If there was one positive to take away from the Jets’ terrible defensive perdormance on Sunday, Sheldon Rankins was able to find it.
“It can only go up from here,” the defensive tackle said after New York’s 45-17 blowout loss to the Bills. “I think we’ve played overall about as bad as we could possibly play at times. It can only go up from here.”
At least that’s what Rankins and the Jets hope is the case, as New York’s defensive unit has been worse than any team in Jets history over a four-game span, at least in terms of yards surrendered. Sunday didn’t give any sign that better days were ahead, as Josh Allen and company torched the Jets for 489 total yards and averaged over nine yards per play.
“In the simplest of terms, lack of execution,” Rankins said. “Whether it be guys out of their assignments or just not getting to a place they need to, or a second too late. But at the end of the day, lack of execution, it’s showed up over and over.”
The Jets haven’t been executing at all on defense since the bye week, and it has only looked like it’s gotten worse with each passing game. But Rankins insisted that it wasn’t from a lack of preparation or work from the defense, even if the group looks painfully unprepared on Sundays.
“We’re working to fix it,” Rankins said. “This isn’t a lack of effort thing. Guys are studying hard, making sure they’re locked in to their assignments, and to the game plan, but for some reason it’s not coming together when we need it to.”
The Jets need it to come together soon, and offer some kind of hope that things are headed in the right direction during the first year of the Robert Saleh era. Saleh arrived with a defensive pedigree, but that hasn’t translated to New York’s defense, at least not yet. Rankins is confident that it will, but the product on the field suggests that the team is very far off.
“This isn’t what we want to be known for,” Rankins said. “This isn’t our standard. This isn’t what we want to put on tape over and over. Guys will get it fixed, and we’ll get this thing turned around.
“We’ll continue to fix this and continue to fine-tune, get back to the drawing board, and we’ll get this thing rolling. It’s just been rough so far.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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