 5 receptions, having put up a season’s best 621 receiving yards in 2023. The next stage is ensuring he takes a few trips to the endzone, somewhere he hasn’t been for the Jets since week 8 of the 2022 season – a stat that is hard to believe.
If teams are going to continue to try to take Garrett Wilson away – and there’s no reason they shouldn’t considering #5 is one of the best receivers in the NFL – then Conklin will continue to play a key part.
Head Coach Robert Saleh spoke about Rodgers’ mind operating at a high level, and the Jets QB has identified the tendency of opposing defences to play cover-2 to prevent explosive plays down the sideline to the Jets big-play receivers, but that leaves space in the middle.
If you can isolate your tight end against linebackers, and your tight end is as effective as Conklin, good things are going to happen. He can beat his man, like below, or find the right spot by getting in behind, like above.
53 tight ends caught a pass in week three, but only two forced more than one missed tackle by the defence. Noah Fant in Seattle was one, Tyler Conklin was the other.
Conklin also possesses some of the safest hands in the NFL from the TE position. Through 101 games, Conklin has a drop percentage of just 3.5%. That’s 8 drops on 301 targets.
Last year, 23 tight ends earned at least 60 targets, but only one player (Cole Kmet 1.4%) had a better drop percentage than Tyler Conklin’s 1.6%.
With Rodgers calling the shots and so many new faces on the offence, it’s going to take time to develop in-game chemistry. Look back to the Green Bay Packers 2020 season and you’ll see a 600+ yard and 12 touchdown season for tight end Robert Tonyan, so if the player is right and the playcalling is right, the TE position can be very fruitful with #8 slinging the football.
Conklin showcased what he can do, now there needs to be some consistency within the game plan and performance. But you listen to any interview Conklin has ever given, and you get the impression that personal accolades don’t interest him. So if he has to block and leave the touchdowns to everyone else, you get the impression he’s fine with that as long as the Jets are winning football games, and right now the Jets are winning football games.
When asked about his performance he diverted the accolades to Aaron Rodgers saying: “A couple of those situations were scramble drills. I was just trying to do my best to get open for him. All I had to do was catch the ball. He made it pretty easy on me.”
WEEK 3 RECAP: JETS DEFEAT PATRIOTS ON THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

Once a punching bag to the Patriots, QB Aaron Rodgers and the Jets played the bully Thursday night and pushed around their former AFC East nemesis. Wrapping up a stretch of three games in 10 days, the Jets moved to 2-1 with a 24-3 victory over New England (1-2).
Rodgers led four scoring drives with surgical precision, completing 27 of 35 passes for 281 yards with 2 TDs. The Jets ran 70 offensive plays and totalled 400 yards in their second consecutive victory while a suffocating defence registered 7 sacks and kept their AFC East rivals out of the end zone.
“We were efficient offensively, good on third down,” Rodgers said after leading his unit to a 67% conversion rate (10 of 16) on third down. “Spread the ball around a lot, ran the ball pretty well, pass protected pretty well. I moved off the spot a few times, halfway decent. So a lot of good things to build on from this game.”
In a scintillating opening half, Rodgers was masterful completing 13-of-15 passes for 157 yards and a TD, his first at MetLife Stadium as a Jet. His 10-yard touchdown throw to WR Allen Lazard in the first quarter opened the game’s scoring and gave the Green & White a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Rodgers completed passes to seven players in the first 30 minutes, and the Jets ran the ball well with RBs Breece Hall and Braelon Allen. The offense totaled 252 yards in the first half compared to New England’s 40.
Playing in front of their fans for the first time this season, the Jets raced to 14-0 lead. It was their largest lead over the Pats at home in the teams’ last seven games, and their largest in the first half in all games in the last 14 meetings.
The Jets were balanced early after getting a pair of first downs on their first drive that ended with a punt in plus-territory. New York got cooking on their second drive with great balance. Allen and Hall had 11- and 10-yard runs, respectively, while Rodgers connected with TE Jeremy Ruckert and WR Xavier Gipson for a pair of 11-yard gains. Rodgers capped an impressive 73-yard march with his scoring connection to Lazard that came on an RPO.
