The Jets have not intercepted a pass since Week 5 against the Vikings.
That game was almost two months ago — Oct. 6.
The head coach of the Jets was still Robert Saleh.
It has been a while.
The Jets have some weird statistics this season but nothing as odd as their only having two interceptions this season, and both of those coming from backup cornerback Brandin Echols.
Sauce Gardner does not have one. D.J. Reed does not have one. Michael Carter II does not have one.
For a team that is supposed to have an elite secondary on an elite defense, the Jets have not forced enough picks.
The only team with fewer interceptions is the Giants with just one.
It was an area the Jets studied during their bye week self-scout.
“Turnovers a lot of times are a byproduct of you have substantial leads in a game and you let your guys just eat, and especially when an offense feels like, ‘I got to force the ball down the field to create explosives, come back in a game potentially.’ … As we all know, that’s where turnovers typically come,” interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said. “But at the same time, yeah, we took a deep dive into our scheme, and are we being aggressive enough at times to force those type of mistakes by an offense and a quarterback, so both those things we took a hard look at, and hopefully we’ll have a chance to implement that stuff this game.”
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith is putting up good numbers this season, but he could give the Jets a chance to snap their interception drought.
Smith leads the NFL with 12 interceptions this season.
“We’re definitely hungry for it,” Reed said. “We play a lot of man and our back gets turned a lot, but we’ve still got to figure out ways to get picks. That’s something that we definitely want to be able to get to help the team.”
The Jets placed left tackle Tyron Smith on injured reserve Saturday, which will probably end his season.
Smith hurt his neck three weeks ago against the Cardinals and did not play against the Colts two weeks ago.
Smith, 33, could return for the final two games of the season but that feels unlikely with the way the Jets’ season has gone.
Rookie Olu Fashanu is starting in place of Smith.
OL Xavier Newman was activated off IR. … RB Kene Nwangwu was elevated from the practice squad.
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