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It might be time for the New York Jets to make a permanent change to the starting lineup.
During the Week 2 matchup against the Tennessee Titans, veteran linebacker and team captain C.J. Mosley got hurt and was removed from the contest. The coaching staff plugged in Jamien Sherwood and saw positive results.
“Another take my Jets fans might not like. I said it during the game and I don’t wish injuries on any player. The CJ Mosley injury made the difference. Quincy [Williams] moved to Mike LB and Sherwood slid over and suddenly the speed and toughness took over and flipped the game,” former Jets wide receiver Rob Carpenter said.
“Jamien Sherwood was excellent filling in for C.J. Mosley. PFF’s highest-graded Jets defender in Week 2. 5th-highest graded LB so far this week. 10 tackles, 4 run stops, and a VERY good 78.3 PFF coverage grade. Been saying it for a while, he’s a starter in this league,” The Jet Press posted on social media.
Jets Insider Dan Leberfeld said Sherwood, “played his best game as a pro” in Week 2 versus the Titans.
Jets Appear Ready for a Youth Movement
Jets reporter Nick Faria bluntly said on social media that Sherwood “outplayed” Mosley.
“Now, it’s up to the team to figure out the best move at linebacker for the rest of the year,” Faria added.
He called the Jets current situation at linebacker “awkward.”
“For a team that struggled to control the middle of the field against San Francisco, and early against the Titans, the Jets are now in an awkward position,” Faria said in a column for Athlon Sports. “Their leader on defense, the player everyone looks up to, is dealing with an injury that usually comes from losing a step. Mosley being 32 years old doesn’t help the situation. Sherwood is faster, more athletic, and is moving at a much more efficient pace.”
Mosley, 32, is under contract through the 2025 season. He signed a new two-year deal for $17.25 million this offseason. If the team moved on next offseason, they’d eat a $16.4 million dead cap hit, per Spotrac.
Whether Jets fans like it or not, Mosley is going to be around the team. However, that doesn’t mean he has to be a starting linebacker on the defense.
“My people, guess what? The Jets defense has looked better since Jamien Sherwood was forced into action,” Robby Sabo of Jets X-Factor said.
Jets Deserve a Lot of Credit for the Sherwood Development
The Jets defensive coaching staff has pulled off another great development story.
Sherwood, 24, entered the NFL as the No. 146 overall pick in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL draft. He was a college safety who was being drafted into the NFL as a linebacker.
It wasn’t an immediate success. Sherwood required plenty of TLC from the Jets coaching staff. He got some playing time as a rotational reserve player on defense and cut his teeth as a key special teams ace.
However, this season he has appeared in 62% of the defensive snaps through the first two weeks which is by far a career high.
Mosley hurt his toe in the Titans game and the team is hopeful he will be ready to play on a short week. However, if he isn’t, the team believes Sherwood is ready to make some noise.
“He’s got tremendous command of the huddle, he’s a great communicator pre-snap and post-snap, and he’s got such good speed and tremendous length,” Saleh explained to the media.
After the Jets win over the Titans, Sherwood provided a fiery response to the critics.
“Just to keep putting the league on notice, nobody wants to give us a chance, & we don’t want a chance. We gonna take it & the only way we can take it is by going out there & showing it every week,” Sherwood told Jets team reporter Ethan Greenberg.
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