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The New York Jets are going to be a few cards short when they face the Miami Dolphins in Week 14.
Interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich said on Wednesday, December 4 that he was “hopeful” that starting cornerback Sauce Gardner could play this week. Gardner didn’t practice because of a hamstring injury.
“They are still assessing the degree of which [the hamstring is hurt] beyond what the MRI told us. We are playing an opponent that you can not play with a poor hamstring in my opinion. We’ll see how it goes. If he is feeling good and ready to rock and roll then we’ll let him play. If not, this is not a game we want him half-speed,” Ulbrich explained.
ESPN’s Rich Cimini described Ulbrich as not “optimistic” about Gardner’s chances of playing this week.
Gardner’s Potential Absence Would Be a Massive Loss for the Jets
The former Cincinnati product has been the butt of some jokes this season when it comes to his level of physicality, toughness, and ability to tackle.
Despite some of that criticism, Gardner has continued to be a special player in coverage. According to Pro Football Focus, Gardner has a 74.4 coverage grade this season. That is the No. 14 best coverage grade among corners, per PFF.
If Gardner is out of commission, the next man up on the ESPN depth chart at corner is Qwan’tez Stiggers.
He has appeared in 11 games this season, but he only played 16 defensive snaps in 2024.
The other depth piece the Jets have at corner is Brandin Echols. On the season the Jets as a team only have two interceptions and both of them have come from Echols.
Echols is actually one of the more experienced backup cornerbacks in the NFL. In his four-year NFL career, Echols has appeared in 53 games and has made 17 starts.
Dolphins Present a Ton of Problems for the Jets
Losing one of the best corners in football would hurt a team any week. However, this injury happening this week is terrible news for the green and white.
Tua Tagovailoa has been on a heater for the last three weeks. During that run, he has thrown for 970 passing yards, has 9 touchdowns to zero interceptions, and has completed 77% of his passes.
The top three receiving targets for the Dolphins have directly benefited from that uptick in play at the quarterback position. Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and Jonnu Smith have combined to catch 158 receptions for 1,903 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns this season.
Miami is putting up dominant numbers and since November of 2016, they have dominated the series against the Jets. During that span of time, the Dolphins have won 13 of those 16 contests.
Last year the Jets got swept by the Dolphins losing by a combined score of 64 to 13 in those two games.
In other words, this is setting up to be a painful chapter in this series’ history. The Jets are fighting for pride while the Dolphins are attempting to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
According to ESPN, Miami is a six-point favorite at home against the Jets.
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Jets Get Bad News on Sauce Gardner Ahead of Dolphins Game