The Jets defense was a little more defensive than usual this week.
It seems the group did not feel the Jets received enough credit for their performance against Tom Brady and Co. in Week 2. That week, Brady had one of the worst statistical games of his career. He was 19-of-39 for 185 yards and one touchdown. He was visibly upset with his young receivers, and that became a storyline from the game.
That seemed to bother coach Rex Ryan and some members of the defense.
“It has nothing to do with us,” Ryan said this week sarcastically. “I understand we were just out there. Certainly that was well reported and all that. So, we’ll get to see. We’ll see if there [are] some of those issues that exist this week.”
Jets cornerback Darrin Walls agreed with his coach that the problems Brady and his young receivers were having were brought on by the Jets.
“I think we did a good job of frustrating the receivers a little bit, and Brady,” Walls said. “If you look at Brady and his stats, he usually has good stats, and he didn’t have his usual numbers. I think we did a good job in that area but obviously, not a good enough job.”
Veteran safety Dawan Landry said he thought many of the problems the Patriots had in that game were a result of Brady getting used to a new set of receivers. The Patriots are using rookies Kenbrell Thompkins and Aaron Dobson a lot.
“It was still early in the season,” Landry said. “He was with the young receivers, so I think it was a acclimation process for them also. We’re just trying to build on the stuff we had success with in the previous game and hopefully we’ll have some success also.”
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Rookie cornerback Dee Milliner will play Sunday after missing the past three games with a hamstring injury. It’s been a rough start for the No. 9 overall pick in April’s draft. He had shoulder surgery in the spring that kept him out of the spring program, hurt his Achilles tendon in training camp then injured his hamstring in practice before Week 4.
“He just has to go play,” defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman said. “We’re not talking about rocket science, we’re talking about football. He’s a football player. He has to go play. He has to get himself healthy. He has to prepare himself as if he’s going to play every week and he has to go out there and play. It’s pretty much that simple.”
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Patriots CB Aqib Talib (hip) did not make the trip. TE Rob Gronkowski (forearm, back) did, as expected.