NY Jets awkwardly confront lack of accountability

Many position groups on the New York Jets’ roster appear shaky heading into Week 3.

Perhaps none more than the edge rusher unit.

With former first-round pick Jermaine Johnson dealing with an ankle injury, New York has been forced to downgrade him to out for their showdown against the Bucs. In his place is a player that the fanbase has seen enough of.

But the team can’t shake him off at this point.

Edge rusher concerns plague Jets

Micheal Clemons, a former fourth-round pick by the Jets in 2022, has recorded more penalties in his career (nine) than sacks (7.5). His undisciplined play has left Jet fans hoping the team would move on from him.

Some fans pointed to the quick release of returner Xavier Gipson after a mishap in Week 1 as a sign of hope that Clemons would be held accountable for his mistake against the Bills.

That didn’t happen.

Head coach Aaron Glenn instead defended the fourth-year edge defender, insisting he would continue to get chances.

“Sometimes when people, when they don’t see a stat, they feel like a player hasn’t done anything right,” Glenn said of Clemons. “But there’s other things that go on in the game that we ask players to do — that, again, that people really don’t understand.

“Listen, everybody has ups and downs when it comes to playing, and the things that we are asking Mike to do, he’s doing a good job at that. Does he need to improve? Absolutely, like everybody else, alright? But we know exactly what we are doing with Mike.”

It’s not like the Jets have any choice regarding Clemons right now. Without Johnson, Clemons is New York’s best run defender on the edge by default.

Will McDonald struggles in the run game, and with Braiden McGregor and Eric Watts being the only other depth at the position, the unit is thin right now for Gang Green.

The good news for New York is that Johnson’s ankle injury isn’t considered serious at this point, according to Glenn. It isn’t surrounding the same Achilles that Johnson tore last season.

But until Johnson is able to return, the Jets will have to rely on Clemons more and more.

Fans aren’t exactly thrilled to hear that.