JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The New York Jets have reached the point of the season when it’s time to celebrate a quarterback not looking terrible, even during an otherwise embarrassing loss.
This isn’t so much misery as it is an acceptance that the disaster — this season as a whole — is essentially over, and at this point the Jets look like a team that just wants to fast-forward its way to vacation. On a day when the defense was epically terrible, two of the few remaining holdovers (from what was once a good defense) declined postgame interview requests.
Jermaine Johnson: “Nah.”
Quincy Williams: “I have nothing positive to say so I’m not doing media.”
The centerpiece on Sunday was undrafted rookie quarterback Brady Cook. He did just enough against the Jaguars to inspire optimism that the Jets could have a quarterback worth developing, even if his ceiling is backup long term.
No defensive player or coach who stepped on the field on Sunday should feel comfortable in their role in this organization, or their future in it. That includes Johnson, who finished the day with two tackles, zero pressures, zero QB hits and zero sacks — he hasn’t had a sack or a QB hit since Nov. 13. That includes Williams, who allowed three touchdowns in coverage on Sunday. That especially includes defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, who has overseen the defense’s transition from top unit to one that doesn’t appear to be particularly good at anything. The Jets allowed the Jaguars to score on eight of their first nine possessions.
Trevor Lawrence threw for 330 yards, ran for 51 and accounted for six touchdowns, five of them passing. He became the first player in NFL history to record five passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown and 50 rushing yards in a game. The Jets went another week without intercepting a pass — they haven’t gotten one all season. They finished with two QB hits and zero sacks, something that Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said, “is hard to explain … I’m pissed at that.”
Oh, by the way, the Jets lost 48-20, the first time they’ve allowed more than 40 points since Week 10 of the 2021 season. And yet Glenn, it seems, has no intention of firing or demoting Wilks — at least not until after the season.
“I brought Wilks in for a reason,” Glenn said. “I want him to run his system … right now it’s not about the X’s and O’s. It’s about the character on this team. That’s what I’m evaluating.”
He added later: “I’ll evaluate the coaches like I always do, starting with myself.”
Glenn has problems beyond Wilks at the moment. The roster (at least on defense) appears to have waved the white flag, leaving him to wonder who has the pride to try to stop the season from spiraling in such inadequate fashion. Since Week 8, the Jets have allowed 30.5 points per game. They’ve allowed 82 points in the last two weeks alone.
“We come out every week prepared,” linebacker Jamien Sherwood said. “The men who step out on that field have to be willing to play, they have to be willing to fight, no matter what the score looks like. You have to finish. You have to have pride about the name on the front of your jersey. We have to do a better job.”
And, as Glenn said after the game: They made things difficult for their rookie quarterback too.
“Brady did some good things,” Glenn said. “But he was in a bad situation.”
At least Cook showed something. Really, he did, even if the box score doesn’t suggest it.
The stats will say he completed 22 of 33 passes for 176 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. He also ran for 39 yards on six carries. But that discounts the scoring drive Cook authored in the first quarter, when he completed four straight passes, including a crucial 25-yard completion to wide receiver Isaiah Williams on third down. He capped it off by hitting wide receiver Adonai Mitchell for a 9-yard touchdown.
Cook’s parents celebrated in the stands. Cook himself was too caught up in that moment to grab the ball, but Mitchell retrieved it and delivered his quarterback’s keepsake to the Jets sideline.
“Incredible moment,” Cook said. “It’s a play we ran all week. We got the look we wanted. (Mitchell) ran a great route. That’s a moment I won’t forget.”
At that point, the score was 14-7. It was a special moment for someone who went undrafted earlier this year, who had no reason to believe he’d be playing in a game this season, and who has done enough in a short time to have his teammates starting to believe in his ability to lead them.
When it was 21-7, Williams returned a punt 49 yards for a touchdown, only for it to get called back on a questionable penalty, an illegal block out of bounds by cornerback Tre Brown. Still, Cook led the offense up the field on another scoring drive, which ended with a 41-yard field goal.
Each time Cook left the field, the Jaguars, led by Lawrence, went the other way and scored. It put the rookie in a difficult position; there was never much of a threat of the Jets running the ball as the score got out of hand. And then Cook ran into some bad luck, some bad decisions — and some bad effort.
On the first interception by Cook, in the second quarter, Jaguars cornerback Montaric Brown made an incredible play on the ball. The second interception came a few plays after the Jets’ defense got a takeaway — their third of the season, the fewest in the NFL. After a couple of completions, a miscommunication with wide receiver Allen Lazard found the receiver cutting the wrong way in the end zone, so Cook floated it directly to Jaguars linebacker Ventrell Miller.
“Miscommunication,” Cook said. “But I need to put the ball out of the end zone, throw it out of the end zone and play for the next down.”
It was his third end-zone interception in two weeks.
The last interception came late in the game on a pass he threw up for rookie receiver Arian Smith, who just stood there as Antonio Johnson intercepted it, rather than fight for the ball.
The Jets, ultimately, failed Cook more than he failed them on Sunday. He showed enough to wonder what the future might hold if he can put together a few more performances like that over the final three games — and the Jets have no reason to play any quarterback other than Cook at this point. Tyrod Taylor will be a free agent this offseason, and Justin Fields likely won’t be returning.
The Jets still need a starting quarterback, and that won’t be Cook. But maybe he can develop into a quality backup down the line. Cook, at the very least, has the confidence required to lead an offense — and to make his teammates believe they are in good hands.
“Regardless of what the score was,” Sherwood said, “I’m proud of Brady. He went out there and played as hard as he could.”
Williams said he sought out Cook in the locker room after the game to let him know to “keep going.”
“I just told him: I love you, bro,” Williams said. “Keep growing from this because, bro, you got it. One thing I love about him: There ain’t no quit in that dude. He’s got that fire. Every time he gets in that huddle, everyone in that huddle believes in him.”
That started in practice. In the week leading up to the game, Cook received first-team reps, much-needed after he was thrown into the fire mid-game last week. During a competitive 11-on-11 period in practice — starters against starters — Williams said at one point Cook came into the huddle and drew up a play that’s not in the Jets’ playbook. It led to a first down for the offense.
“That’s why I tell him: Keep going,” Williams said. “He’s a dog, and that’s what I adore about him.”
