New York Jets Face Life Without Minkah Fitzpatrick

The New York Jets had a decisive answer for Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward in their opening game of the season. They basically shut down the Titans offense, holding them under 200 combined yards, and kept Ward running for his life at times. 

Now they have to come up with a way to stop Green Bay Packers QB Jordan Love and his dynamic group of wide receivers, including Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, and Matthew Golden.

Unfortunately, they’ll have to do it without veteran safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who was brought in from the Miami Dolphins to stabilize a shaky sector of the Jets defense.

Fitzpatrick suffered a left groin pull just six plays into his season. He went out of the Titans game and likely will miss several weeks. That leaves a hole that will be tough to fill, as Fitzpatrick was the Jets’ main communicator in the secondary alignments. 

In the Titans game, the Jets had Dane Belton take up some of the Fitzpatrick duties, with Andre Cisco coming in off the bench for support. 

 “Once Minkah was down, man, I give a lot of credit to Dane on the way that he came in and he operated because now he’s started picking up those roles that Minkah usually has,” Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said in his Monday news conference. “You guys might have seen him. He’s playing at the nickel position, he’s playing safety, he moved all over the field.”

Belton spent his first four years with the New York Giants after being drafted in the fourth round in the 2022 NFL Draft, He signed a one-year deal for $4 million with the Jets that could escalate to $6 million with incentives. 

“When Jarvis [Brownlee Jr.] went down, he actually went in and started playing nickel for us,” Glenn said, adding, “Cisco did a really good job of actually coming in and playing the safety and that’s one thing that we talk about quite a bit. It’s getting guys to play in different positions and being able to operate. No matter who’s in the game, injuries are going to happen in this league; you can’t get away from it. What overcomes injuries though, and to me it’s a play style. I think our guys understand that and they did a good job of that.”  

The Jets are catching Green Bay at a relatively good time. Star Packers running back Josh Jacobs will not play, having been placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List. He is barred from practicing with the team and participating in games. 

Jacobs was accused of physically attacking his former girlfriend during an altercation in May. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts, receiving a conviction and a $1,000 fine for battery alongside a 12-month deferred judgment agreement for a property damage charge.

Without Jacobs, the Packers will rely on a running back by committee. In Green Bay’s first game, that proved anemic, as the team fell to the Minnesota Vikings and no back had more than MarShawn Lloyd’s 37 yards.