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Rich Cimini
The New York Jets have “probably the worst defense in the league,” according to star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. Maybe the return of edge rusher Jermaine Johnson will help.
Johnson, who missed three games with an ankle injury, will play Sunday against the Denver Broncos at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Jets (0-5), the NFL’s only winless team, are looking for something — anything — to spark them.
“He does bring an edge to him and he’s another guy that can get after the quarterback,” Glenn said of Johnson. “Any time we can bring that type of attitude, any time we can bring that level of player on our team back from injury, it’s always good.”
The Jets’ pass rush has disappeared in recent weeks. After a four-sack performance in Week 1, it has recorded only three sacks in the last four games, including only one last week against a depleted Dallas Cowboys offensive line. And that one sack was a give-up play by Dak Prescott.
The poor play by the defense prompted Williams’ unusually critical comments on Thursday in London, where he blamed the defense for the 0-5 start. He’s not wrong. The Jets have no takeaways — the first team in NFL history to take an oh-fer in its first five games — and they’re allowing 31.4 points per game. Only the Baltimore Ravens are giving up more (35.4).
“We have to find a way to get to the quarterback and affect the quarterback because I think that’s the No. 1 thing that’s going to help this defense ascend and go to the next direction,” Williams said. “We haven’t been doing that. We need to turn that around.”
Johnson probably will be rusty because he hasn’t played a lot of football. After a career-high 7.5 sacks in 2023, which earned him a Pro Bowl spot as an injury replacement, he missed the final 15 games last season with a torn Achilles. He made it back for this season, but injured an ankle in Week 2.
“No disrespect to any guys out that are out there now, but I just know what I can do, kind of the difference I can make on defense,” Johnson said recently.
The Broncos (3-2) will be a big challenge for the Jets’ pass rush, as Bo Nix has been sacked only five times.
In other injury news, kickoff returner Kene Nwangwu (hamstring) was cleared to return after missing four games. Since his injury, the Jets have used four different returners, two of whom were released (Xavier Gipson and Isaiah Williams) and one of whom was injured (Braelon Allen). Williams is back on the practice squad.
