Team MVP Interview: CJ Mosley Thanks His Teammates
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C.J. Mosley's goals for this season with the Jets were simply stated.
"My main expectation was to stay healthy and stay on the field," Mosley said in his end-of-year interview on newyorkjets.com. "Being available, being on the field, taking the guys through situations and being a part of this team, that was my main goal, and after that just let my play take over."
Mosley achieved all that and more as the Jets' defensive leader. And one reward for his impactful return to action after missing virtually all of his first two seasons in green and white due to injuries and then COVID was to be named the '21 Curtis Martin Team MVP.
"Ah, man, it's an honor and a blessing just to be in this situation, still playing for this football team after missing two years, still being able to perform at a high level," he said. "And most importantly, to have my teammates and my brothers think so highly of me to vote me Team MVP. So I'm very honored and very blessed."
Mosley's performance was captured in his team-leading numbers. With one game to go Sunday at Buffalo, he already has 155 tackles, fifth in the NFL, his career season high, and the most by a Jet since Jonathan Vilma's league-leading 173 tackles in 2005. Not surprisingly, Mosley also has 14 tackles in third/fourth down to prevent conversions, most by a Jets front-seven player since LB David Harris had 14 in 2013.
His 12.5 tackles for loss/no gain are second behind Quincy Williams' 16.0. Add in two sacks, one of them a strip of the Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence, and three pass defenses to nicely frame up his on-field showing.
But Mosley also excelled off the field. Head coach Robert Saleh didn't have an MVP vote but he gave an indication of whom he might've cast his ballot for when talking about his defensive captain.
"C.J. is an all-pro player and an all-pro human," Saleh said. "There aren't enough good things anyone can say about him. He just shows up every single day and puts in the work and does the things necessary. He's a team-first guy. He's one of the classiest people I've ever been around, so he deserves all the praise this organization and this media market's willing to give him."
Some of the "voters," a.k.a. his teammates and brothers, had other great things to say about Mosley during the season.
"C.J.'s been phenomenal," Ashtyn Davis said. "He's always the guy you can expect to come out with energy and set the tone for the defense and really the whole team. Every time you hear him speak, you feel him. One hundred percent, I feel that."
And fellow defensive leader Sheldon Rankins calls Mosley "a guy you can't replace. He's like the calm in all the chaos. Definitely having him out there with us does nothing but make you want to raise your level of play, your sense of urgency to be on the same level he is."
Mosley continues the run of defensive players who have been voted winner of the top team award named after one of the franchise's greatest offensive players, Curtis Martin — 11 of the last 13 MVPs have been defenders, with S Marcus Maye accepting the award a year ago. Mosley is also the first Jets LB to win the award since Harris in 2010.
"My main expectation was to stay healthy and stay on the field," Mosley said in his end-of-year interview on newyorkjets.com. "Being available, being on the field, taking the guys through situations and being a part of this team, that was my main goal, and after that just let my play take over."
Mosley achieved all that and more as the Jets' defensive leader. And one reward for his impactful return to action after missing virtually all of his first two seasons in green and white due to injuries and then COVID was to be named the '21 Curtis Martin Team MVP.
"Ah, man, it's an honor and a blessing just to be in this situation, still playing for this football team after missing two years, still being able to perform at a high level," he said. "And most importantly, to have my teammates and my brothers think so highly of me to vote me Team MVP. So I'm very honored and very blessed."
Mosley's performance was captured in his team-leading numbers. With one game to go Sunday at Buffalo, he already has 155 tackles, fifth in the NFL, his career season high, and the most by a Jet since Jonathan Vilma's league-leading 173 tackles in 2005. Not surprisingly, Mosley also has 14 tackles in third/fourth down to prevent conversions, most by a Jets front-seven player since LB David Harris had 14 in 2013.
His 12.5 tackles for loss/no gain are second behind Quincy Williams' 16.0. Add in two sacks, one of them a strip of the Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence, and three pass defenses to nicely frame up his on-field showing.
But Mosley also excelled off the field. Head coach Robert Saleh didn't have an MVP vote but he gave an indication of whom he might've cast his ballot for when talking about his defensive captain.
"C.J. is an all-pro player and an all-pro human," Saleh said. "There aren't enough good things anyone can say about him. He just shows up every single day and puts in the work and does the things necessary. He's a team-first guy. He's one of the classiest people I've ever been around, so he deserves all the praise this organization and this media market's willing to give him."
Some of the "voters," a.k.a. his teammates and brothers, had other great things to say about Mosley during the season.
"C.J.'s been phenomenal," Ashtyn Davis said. "He's always the guy you can expect to come out with energy and set the tone for the defense and really the whole team. Every time you hear him speak, you feel him. One hundred percent, I feel that."
