The status of the heart of the Jets’ defense is up in the air for Sunday’s rematch against the Patriots.
Linebacker C.J. Mosley is “day-to-day” with a hamstring injury that he suffered late in the Jets’ loss to the Falcons last week in London, coach Robert Saleh said Wednesday. Mosley did not practice Wednesday, though he was still “optimistic” about his chances of playing in Foxborough.
“It’s something that if you get back too early or you try to push too fast, it can make things worse,” Mosley said. “Honestly, it’s just a day-to-day thing.”
After opting out of the season last year for COVID-19 reasons — and only playing two games in 2019 due to a groin injury — Mosley has played the most snaps (364, 98.9 percent) of any player on the Jets’ defense through five games. Not having him available Sunday would leave a big hole in the middle of defense that has been mostly solid despite a 1-4 start.
The veteran Mosley, who leads the team with 45 tackles to go with a forced fumble and a sack, also wears the green dot on his helmet to get the play call from the sideline and relay it to the defense. If he is unable to go on Sunday, Saleh said rookie Jamien Sherwood would likely handle those duties while sliding into the Mike linebacker spot.
“Obviously when it comes to those lower-extremity injuries, you just kind of feel the player out. Each one is different,” Saleh said. “We’re 10 days out now, so we’ll see how the week goes.”
Mosley said he would keep in mind how he came back from the groin strain too soon in 2019 and played in only one game before being lost for the rest of the season — though the grade of the strain for the groin injury was more severe than his current hamstring issue, he said. He does not believe he needs to practice this week in order to play against the Patriots.
But if Mosley is forced to miss Sunday’s game, it would test the Jets’ depth at a linebacker position where they were already thin behind the starting trio of Mosley, Quincy Williams and Sherwood. They are still without Jarrad Davis, who remains on injured reserve after suffering an ankle injury in the preseason and is not expected to return this week. Another rookie, Hamsah Nasirildeen, is also on the IR.
Saleh mentioned Noah Dawkins as a possible call-up from the practice squad — the Jets protected him this week to make sure they didn’t lose him to another team. Blake Cashman also recently returned from his own hamstring injury that he suffered in Week 1, but has yet to play a defensive snap this season.
“I feel like we’ve been doing pretty well,” Mosley said of the linebacker corps. “Last game we definitely had some communication errors in the linebacker room, some mistakes we usually don’t make. But for the most part, collectively, the linebacker group has been playing well, especially with the injuries we had earlier. A lot of moving parts at all positions. I feel like we are very close. A lot of communication, really understanding each other’s playing style.”
The Jets held the Patriots to 260 total yards in their Week 2 matchup — the fewest yards they have allowed this season — while taking a 25-6 loss. The points given up, though, are a bit deceptive, as Zach Wilson threw four interceptions — three of which resulted in a combined 16 points for the Patriots.
Whether or not Mosley is ultimately able to play, he knows the key to putting together another strong performance.
“For us, stop the run, get them off the field on third down,” he said. “And when we do get to third down, stop the screens, because that’s definitely what’s been hurting us a lot the past few games.”