FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) -Darrelle Revis and his teammates in the New York Jets’ secondary got together earlier this week and discussed what they could do better.
Being ranked second in the NFL in passing defense apparently isn’t good enough.
“We need to make more plays,” Revis said Thursday. “That’s just the bottom line. We just need to be more aggressive in the secondary and make more plays.”
That’s actually the running theme this week off the bye for the entire defense, not just the secondary. Rex Ryan wants to get more offensive on defense by converting turnovers into points.
“Let’s not just be happy just getting the takeaway,” the coach said. “That’s great, but we need to be aggressive with our mentality. We have to score when we get them.”
The Jets are ranked second in the NFL in overall defense, and haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher or receiver or a 300-yard passer this season. Despite the impressive numbers, the Jets have no touchdowns on defense.
ball in our hands, we want to score,” safety Kerry Rhodes said. “We want to turn from defense to offense. Even if we don’t score, we want to get it down where the offense has a short field and they can put points on the board. When we do that and get teams behind, then teams will have to put the ball down the field and try to make plays.”
New York has seven interceptions, led by Revis’ two, which puts them in the middle of the pack in comparison to the rest of the league.
“For our team, we haven’t had a lot of them,” Rhodes said. “That’s due to the fact that teams are being safe with the ball on third-and-long situations. Or there are situations that are normally passing downs and they’re being safe with the ball and not taking chances down the field. We just have to live with it and not go out of character because when you do, that’s when the big plays will come for the offense.”
When they have gotten interceptions, the Jets haven’t gone far with the ball, gaining only 58 yards on returns.
“We’ve got the players here, we’ve got the talent here,” Revis said. “I just think we have to focus on scoring touchdowns on defense.”
That goes for fumble returns, too. The Jets have forced five fumbles this season, some on strip sacks, and recovered four of them. They’ve gotten a total of 8 yards on fumble returns.
“You have to be careful because you don’t want to give the ball back to them, but it’s like an offensive play when we get that ball,” said defensive end Mike DeVito, who has two fumble recoveries. “We need to take off running with it and try to score. That’s such a turn of emotion and momentum and can really put a team in a hole.”
The Jets also are looking to increase their pressure on opposing quarterbacks, the way they were constantly in the faces of Houston’s Matt Schaub and New England’s Tom Brady early in the season. After getting just eight sacks in the first seven games, New York had six in its last game against Miami two weeks ago.
“I think it’s a sign of our defense working how it’s supposed to work,” linebacker Calvin Pace said. “If we can get people to stop the run, you can make them have to do things that they’re not comfortable doing, and then you have a chance to tee off.”
The Jets are hoping for some playmaking success this weekend against Jacksonville at the Meadowlands. David Garrard has been sacked 18 times, and has lost four fumbles.
“It may be easier to knock the ball out of this kid’s hand than it is to tackle him,” Ryan said. “He’s a big quarterback. If he’s around a pile and he wants to run with it so bad, let’s see if we can’t knock the ball out of his hand. Then, when we get the opportunity, scoop and score.”
That sort of playmaking potential motivates a defense that is already considered one of the league’s most dangerous.
The coaches are saying we’re doing good, but we’re 4-4,” Revis said. “It’s a give and take there. Yeah, we might be doing this, we might be doing that, great, but we’ve got to get some wins. We can’t keep on losing. That’s the stuff we’ve been focusing on coming off the bye week, trying to make more plays to set us up more for wins.”
NOTES: Ryan called for the fans to be a greater presence Sunday. “I’m challenging our fans,” he said. “I know they’re going to challenge me, and rightfully so, but it’s my job to get this team ready to go. Be prideful that this is your football team and we can accomplish everything we set out to do and I think when we get that energy from our crowd, that might be the difference this week.” … LB Vernon Gholston (hamstring) didn’t practice and Ryan said, “it doesn’t look good” for him to play Sunday. … Special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff said the team is still evaluating Justin Miller’s speed on kickoff returns, and WR Brad Smith and CB Dwight Lowery might also be considered.
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