Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said Thursday he had no problem with defensive lineman Quinnen Williams getting after defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotten on the sideline during the loss to the Bengals last Sunday.
Williams was adamant that the Jets not blitz Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, that they should stick with the four-man rush and rely on the defensive line.
“Yeah, two extremely passionate, fiery guys that love this game and love winning and love competing, and when you have guys that are built that way, which I think winning organizations and championship organizations, you need those type of people, coaches and players alike,’’ Ulbrich said. “There’s times where that gets heated, and it comes from a good place, it’s something that we don’t want to happen, obviously, but when it does happen, it’s not rooted in selfishness, it’s not rooted in my way, your way, it’s not rooted in anything from a negative perspective.
“It’s just two guys that love this game and love ball and want the best for this organization, want the best for this team, the best for their teammates and sometimes it boils over a little bit.’’
Quinnen Williams yells at defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton during the Jets’ Week 3 loss to the Bengals. @TWSN___/CBS/NFL Ulbrich said the coaches took heed of what Williams said.
“A player like Quinnen, who’s not only, he’s an incredible player, he’s got a great football IQ, and he’s a very intelligent person, player and he understands this game, so he’s a guy in the trenches, he’s in the fire, he’s in the mix, and we definitely listen,’’ he said. “We definitely took into consideration what he said and we adapted it as we went throughout the game, and partly because of the feedback he gave us,’’ he said.
The Jets’ third-down defense has been a big problem this season, and it cost them Sunday.
“It’s a little bit of everything,’’ Ulbrich said. “It’s been leverage, it’s been a little bit of execution, little bit of communication at times. It’s got to be better, better in every way, and if that means improving our technique, drilling it better absolutely that’s part of it, and the calls are a part of it too, so I have to continue to try to find the best ways to utilize the current guys that we have and play to their strengths because ultimately that’s what it comes down to.’’
“I think you observe and you watch and as we learn our players better, you start to really learn their strengths and you learn their weaknesses, so you learn what to lean on, you learn what to avoid, so it’s a little bit of all that. [Bill] Belichick has said that a lot of times he does not know who his team is until sometimes halfway through the season, and once you find out who they are and learn their strengths, then we’re rolling, and we go in that direction, the direction of the players.’’
Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur insisted receiver Elijah Moore and tight end C.J. Uzomah will be more involved on the passing offense than they have been.
“His time will come,’’ he said of Moore. “I think he had nine targets this last game. His time’s going to come. There’s 14 more of these [games], hopefully more, his time will come. He knows that.’’
Uzomah, the tight end signed from the Bengals, has just one catch this season.
“The first game, I let the game get out of hand in terms of not running the ball in the second half, and the second game he didn’t play [with injury], but I thought he did some really good things last week,’’ LaFleur said. “Just like Elijah, his time is going to come. He works too hard at it, he’s too smart.’’
