A week ago, the Jets allowed nine sacks in a loss to the Broncos. In their 13-6 home loss on Sunday, they were sacked six times by the Panthers, who entered with just five sacks in their first six games.
Protecting the quarterback has become a significant issue for the Jets, who’d supposedly entered the season with their offensive line strengthened.
The Panthers dropped Jets starter Justin Fields three times for 21 yards in losses and then took down backup Tyrod Taylor another three times for 12 yards in losses.
“I have to go back and look at it, but it seemed like we lost a good bit of one-on-ones, and that can’t happen in those situations,’’ Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said. “It’s obvious that teams are going to try to pressure us, and we have to do a better job in those situations.
“We have to look at the tape, see exactly what the issues are, go back to work next week and try to fix those.’’
John Simpson, the left guard, had a tough day, committing a personal foul in the first half that had Glenn so infuriated that he immediately yanked him from the game temporarily.
“Toward the end of the play, I was trying to finish and the defender stuck his thumb in my neck,’’ Simpson said. “It was the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced in a game. He stuck his thumb in my neck and I was trying to get it off and I couldn’t, so I grabbed his face mask and was trying to get it off like that.
“I could have avoided that by simply putting my hands up, so I take full accountability for that. It was stupid on my part. You’ve got to play between the whistles at the end of the day because it put my team in a bad spot and I can’t do that again.’’
On the next Jets possession, Simpson was flagged for a false start.
When asked about the six sacks allowed, Simpson said, “Same as last week, we don’t want to hear that at all. We’ve got to be better, and it starts with me. I’m supposed to be the older guy on the line and the leader and I’ve got to be better.’’
The Jets have gone two games in a row without scoring a touchdown, which has also been attributed to the offensive line woes.
“We just have to take it one step at a time,’’ Simpson said. “We have to focus on the details at the end of the day, just focus on the things that we can control. Put our heads down and work.’’
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
