Josh Allen pulled off another miraculous performance Sunday night against the Ravens, and now it’s up to Sauce Gardner and the Jets defense to attempt to slow down the reigning league MVP when they face the Bills in Week 2 at MetLife Stadium.
“It’s always a battle. Obviously, I don’t really enjoy it,” Gardner said when asked Wednesday about facing Allen. “As a corner, you never really enjoy playing against, like, running quarterbacks or quarterbacks that are capable of using their legs and stuff like that.
“But I’m looking forward to it. He’s a competitor. He’s the guy, and we’re very aware of that, for sure.”
Former Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for 244 yards and four touchdowns in Sunday’s season-opening loss to the Steelers.
Gardner, a two-time Pro Bowl cornerback in his first three NFL seasons, said the Jets need to “just be better in the pass game as a whole” this week against Allen, who totaled 394 passing yards with two touchdowns, plus two more on the ground, in a 41-40 comeback win against Baltimore.
“We did pretty good in the run game, the front seven did their thing, but as a secondary, we gotta get better collectively,” Gardner said.
And when the 6-foot-5 Allen scrambles around the backfield, Gardner knows he must stay with his assigned receiver in coverage rather than attempt to tackle the running QB.
“That don’t got anything to do with me. If I got my man, I got my man,” Gardner said. “Because I know he’s capable of doing some crazy things.
“When he’s scrambling, he can throw across his body and throw the ball 50-60 yards or further. So, we just gotta be disciplined in coverage and trust the front seven to do their thing, like they did last week.”
The Jets released kick returner Xavier Gipson, who committed a costly fumble in Sunday’s loss, and signed receiver/returner Isaiah Williams.
He played last season for the Lions when head coach Aaron Glenn was the defensive coordinator in Detroit
“We will be bringing in some other guys. We already brought one guy in, Isaiah Williams, who I know,” Glenn said. “He was with us in Detroit, I think ’23 or ’24, he was with us. … And then we’re going to look at some guys that are in-house.”
Another option for an expanded role is rookie Jamaal Pritchett, who is on the Jets practice squad.
Rookie tight end Mason Taylor (ankle) and returner Kene Nwangwu (hamstring) are dealing with injuries, Glenn said.
Defensive tackle Jay Tufele (personal) also was excused from practice.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
