From 2022 to 2023, the New York Jets had one of the best defenses in the league. While they took a step back in 2024, the unit was expected to rebound in 2025 behind a new coaching staff.
Instead, they have fallen even further.
Through two weeks, the Jets are one of only two teams (along with the Miami Dolphins) to allow 30+ points in each game.
The latest performance was especially poor. In the Jets’ 30-10 loss to the Bills in Week 2, New York surrendered 224 rushing yards and allowed Buffalo to hold the ball for over 38 minutes.
It was a performance that concerned everyone in the locker room, leaving a team captain to make a pact with his group.
Quinnen Williams responds after poor defensive performance
There are a number of reasons why the Jets have struggled as a defense to start in 2025. Part of it falls on the coaching staff, which brought a questionable game plan into Week 2.
At the end of the day, though, it’s on the players to perform at a higher level.
According to defensive captain and former All-Pro Quinnen Williams, not only does the team have a plan for the rest of the year, but he made sure a repeat of Sunday will not happen again.
“There’s a lot of stuff we can do,” Williams said after practice on Thursday. “We really honed in and focused on the step back that we took from Week 1 to Week 2 [at stopping the run]. We all made a pact as a defense, player to player, that [allowing that many rushing yards] won’t ever happen again.”
Williams’ leadership has been on display to kick off the new year. Going into a tough Week 3 contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, though, things aren’t about to get any easier.
With injuries to edge rusher Jermaine Johnson, safety Tony Adams, and several other players, the Jets are already being tested across the defense with their depth. Role players like Micheal Clemons and rookie safety Malachi Moore are expected to be given more playing time if those previous injuries persist.
It all comes back to defensive play-caller Steve Wilks, though. If he can adjust his play calling, the Jets will be far more competitive against one of the better offenses in the league.
The veteran coach says he knows exactly how to get the group to where they need to be.
“The one thing that we’ve talked about from day one is understanding that we have to surrender the individual ‘me’ for the bigger ‘we,'” Wilks said.
New York knows the first two performances this season were not up to the standard of the talent on its defense. A player-to-player pact could get things back on the right track in Florida on Sunday.
