In the aftermath of the New York Jets’ win over the Tennessee Titans, head coach Robert Saleh lauded the “unbelievable” performance from one of the team’s most important young players.
“I have to look at this tape, but it felt that he was really bringing power to his game today,” Saleh said of second-year edge rusher Will McDonald. “I thought a couple of his sacks, or at least one of them, he ran right through that right tackle, so if he continues to develop that, he will be a double-digit sack guy in this league. Overall, I thought the guys stood up. We’ve got a good group, and seeing Will McDonald step up was good.”
Saleh also spoke about the resiliency of the defense after the loss of defensive end Jermaine Johnson.
“It is tough. I think players in general, and I would imagine on their side, nobody wants to see their man go down like that. But the resilience of the guys to put it to the side for the last quarter and do what we needed to do. We’ll pray for a miracle in regard to whatever we see, but we love the man, and it was good for the guys to respond. ”
Regarding the offense, Saleh had praise for rookie running back Braelon Allen, who scored the decisive touchdown against the Titans.
“Yeah, you guys saw him in training camp; you saw him in the preseason. He’s a load. He’s always finishing forward. He’s big in a couple of short-yard situations. He caught that screen pass on our left side, and there was no doubt with that space, he was going to run through whoever was standing in his way at the 1[-yard line]. So, again, just a great complement to Breece [Hall] and Breece’s running style.”
The head coach also spoke about the calming presence of Aaron Rodgers, who led a go-ahead touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.
“His presence, his ability at the line of scrimmage, his confidence in the huddle, his confidence on the sideline. The guy’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and he’s had production in this league for a very, very long time. He’s seen everything and to have a presence like that in the huddle for a lot of guys who haven’t seen everything, it’s pretty cool.”
Saleh added that having Rodgers in those crunch-time situations is “priceless.”
While suffering a major loss to their defensive line and dealing with some struggles overall, New York still came away with plenty of positives on Sunday afternoon. Heading into their home opener against the Patriots on Thursday, the Jets will look to build on their first victory of the season.