And fellow defensive leader Sheldon Rankins calls Mosley "a guy you can't replace. He's like the calm in all the chaos. Definitely having him out there with us does nothing but make you want to raise your level of play, your sense of urgency to be on the same level he is."
Mosley continues the run of defensive players who have been voted winner of the top team award named after one of the franchise's greatest offensive players, Curtis Martin — 11 of the last 13 MVPs have been defenders, with S Marcus Maye accepting the award a year ago. Mosley is also the first Jets LB to win the award since Harris in 2010.
I hope we draft a starting caliber Linebacker in the 6'3 245 range who can Thump and Cover. 2 would be even better. Throw in a OG and TE with the first 4 picks and I'll be happy.
dicey spot here for JD......he's trying to build a culture that will be attractive to free agents, but if he flushes his Team MVP over money with no reasonable backup on the roster then it's not going to be a good look on the Jets front office. They certainly can't use the excuse of not being a fit. They have the cap room. It would have to be some trade that Mosley is good with and it helps the Jets. Does that trade exist?
Great Insight!
if the move was there, i think it would've been this year before the deadline to sure a D up for a playoff run.
big price tag for next year, but IMO, he keeps him , because (a.) he contributes mightily, and (b.) JD seems to be sickened by bad deals that end up being dead money...hence, all of the MoneyBall Signings that get us out of jail free quickly if things don't go well. (c.) the aforementioned cultural perception.
so who really knows...for all that we know, one of the reason for the Award was to make his curb appeal increase, because the writing is on the wall, and they are trying to help him in negs with other teams?
Trade (post-June 1) If traded new team holds his guaranteed salary which is his base not prorated which would be the Jets
Trade (pre-June 1) The dead loss would be slightly higher next year in one lump sum of the total of the above which is spread over the 3 years remaining
| Year | Age | Base Salary | Prorated Bonus | Roster Bonus | Guaranteed Salary | Cap Number | Cap % | Dead Money | Cap Savings | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019  | 27 | $1,000,000 | $1,500,000 | $10,500,000 | $11,500,000 | $13,000,000 | 6.4% | |||||
| 2020 | 28 | $0 | $0 | $10,000,000 | $10,000,000 | $10,000,000 | 4.8% | |||||
| 2021 | 29 | $6,000,000 | $1,500,000 | $0 | $6,000,000 | $7,500,000 | 3.6% | |||||
| 2022 | 30 | $16,000,000 | $1,500,000 | $0 | $16,000,000 | $17,500,000 | 8.3% | $1,500,000 | $16,000,000 | |||
| 2023 | 31 | $17,000,000 | $1,500,000 | $0 | $0 | $18,500,000 | 8.2% | $1,500,000 | $17,000,000 | |||
| 2024 | 32 | $17,000,000 | $1,500,000 | $0 | $0 | $18,500,000 | 7.2% | $1,500,000 | $17,000,000 | |||
| Total | $57,000,000 | $7,500,000 | $20,500,000 | $43,500,000 | $85,000,000 |
Trade (pre-June 1) The dead loss would be slightly higher next year in one lump sum of the total of the above which is spread over the 3 years remaining
| Year | Age | Base Salary | Prorated Bonus | Roster Bonus | Guaranteed Salary | Cap Number | Cap % | Dead Money | Cap Savings | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 27 | $1,000,000 | $1,500,000 | $10,500,000 | $11,500,000 | $13,000,000 | 6.4% | |||||
| 2020 | 28 | $0 | $0 | $10,000,000 | $10,000,000 | $10,000,000 | 4.8% | |||||
| 2021 | 29 | $6,000,000 | $1,500,000 | $0 | $6,000,000 | $7,500,000 | 3.6% | |||||
| 2022 | 30 | $16,000,000 | $1,500,000 | $0 | $16,000,000 | $17,500,000 | 8.3% | $4,500,000 | $13,000,000 | |||
| 2023 | 31 | $17,000,000 | $1,500,000 | $0 | $0 | $18,500,000 | 8.2% | $3,000,000 | $15,500,000 | |||
| 2024 | 32 | $17,000,000 | $1,500,000 | $0 | $0 | $18,500,000 | 7.2% | $1,500,000 | $17,000,000 |
That sounds like Harris from Alabama, but how about the sparkplug Dean from Georgia? I know he is only 6', but he is really, really good. I also wouldn't be shocked if JD selected the oversized safety from Notre Dame, Hamilton and moved him to LB. he's 6'4" and 220 lbs. Any one of those three paired with CJM and QW would give us much improved athleticism at the position.