When the season started, the NY Jets had so many question marks on the field. On defense, the roster seemed to be greatly improved. After leading the world in points allowed last season, one question mark followed defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.\u00a0 The defense started slow this year. Was it the scheme? The players? The play calling? Many Jets fans, us at the top of the list, were very critical of Jeff Ulbrich. After a few wins, things seem to be changing quickly. This defense has settled in nicely and is starting to impose its will.<\/p>\n
Jeff Ulbrich spoke to the media on Thursday and asked about the Patriots beating the Jets 54 -13 last season.<\/p>\n
Yep, I do. I remember the score. I remember a lot of things. I remember it being 40+ and shots still being taken on us. It is what it is, it\u2019s our job as a defensive coaching staff and as a defense to stop that. At the end of the day, it comes down to what we can control, and we allowed way too much last year. Been looking forward to this one.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ulbrich also spoke about:<\/p>\n
Quinnen Williams (on causing disruptions)<\/strong><\/p>\n
All the time. There\u2019s the screen. There\u2019s the interception that Lamarcus had that was Quinnen\u2019s pressure. He does so many things on the field that you don\u2019t necessarily notice because it\u2019s not a statistical thing. His effort, his toughness, his consistency. Then, there\u2019s this element of the stuff he does off the field \u2014 the mentorship and pushing guys and challenging guys to be better and holding people accountable. He\u2019s grown in that way, too. He\u2019s a huge part of what we\u2019re doing right now.<\/p>\n
Sauce Gardner (on being special)<\/strong><\/p>\n
I think so. As we all know, rookies struggle and they go through these lumps. Even the best rookies and the guys that end up having tremendous careers typically have moments, especially in their rookie year, where they\u2019re stumbling and they\u2019re finding their way and their learning through some adversity. He\u2019s exceeded expectations from that standpoint. He\u2019s playing at a high level. At the same time, I\u2019d say D.J. Reed is playing at a high level, and I think Jordan (Whitehead) and Lamarcus (Joyner) playing at such a high level behind him has helped him in a lot of ways.<\/p>\n
Changes to the Patriots Offense<\/strong><\/p>\n
Some wrinkles here and there, you can definitely see, we were talking about it last night, there\u2019s some things that it\u2019s very apparent that it\u2019s a defensive type of mentality sometimes from the standpoint of really challenging rules and concepts and some unique stuff in there, it\u2019s pretty cool. They\u2019ve obviously brought some perspective, the fact that both of them have been mainly on the defensive side of the ball for most of their careers, so it\u2019s interesting some of the stuff that they\u2019re doing. It\u2019s going to be a good challenge.<\/p>\n
Mac Jones<\/strong><\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t change us a whole lot, to tell you the truth. I don\u2019t think the offense is a whole lot different with either guy. What they target within the offense, within the given play might be a little bit different, but very similar. I think it\u2019s going to get called the same way too. Both good quarterbacks, both tremendous challenges, excited about that.<\/p>\n