Lorenzo Reyes
USA TODAY
Published 2:59 p.m. UTC Jun 9, 2018
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — There are a lot of young, new faces in the locker room this year. Some of the stalls have been rearranged, perhaps adding a layer of confusion.
To cope, the New York Jets have pasted two decals in the lower left corner of each locker’s nameplate. One has the silhouette of the respective player’s home state, and the other is his college’s logo.
The Jets may look new — and new to each other — but this group still thinks it can turn some heads in 2018, even coming off a last-place, 5-11 season.
“Yeah, we’re young, I get that,” inside linebacker Darron Lee told USA TODAY Sports this week, “but we’ve seen plenty of ball. I think we’re just coming together as a group, and that could be a scary thing.”
Rookie quarterback Sam Darnold may be generating all the buzz this spring, but it’s a young and aggressive defense, led by lineman Leonard Williams and safety Jamal Adams, that may be more important to the Jets in the short term. Darnold, drafted with the No. 3 selection in April, may still be a year away from even playing. However this defense, which ranked 25th overall in 2017, needs to show improvement immediately.
The average age of the projected starting unit on opening day is 25.8 years old. How the group fares — in a division that boasts Tom Brady and the Patriots, no less — may determine whether the Jets ascend in the standings or remain mired in the ugly throes of an ongoing makeover.
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“It sounds crazy saying it’s my fourth year already,” Williams said. “I feel like time flew by. Without even thinking about it, subconsciously, I’m just already going into the season differently because I’m more comfortable here. I’m more aware of where we’re heading. I’m more aware of my coaches and what they want, my teammates and what they want. I’m a vet on the team now. I’m one of the leaders on the team now, so naturally, I just have a different mindset.”
Prompting this new mindset was a purge of two expensive — and, at times, unproductive — contracts on the defensive line. New York traded Sheldon Richardson to the Seahawks last year and released Muhammad Wilkerson in February — less than two years after he signed a five-year, $86 million deal.
“I respected those guys,” Williams said. “At the end of the day, they were still the leaders of the room. When they said something, I would follow.
“It’s the same way now, how if me and (nose tackle Steve McLendon) say something in the room, the younger guys follow. It’s just a little different vibe.”
Williams, who will turn 24 later this month, has been a productive and effective player, earning a Pro Bowl nod in 2016 even though he hasn’t yet had a statistical breakout. Last year, he collected 47 tackles and two sacks, a total five shy of what he posted the previous year.
Adams, the sixth overall pick of the 2017 draft, comes off a solid rookie season. But the ever-confident LSU product has since vowed to never miss another Pro Bowl after being named a third alternate last December.
He was also hardly satisfied with the team’s performance.
“To me, we failed,” Adams said recently of his debut campaign. “We were 5-11. Not good enough and it’s never going to be good enough for us. That’s not our standard. We’re onto a new year and we just started from day one to get better each and every day.”
But it’s not only Williams and Adams leading the new wave for the Jets. Safety Marcus Maye (second year) and linebackers Jordan Jenkins (third) and Lorenzo Mauldin (third) are also expected to make strides.
Another important component is the assimilation of two free agent acquisitions, cornerback Trumaine Johnson and inside linebacker Avery Williamson.
Johnson, formerly of the Rams, is a tall (6-2), long and rangy player whom the Jets signed to a five-year, $72.5 million contract. However he must fend off occasional inconsistency. Williamson excels in run support but can sometimes be a liability in passing situations.
“It’s a fast-playing defense,” Williamson said. “We’re attacking and not sitting back and waiting.”
Darnold learned that the hard way. In Tuesday’s practice, which was open to the media, he thought he had a window to hit a receiver down the middle of the field, so he fired away. Adams intercepted it.
A good sign — at least for a bunch that’s still trying to jell.
Head coach Todd Bowles is also encouraged by how the new and young parts are meshing — to a point.
“Guys are working hard,” Bowles said after a recent practice. “They’re getting to know their teammates. The chemistry is coming together.
“(But) I would wait until training camp before I see people becoming All-American in shorts and T-shirts.”
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Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes
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