The Jets offense has received the brunt of the criticism for
Monday night’s disaster against the Patriots, but cornerback Trumaine Johnson highlighted the issues on the other side of the ball.
After earning his starting job back with strong practice play, Johnson struggled mightily against New England’s wide receivers. Most discouraging was Philip Dorsett smoking Johnson for a 26-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady in the first quarter.
Johnson, who signed a five-year, $72 million deal with the Jets in 2018, was also flagged for a pass interference penalty in the 33-0 loss.
Former Jets linebacker Bart Scott absolutely ripped Johnson on SNY’s postgame show afterward.
“Trumaine Johnson, man, listen, this is like, bro, you stealing,” the SNY and WFAN analyst said. “…You on the field stealing, bro. Half your check should be deducted and given back to a charity, man, because I don’t know what the hell you doing. You’re not competing.
“That’s why I can respect Darryl Roberts on the other side, because if he’s going to get beat, at least he’s trying. The one that went over the top, he didn’t compete at the line of scrimmage. Then, it looked like he was jogging and striding when he got there and caught up. He didn’t because he was on top, if you’re on top, stay on top. That’s simple, that takes no talent. If you’re deep, stay deep.”
Johnson did come away from the loss with his first interception of the season, but it was Leonard Williams who hit Brady as he was throwing the pass that wobbled right into Johnson’s hands. The interception didn’t factor into Scott’s evaluation of the 29-year-old cornerback.
“How can you be 10 yards off the ball, a guy runs past you, you don’t compete at the line of scrimmage, jam him or anything?” Scott said. “Don’t stay on top and he gets behind you, and you get caught behind and he catches the ball to the basket. That’s just a lack of discipline, it’s a lack of competition and it’s a lack of attention to detail.”
