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LONDON, UK – After a frustrating loss at home to the Denver Broncos, the Jets could really use a bounce-back game on Sunday. Unfortunately, that won’t be easy against an unbeaten Minnesota Vikings team that head coach Robert Saleh admitted is playing at a high level.
Listening to Saleh and the Jets players during Friday’s post-practice news conference, it’s apparent that they view the 4-0 Vikings as a team with a lot of strengths and not many weaknesses.
Much of their success so far can be attributed to Sam Darnold, who defensive tackle Quinnen Williams concedes “is playing at an MVP level.” Darnold leads the NFL in touchdown passes and quarterback rating through four games.
Cornerback Sauce Gardner was also impressed with Darnold, whom he watched extra film on so he could get more familiar with him, but he’ll be mostly focused on a player he’s very familiar with; all-pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
Gardner considers Jefferson to be “rightfully” viewed widely as the NFL’s best receiver, but hasn’t faced him since his rookie season when, by his own admission, he was still learning the ropes at that time.
“The game was just so fast for me in general,” he said, but feels confident heading into this matchup because he loves to compete.
However, Saleh essentially admitted that sometimes you have to accept that Jefferson is going to make some plays.
“I’d love to sit here and say we’re going to pitch a shutout, but you know he’s going to get his.” Saleh said. “You’ve just got to make sure you keep it to a minimum.”
On the other side of the ball, the Jets have to cope with defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ blitz-happy defense, which is a daunting task with the offensive line coming off a game where they struggled. Saleh and quarterback Aaron Rodgers both said they expect the Vikings to blitz a lot with Rodgers saying that “we didn’t handle it well” against Denver.
Running back Breece Hall acknowledged that he has a role to…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/jets-expect-challenging-matchup-preparation-143007691.html
Author : SNY
Publish date : 2024-10-05 14:30:07
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