When Takk McKinley drove around the edge late in the first quarter, beat Giants tackle Evan Neal and sacked quarterback Tommy DeVito, he couldn’t contain his excitement Saturday night.
McKinley stood up and celebrated briefly, feeling like he was back in full force. It was McKinley’s first sack since 2021, when he was with the Browns.
That was before he ruptured his Achilles, before he bounced around on the practice squads and active rosters of the Titans, Rams and Cowboys but never played, and before he spent a year without a team after being waived by the Cowboys in June 2023.
“It felt great,” McKinley said after Saturday’s 10-6 win over the Giants. “My first sack since 2021. I’m just grateful to be on the field and continue to pursue my dream. Thanks to the Jets for giving me this opportunity. It was a lot of fun.”
Now, the question is, did McKinley do enough to warrant staying in the regular season?
He will undoubtedly be on the 53-man roster once cuts are made in the coming days. Teams have until Tuesday at 4 p.m. to get down to 53 players.
McKinley joined the Jets in June after getting a tryout at the team’s minicamp, performed well in training camp and is poised to claim a spot as the team’s edge rusher with Haason Reddick still insisting on staying.
If that happens, it will complete a long road back for the Falcons’ first-round draft pick in 2017.
“It was tough,” McKinley said of his journey. “I had to grow and improve myself. Being out of football for a year and a half was tough, to be honest. I had a lot of money but was out of the league. It’s easy to get into trouble. I just stayed hungry and motivated. I prayed every day. I’m grateful I had the opportunity.”
McKinley had 2.5 sacks and two tackles for loss against the Giants. He celebrated by breakdancing on the field.
Even without Redick, the Jets have plenty of depth on the defensive line, and general manager Joe Douglas faces some tough choices regarding the roster at the position.
But McKinley has shown a bit more skill than the other players and should be guaranteed a spot.
“Obviously, he’s got the pedigree, right? He’s worthy of being a first-round draft pick,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “Elite nervousness, length, speed, physicality, mindset. I always say that sometimes guys take time for whatever reason. A lot of times guys have to find themselves, but I feel like he’s in a really good place right now, physically and mentally. I thought he’s done a really good job during training camp.”
McKinley, 28, said confidence was the key to his performance this summer.
“There’s a reason I was a first-round draft pick,” he said. “The NFL is a great team. You have to have confidence in yourself. The Jets organization, the defensive line team, Quinnen Williams, Jermaine Johnson, Michael Clemons, Will McDonald, the defensive line coaches, they all believed in me. That gave me more confidence and allowed me to believe in myself and go for it. The system that we run gives us the freedom to do what we want. For me, it’s just about going out there and wreaking havoc. It’s just a blessing to be a part of the system that we’re in.”
Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich played a large role in bringing McKinley to the Jets, having scouted him at UCLA and then been on the Falcons staff when they drafted him.
“That’s my guy,” McKinley said.
McKinley said he pursued his NFL dream to honor the grandmother and aunt who raised him.
“They could have easily given up on me, but they didn’t,” McKinley said. “So for me, it was just like, I can’t give up on myself. I’m speechless right now. … The McKinleys are people who don’t give up. I have two kids and they look up to me. If I give up on myself, I’m giving up on my kids.”
