Four days before their Week 14 home matchup with the 5-7 Miami Dolphins, New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn ruled out starting cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. and linebacker and special teams captain Marcelino McCrary-Ball.
Dealing with a hip injury, Brownlee was also absent for Sunday’s win over Atlanta. After two rough consecutive games against the Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots, the former Tennessee Titan had a stellar outing in Week 11 against the Baltimore Ravens.
He allowed two of three targets in coverage for only 18 yards, finishing with an 82.6 passer rating against. The corner also recorded four tackles and three stops.
With Brownlee out once again, Ja’Sir Taylor projects to take on a premium role in the slot for the second consecutive week. Against Atlanta, Taylor earned a rough 51.0 defensive grade courtesy of Pro Football Focus, while his outing was put on full display for the wrong reason.
He whiffed at the line of scrimmage on an attempted tackle of tight end David Sills V, who finished the play and put Atlanta ahead 24-17 with 8:46 remaining in the fourth quarter.
As for McCrary-Ball, the special teams captain was playing his second game back on Sunday after a 10-week absence with a hamstring injury. Against the Falcons, he posted a strong 79.0 run-defense grade along with a 67.5 special teams grade.
The Jets officially opened Cam Jones’ 21-day practice window on Wednesday, and he could be in line to assume McCrary-Ball’s special teams duties and his rotational role on defense.
After Tua Tagovailoa carved up New York’s secondary in the first meeting, being down a starting corner like Brownlee only makes the rematch that much more challenging.