“I just felt like we were going to have 10 guys on one side of the hash, and it was 1-on-1 to Allen,” Rodgers said. “And that would probably be a better option than a run away to a dropping end and a slanting line.”
Good times continued to roll in the second quarter when Lazard took a short pass and broke a couple of tackles, on the way to a 27-yard gain. Eleven plays later, with rookie T Olu Fashanu checking in as an eligible offensive lineman and DT Solomon Thomas lining up on offense, Hall ran the ball in from 1-yard out. The 91-yard drive, which included a 22-yard red zone hook-up to Tyler Conklin, was kept alive by Rodgers’ third-down conversion to WR Garrett Wilson.
“Part of the things that we have been talking about is just get the defence a two-score lead,” said Jets HC Robert Saleh. “And he just reminded me that we had a two-score lead.”
The Jets’ offence accounted for 17 first downs in the first two quarters, compared to the Pats’ 4, and went into halftime with a 14-3 lead. The Green & White rushed for 88 yards, averaging 4.9 yards per carry on 18 rushes.
The offence didn’t slow down coming out of intermission, making it a three-score game when Rodgers connected with Wilson on a 2-yard scoring pass, the second-year wideout’s first of the season, in the third quarter to extend the lead, 21-3. The Jets’ 18-point margin was their largest third-quarter lead over New England in their last 26 home games (1998 regular-season finale) and the largest in all games in their last 49 meetings (2000).
Looking spry at 40, Rodgers showed mobility to extend the play and gain yards downfield. He had 18 yards rushing, 11 of which came on a scramble along the Jets’ sideline where he took a shot from Keion White.
“This was kind of the first step of in playing the way I know I’m capable of playing,” Rodgers said. “I felt like I was myself quite a few years ago.”
The Jets’ defence didn’t take its foot off the gas while allowing 139 total yards. DE Will McDonald, coming off a 3- sack performance in Week 2 vs. Tennessee, led the Green & White with 2 of the team’s 7 sacks and LB Quincy Williams’ 8 tackles led the team. S Chuck Clark also registered his first sack in green and white and forced a fumble by RB Rhamondre Stevenson that he recovered.
“We talk about a style of play and a standard and just playing with relentless effort,” Saleh said. “Just 11 hats to the ball and I thought we did that.”
With 4:24 remaining the Patriots inserted rookie QB Drake Maye, who was selected No. 3 overall in April’s draft. He drove the ball to New York’s 7-yard line before being dropped for a sack by DE Takk McKinley and Thomas to end the game.
Jetcetera
With C.J. Mosley (toe) inactive, Jamien Sherwood started at Mike linebacker. …. Breece Hall‘s second-quarter TD gave him a score in six consecutive games. … WR Garrett Wilson extended his streak of multiple receptions to 31 games. He has caught a pass in every game of his NFL career. … Morgan Moses left the game with a knee injury at the end of the third quarter and rookie Olu Fashanu came in and made his NFL debut. … Rookie RB Isaiah Davis received his first offensive snaps of the season. … The Jets will have a mini-bye this weekend before resuming to action next weekend as the Denver Broncos will pay a visit to MetLife Stadium.
JETS ROOKIE BRAELON ALLEN SHOWING EARLY PROMISE

If there’s one thing I could get used to it’s the sight of the ‘Killer B’s’ taking over and powering the Jets to victory, which is exactly what happened on Sunday as the Jets silenced ‘Music City’ and got their season up and running with a tough 24-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans.
It’s a well known fact that the Jets have both the NFL’s oldest (sorry Aaron) and youngest player (Braelon) in the NFL. At just 20 years old, Allen became the youngest player in NFL history to record two touchdowns from scrimmage in a single game. The expectation is he’s only just getting started this season.
