The Jets saved all the finger pointing for the field.
Cornerback Sauce Gardner and safety Jalen Mills briefly disagreed on Sunday, leading to a 39-yard completion on the Jets' biggest play, the biggest touchdown drive of the game in a 28-27 loss to the Colts. sacrificed.
While defending a five-point lead with less than three minutes left, Gardner played a short out route and ran a 39-yard reception to receiver Alec Pierce, as if expecting Mills to pick up Pierce. I hit it repeatedly.
After the play, Gardner gestured toward Mills, almost saying he should have been in that area, but neither was clear on what went wrong in the locker room or who was to blame. I didn't.
“We'll discuss this further, but that was a play that shouldn't have happened,” Gardner said. “I'm not pointing fingers at him. We have to be better.”
SNY analyst Bart Scott, a former Jets defensive captain, was quick to point the finger at Gardner, but to others it looked like Mills was late in the rotation.
“We have to watch film, get coaching and improve from there,” Mills said. “I’m not like pointing fingers or anything…we have to watch the movie.”
Gardner said the Jets are in a “palm covering” situation similar to Cover 2, with the goal of forcing throws into the flat and stealing big plays.
“What we're saying is, 'Don't point fingers,'” Gardner said. “The outside world is going to do that anyway. Whatever's going on, they're going to blame. We just have to stay close and continue to love each other.”
Mills, a nine-year veteran, remained in the lineup as safety Chuck Clark returned from injured reserve, making his fifth consecutive start.
The Jets benched second-year starter Tony Adams in Mills' place.
Gardner, an All-Pro and two-time first-team selection for many seasons, has had a subpar season, missing a shoestring tackle and allowing a 33-yard gain that led to a touchdown in his first game. A quarter that was of no use to me.
But all that would have been forgotten if the Jets had stopped the Colts with a game-winning 70-yard touchdown drive.
“I'm always going to blame myself first,” interim head coach and defensive playcaller Jeff Ulbrich said. “And believe me, there is accountability from a player perspective as well.”
Richardson powered into the end zone four plays after Pierce's catch.
“You can't give up the deep ball in a situation like this where you know your opponent has to drive down the field, and we're winning at that point,” Mills said. “I've been in situations like this before. [games] That's how games are won, and that's how games are lost. That's always the next play mentality for me. ”
Richardson entered the game as the NFL's least accurate passer (44.4 percent completion rate), but the Jets noticed his ball placement on deep throws improved.
Richardson is averaging 15.6 yards per completion.
“We’re not trying to drive the route.” [at the end]'' Gardner said. “It's not like Prevent where everyone played deep. It wasn't called. We knew they needed to score a touchdown, so it was basically a soft zone.”
And the Colts scored the winning touchdown.
