SAY WHAT! Bart Scott, who ripped fellow defender Bryan Thomas for talking with the media, gets caught from behind by ex-Jet Matthew Mulligan after scooping up a fumble. (AP)
SAY WHAT! Bart Scott, who ripped fellow defender Bryan Thomas for talking with the media, gets caught from behind by ex-Jet Matthew Mulligan after scooping up a fumble. (
)
ST. LOUIS — It was understandable that Bart Scott’s profane and lengthy attempt to organize a postgame media boycott by the Jets defense flopped yesterday.
After all, Scott’s teammates had too much fun stuff they wanted to talk about.
Despite the demands from the veteran linebacker, who told Bryan Thomas he was “a (bleeping) sellout” for talking to reporters, Jets defenders were only too eager to discuss their dominant performance in a 27-13 throttling of the Rams that came off like a much-needed breath of fresh air for a team consumed by controversy last week.
“We needed a win in the worst way,” safety Yeremiah Bell said of the Jets’ mindset in the wake of a three-game losing streak that ended yesterday. “How we did it, we didn’t care.”
Upset by a report last week in another newspaper that quoted anonymous sources to portray a locker room divided over Tim Tebow, Scott wanted the Jets’ defensive players to tell reporters nothing more than “both teams played hard — anonymously.”
But after indulging Scott briefly, the Jets ended up being more interested in talking about Scott’s lumbering return of a fumble recovery in the second quarter that ended with him being caught from behind by former Jets teammate Matthew Mulligan — no speedster himself.
“Bart got caught from behind by Mully, so he’s definitely going to get harassed on the plane [flight home],” defensive tackle Muhammad Wilkerson said.
The Jets already had practice at that after harassing Sam Bradford and the Rams’ offense most of the afternoon.
Shaking off a crisp opening touchdown drive orchestrated by former Gang Green offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, the Jets pretty much suffocated the Rams the rest of the way in one of their best defensive performances of the year.
As well as allowing just 281 total yards (86 on St. Louis’ opening drive), the Jets used a flurry of well-timed blitzes and big hits to harass Bradford and the Rams into three crucial turnovers.
Bradford could get nothing going downfield, either, completing 23 of his 44 passes for just 170 yards while being intercepted once by safety Eric Smith. Bradford finished with two TDs, but the first was too early and the second too late to make a difference for St. Louis.
“It just feels good not to come out here and hurt ourselves today,” said Bell, who helped lead the way with six tackles (two of them for lost yardage) and a pass breakup. “We actually made the other team turn the ball over and hurt themselves for a change.”
Wilkerson had every right to tease Scott after Wilkerson’s second consecutive dominant performance. After a forced fumble and a fumble recovery for a score the week before in Seattle, the big lineman couldn’t be stopped yesterday, finishing with a sack, a forced fumble and four tackles.
Wilkerson’s big day, combined with a tour de force from safety LaRon Landry (a team-high eight tackles and two forced fumbles) and a masterfully called scheme by coordinator Mike Pettine, added up to a day to remember — and perhaps a season-saver — for the beleaguered Jets and, especially, their defense.
Even if Scott didn’t want them to talk about it.
bhubbuch@nypost.com