During the preseason, Breece Hall compared Allen to Derrick Henry: “Braelon’s just like his own beast, like, he’s really big, he’s athletic, he can run.” So perhaps it was fitting that his NFL coming out party took place on the same field as the Titans legendary running back. Henry may be plying his trade in Baltimore now, but the punishment he dished out still reverberates around Nissan Stadium.
For defensive coordinators it’s going to be a case of picking your poison. Especially if the Jets continue to operate with both Hall and Allen in the same backfield, as they did for the first touchdown on Sunday. A beautiful misdirection play that got the ball into the hands of Allen with Joe Tippmann, Alijah Vera-Tucker and John Simpson all climbing to put the key blocks in place.
Because of Allen’s 235 lb size, it’s easy to pigeon hole him into a certain physical role. Especially when on 3rd and one his number is called and he makes converting look so easy. But his game on Sunday showcased everything about his game.
The touchdown catch showcases his receiving ability, his burst, and his physicality. The late touchdown run showcased his vision, his decisiveness and his long speed. The 3rd-and-1 conversion showcased his pure power and you feel as though he’ll be asked to do more blocking in the passing game.
For a lot of draft analysts, it was surprising to see Allen still available in the 4th round. After all, here was a player who stands 6’1 and 245lbs, 19 years of age and coming off a three year college career at Wisconsin where he produced 3,482 yards and 35 touchdowns while rushing at 5.8 yards per attempt.
If you dig deeper into the numbers, you see 145 missed tackles forced, 2,182 yards after contact and 49 plays which went for 15+ yards. When you combine the kind of physicality that Allen has with plus speed, then you’ve got a problem for opposing defences.
Braelon’s second touchdown was aesthetically extremely pleasing to the eye for a number of reasons.
First, it resonated with a Robert Saleh quote following the game: “The run game is always a second-half thing, but in order to make it a second-half thing you have to be able to commit to it in the first half.”
The Jets had a lot of inside runs stuffed on Sunday, that’s what happens when you have a DT combination of Sweat and Simmons both taking on double teams and allowing linebackers and safeties to shoot the gaps. On the second touchdown play you had that happening, but the Jets weren’t targeting the A-gaps.
Instead, Braelon used his speed and vision to run off-tackle. Take a moment to appreciate the blocking by TE Jeremy Ruckert and WR Allen Lazard on the outside. You’ve also got Morgan Moses sealing the outside by flipping his hips and pinning his man inside. Allen then uses his speed and acceleration to get into the second level, quickly flat-footing the defender and breezing past him.
Sometimes there are touchdowns that wow you instantly (hat-tip to Calvin Ridley there) but some get better every single time you see it. This touchdown is more than a single play, it’s a culmination of a number of plays, some of which failed. It’s a showcase of what happens when everyone executes. It’s what happens when you have someone special running the football.
We don’t know what this season is going to have in store for Braelon… but it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch his development.
WEEK TWO RECAP: JETS 24-17 TITANS

The New York Jets evened their record at 1-1 with a gritty 24-17 victory over the Titans on Sunday in Nashville. Playing their second road game in six days, the Green & White broke a fourth-quarter tie on Braelon Allen’s 20-yard scoring run with 4:31 remaining and the defence made it stand in the final seconds.
The Jets rebounded from a rough start and got contributions from all three phases in the victory as Aaron Rodgers threw TD passes to RBs Allen and Breece Hall, the defence recorded two takeaways and Irvin Charles chipped in with a blocked punt on special teams. Rodgers moved to 6-0 in his NFL career after a Week 1 loss with 16 TDs and 1 INT. Allen’s game-winning score followed two critical Rodgers’ connections – a 26-yarder to Garrett Wilson on third-and-1 and then a 19-yarder to Mike Williams along the visiting sideline on second-and-16.
With the Titans desperate, QB Will Levis moved the offence to the NYJ 8. But the Jets stiffened as Will McDonald got a critical sack on third down and Tony Adams sealed the victory with a pass breakup in the waning seconds. Rodgers kneeled on the final snap and the Jets celebrated in the Music City before a large contingent of fans.
