The New York Jets made significant changes to revive a season that had taken a turn for the worse.
Coach Robert Saleh was let go after starting the season 2-3, and interim coach Jeff Ulbrich switched up the offensive play callers. The Jets also brought in Davante Adams to reunite him with Aaron Rodgers.
Despite these efforts, the situation has worsened. The Jets lost 25-22 to the New England Patriots, who had been on a six-game losing streak and had to rely on Jacoby Brissett as their quarterback after rookie Drake Maye was injured. Brissett led New England to its first home win in over a year.
This defeat marked New York’s fifth loss in a row, and their third under Ulbrich, leaving them tied with the Patriots for last place in the AFC East.
“This is a moment of darkness, and we understand that the outside world is going to get really loud right now,” Ulbrich said.
Rodgers added, “Yeah, I’ve been in the darkness. You’ve got to go in there, make peace with it.”
Kicker Greg Zuerlein missed two kicks—a field goal and an extra point—and the Jets used all three of their first-half timeouts in the first quarter, with two being called just 44 seconds apart during the same drive.
“On one of them, we were lagging out of the huddle; one I was trying to get the protection right,” said Rodgers, who passed for 233 yards and two touchdowns. “Our operation was a little slow at times.”
New York used a timeout after an incomplete pass when Rodgers was looking for Garrett Wilson. That timeout could have been helpful during their final drive, which started from their own 30-yard line with 22 seconds left.
Another timing issue happened when New York got a delay of game penalty while getting ready for a 2-point conversion after Braelon Allen scored a 2-yard touchdown with 2:57 left in the game. From the 7-yard line, Rodgers completed a pass to the 5, but the attempt didn’t succeed.
“We’ve got to be better from an operations standpoint, just overall, and that’s every single player, every single coach. That’s Aaron. That’s all of us,” Ulbrich said.
Zuerlein missed an extra point in the first quarter and then missed a 44-yard field goal that would have given the Jets a bigger lead at 16-14 in the fourth quarter. This season, he has missed six field goals.
Ulbrich stated he didn’t regret keeping Zuerlein on the team despite his recent failures. “We’ve got to take a hard look at everything that we do, everything,” Ulbrich said. “It’s not just on Greg; it’s on all of us. We’ll do that this week.”
Haason Reddick’s first game after a long holdout didn’t give an immediate boost to New York’s defense.
The Jets allowed a Patriots offense that had struggled under Brissett to score twice in the second half. On the winning drive, the Jets let the Patriots convert a third-and-10, with cornerback Sauce Gardner defending on a 34-yard pass that moved the ball to the Jets’ 9-yard line.
“The NFL is hard. It’s hard to win. Harder when you make it difficult on yourself,” Rodgers said.
