Tyrod Taylor knows the perils of being a dual-threat quarterback, and he knows what it’s like for Jaxson Dart to be learning when to take a hit and when to avoid one.
The Jets quarterback saw Dart get drilled on the sideline against the Patriots on Monday night. Taylor was asked if he had any advice for Dart.
“You never want to take away what makes a guy special,” Taylor said. “It was a legal hit. My advice to him would be to be smart about those. Over the course of a season, over the course of a career, those add up. Your best ability is availability, so you want to be out there for the guys and making plays. By all means, do what feels natural, but understand the toll that it takes when you continue to keep taking those hits.”
Taylor is in his 15th NFL season, and he has been injured on hits. He said it takes time to figure out when to avoid the hits.
“For sure, I had to learn that,” said Taylor, who has rushed for 2,424 yards and 20 touchdowns in his career. “As a dual threat guy, I’ve definitely taken some hits that I shouldn’t have taken in my career. There’s a learning curve that comes with that, and hopefully he learns sooner than not because he’s a special player. His team is better, obviously, when he’s available.”
The Jets defense had been improved against the run in recent weeks, then they gave up 142 yards on the ground to the Falcons’ Bijan Robinson on Sunday. It could be a hiccup against one of the best backs in the NFL or a sign the defense has not truly fixed its issues.
“We’ve got to get better in that aspect, and listen, I know Bijan’s a good player, but still it’s unacceptable for us to give up 140-something yards to one player,” coach Aaron Glenn said. “So, again, we looked at that, we looked at some of the issues with that. There was a number missed tackles, and a lot of those missed tackles were us diving to the ground instead of running through the man, so we have to do a better job at that, and we will.”
Glenn said CB Jarvis Brownlee Jr. (hip) and LB Marcelino McCrary-Ball (hamstring) have been ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Dolphins. In addition to them, the following players did not practice Wednesday: S Tony Adams (groin), DE Jermaine Johnson (ankle), DT Harrison Phillips (vet rest day) and CB Qwan’tez Stiggers (concussion). DE Will McDonald IV (ankle) was limited. … The Jets designated LB Cam Jones to return from injured reserve.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