“From a defensive standpoint, the D-Line is the heartbeat of our team,” HC Robert Saleh said. “We go as they go, and they just kept fighting. I thought Will McDonald was unbelievable. … We fought and we kept swinging. We knew today wasn’t going to be easy with all the travel but credit our guys that they kept answering the bell.”
It was a game defensive effort for the Jets that lined up without veteran CB D.J. Reed and lost Pro Bowl edge Jermaine Johnson to an Achilles tendon injury in the third quarter. LB C.J. Mosley also missed most of the game after sustaining an injury to his right toe. McDonald had a breakthrough performance with 3 sacks as Tennessee converted on just 1 of 4 in the red zone.
Trailing 10-7 at half time, the Jets seized control in the third stanza. Plagued by penalties in the first half, the Jets got some good fortune when DT Jeffrey Simmons was called for roughing the passer on Rodgers. The defender’s contact with the QB’s helmet negated a third-down incompletion and kept a drive alive. Then Hall took over, ripping off a 30-yard run down the sideline before making like a receiver and high-pointing a 26-yard scoring toss from Rodgers. The Jets had their first lead at 14-10.
That was followed by Greg Zuerlein’s 33-yard field goal, giving the Jets a 17-10 advantage. But the Titans had an answer as Calvin Ridley made a sensational diving 40-yard grab off a vertical pass from Levis.
“We flashed today, and I thought we played well but we were still just a little off,” Hall said. “We are getting close and that is most exciting thing. You got to grow from the losses and the wins. It was a good win today but I still feel like I left a play or two out there and I know the O-Line are the biggest critics of themselves. So it will be cool to get in there and watch it again and learn from it and be ready for Thursday.”
Trailing 7-0 in the second quarter, the Jets offense found its footing on a 12-play, 73-yard march that was ignited by Rodgers’ 8-yard strike to Allen Lazard on third-and-8. Rodgers later connected with Wilson for a 17-yard gain before the two kept the drive going with a third-down conversion. Following the two-minute warning, Rodgers faked a short pass right and came back to rookie Allen who raced in from 12 yards out.
“I feel like all game, we were frustrated at times, but never got down on each other,” Rodgers said. ” It felt like we were supportive and positive, even though we were frustrated. I was frustrated not getting [Garrett] enough balls. And we didn’t run the ball very well for the two and a half quarters. We stayed confident and defence came up with a couple really big plays in the first half to keep it at one score game.”
A week after blowing a 17-point lead against the Bears, the Titans struck first again, against the Jets. They drove 68 yards in 9 plays, ending the 6:38 possession on Ridley’s 10-yard end around past the pylon. The Jets committed three infractions on the drive as two calls were enforced and a Levis to Ridley 15-yard conversion on a third-and-5 gave the home club early momentum.
The defence took another blow in the second quarter when Mosley was carted off the field. While he was replaced in the lineup by Jamien Sherwood, the Jets stayed in the game early with a pair of takeaways. Levis panicked on a third-down red zone play, lateraling a ball in the direction of Tyjae Spears but Quincy Williams recovered for the visitors. After a Jets’ three-and-out, CB Brandin Echols intercepted a long Levis force attended for Treylon Burks.
Nick Folk’s 41-yard field goal gave the Titans a 10-7 lead at halftime, but the Jets were outgained 152 to 93 in the first two quarters. Rodgers and the offense totaled 265 yards but they made the plays when the game was on the line.
Jetcetera
With D.J. Reed (knee) out of the lineup, Brandin Echols got the start opposite Sauce Gardner. Echols was credited with 5 tackles and an INT. … Repacking MLB C.J. Mosley (toe), Jamien Sherwood totaled 9 tackles and 2 TFL… Will McDonald recorded the first 3-sack game of his career while DT Solomon Thomas added one. … The scoring receptions from Braelon Allen and Breece Hall were the first time since 1994 two Jets RBs had receiving scores in the same game . … The Jets return to action Thursday night for their home opener when they begin division play against the New England Patriots.