The Bergen Record re Defense

[Kentucky Jet]

Saturday, September 29, 2007

By J.P. PELZMAN

STAFF WRITER

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- When questioned vigorously Friday about what has caused the disappointing performance of the Jets' defense, coach Eric Mangini and defensive coordinator Bob Sutton provided very few concrete answers.

They obviously would prefer that they and their players come up with a few Sunday against Buffalo.

Through three games, the Jets (1-2) are ranked 28th in total defense, 28th in passing defense and 27th in points allowed. So far, it seems like a repeat of last season, when the Jets struggled early after the transition from the 4-3 system of the old regime to the 3-4 schemes of the new one. But the Jets turned it around in the second half of the 2006 season, allowing only 12.8 points over the last eight games.

"We don't want to follow the same path" as last season, strong safety Kerry Rhodes said, when "the first half of the season we struggled and the second half we got better. We don't want to do that. We want to get off to a fast start this year. We can still rectify that right now. It's only the fourth game and we have a chance to get better. That's what we will do."

"It's a collective effort, just like it always is," Mangini said when asked why the defense has struggled against the run. "Everybody needs to continue to improve and that's why we focus on the process and not the results, because if you do the things you're supposed to do better, then the results always come."

"Obviously, it's not where we want to be," Sutton said of the defense.

Although both nose tackle Dewayne Robertson and inside linebacker Jonathan Vilma have played well this season, both still are more suited to the 4-3, and might be even more effective in such a setup.

But Mangini says there are elements of the 4-3 in the Jets' schemes.

"The way this defense is set up and really the way that any 3-4 defense is set up," the coach said, "it has the flexibility to build all the same schemes as a 4-3. You've seen several times where we've been in 4-3 concepts out of the 3-4 personnel. You see that with all of the different 3-4 teams."

"The 3-4 comes in a lot of flavors," Sutton said.

What the Jets' defense wants to do Sunday is get the bad taste out of its mouth.

"We had a good week" of practice, free safety Erik Coleman said. "Hopefully, [that work] shows up on Sunday and we play well."

Improvement on defense, Sutton said, "takes more work, more focus and more concentration from coaches, players, everybody."

The Jets will have an interesting challenge Sunday when they face a rookie quarterback making his first NFL start. Trent Edwards, a 6-foot-4, 231-pounder from Stanford, stepped in against New England after J.P. Losman was injured and went 10-for-20 for 97 yards with one interception in a 38-7 defeat, although he did lead the Bills on an 80-yard touchdown drive on his first NFL possession.

With a quarterback making his first start, "You never know what you're going to see offensively," linebacker David Bowens said. "They can either simplify the game plan for Edwards or they could just go out and do a lot of stuff. They're very capable with the personnel they have."

E-mail: pelzman@northjersey.com