STEPPING UP: In the wake of several key departures, defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson is ready to take charge and be the front man of the Jets defensive unit. (
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CORTLAND — Geno Smith had just completed a short touchdown throw to wide receiver Jeremy Kerley. No big deal to most everyone at SUNY-Cortland yesterday — except defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson.
To everyone else it might have been one of a number of easily forgotten plays during training camp. But to Wilkerson, allowing a touchdown during the goal-line drill was unacceptable, and he let cornerback Darrin Walls know it.
“C’mon man, we can’t have that,” Wilkerson barked at Walls.
Wilkerson made no apologies for getting on his teammate.
“We know nobody’s perfect,” he told The Post. “But at the end of the day you don’t want to give up touchdowns and first downs. We’re a team and we’re out here to have fun, but we’re competing. I don’t want any touchdowns allowed. We want to try to practice perfection.”
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It’s an example of the leadership role Wilkerson has assumed after the departures of such players as Mike DeVito, Sione Pouha, Bart Scott, Bryan Thomas and Darrelle Revis. Wilkerson is just 23, but in his third NFL season after being a first-round draft pick in 2011. He knows he must grow up fast this season.
“We had some great veterans who are no longer with us on the defensive line,” Wilkerson said. “It’s my time to become a leader and I’m up for the challenge. I’m confident in myself and my game. I’m glad I have the coaches here who have big expectations of me and allow me to be on the field.”
Now that Revis is no longer with the Jets, Wilkerson could be the best player on the team. At 6-foot-4 and 315 pounds, he has been impressive in training camp, working alongside first-round pick Sheldon Richardson and third-year player Kenrick Ellis. Quinton Coples has been moved from defensive line to linebacker, but stills sees action along the defensive front.
“It’s a talented group,” coach Rex Ryan said after yesterday’s practice. “It’ll be interesting to see this group grow together.”
Wilkerson needs to have a Pro Bowl-type season for the Jets to have a reliable defense. He won’t have a lot of the flashy stats; he was fourth on the team last year with 69 tackles, and also had five sacks. But it’s his ability to stop the run and scare the quarterback that takes pressure off everyone else.
“He now has the savvy of a veteran and it’s only his third year,” defensive line coach Karl Dunbar said. “He was thrown in the fire his first year, and last year you could see the lights come on. He did a lot of good things for us and we’re looking for that to springboard into this year.”
Training camp is where habits are established, expectations are set and accountability becomes crucial. Wilkerson is making sure he’s doing his part to make the Jets better. He has stayed in Richardson’s ear, pushing the rookie from Missouri in the classroom as well as on the field. Same for Ellis, the third-year player out of Hampton.
“He’s helping everybody,” Dunbar said. “Sione, DeVito and B.T. [Thomas] helped him in his early development, and he’s taken that to the next step. He’s gotten into that leadership role and it has helped him in his game because he’s so comfortable with all the defenses we call and that helps him play faster.”
Wilkerson has already been a positive influence on Coples. The two have accepted their roles as leaders of the defense, along with linebacker David Harris.
“We feed off each other,” Coples said. “If he brings it one play, I have to bring it the next. We’re all about making each other better and making our team better.”
Ryan said one thing he likes about Wilkerson is, “he doesn’t think he’s arrived, so he keeps working.”
It’s part of practicing for perfection.