No one needs to tell Sauce Gardner that Desmond Ridder deserves respect.
Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, who was part of the staff that coached Ridder at the 2022 Senior Bowl, has been delivering a message not to sleep on the benched-and-returned Falcons starting quarterback.
“Just really letting the guys know that this guy is a real guy,” Ulbrich said. “I know he hasn’t played a ton of ball yet, and he’s not one of the more established quarterbacks in this league, but I was so impressed with him at the Senior Bowl. His command, his leadership, his intelligence. I think that he’s a winner, and he’s proven that.”
Gardner witnessed the proof.
Before he was the 2022 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, Gardner was a three-year college teammate of Ridder at Cincinnati, where Ridder went 44-6 as a four-year starter.
“We are texting here and there, for sure,” Gardner said. “That was my guy in college, so that’s a bond that’s going to last forever.”
Ridder is completing 65.2 percent of his passes and averaging 190.8 passing yards per game for the run-first Falcons.
He was benched for two games in favor of Taylor Heinicke but reclaimed the starting job last week, when he increased his season totals to seven touchdown passes and eight interceptions.
Gardner is still searching for his first interception of the season, so in the cat-and-mouse game between two former practice rivals — will Gardner jump a route, or will Ridder get Gardner to bite on a pump fake? — should be interesting.
“He’s just got that bravado to him,” head coach Robert Saleh said of Ridder. “I remember it from the Senior Bowl. It’s contagious.”
The Jets listed their top three RBs — Breece Hall (hamstring), Dalvin Cook (shoulder) and Israel Abanikanda (illness) — as questionable on the final injury report.
Cook was a new addition to the report, while Hall was upgraded to a full participant in Friday’s practice and Abanikanda practiced for the first time this week.
OL Wes Schweitzer (calf) and TE Kenny Yeboah (hamstring) are also listed as questionable after full practice participation.
Duane Brown, who opened the season at left tackle but spent nine weeks on injured reserve, played only on special teams (two snaps) last week.
Could he return to the offensive line — at the expense of rookie RT Carter Warren — against the Falcons?
“He’s a possibility,” Saleh said.
When Brown plays, he strictly plays left tackle, which means Mekhi Becton would have to switch sides of the line.
With the NFL recognizing players supporting charities this week with the “My Cause My Cleats” campaign, Jets and Falcons coaches will run the MetLife Stadium steps to bring attention to the Coach Knapp Memorial Fund.
Eight other NFL teams will follow suit with the goal of raising $100,000.
Former Jets assistant coach Greg Knapp was killed in 2021 when his bicycle was struck by a distracted driver.
“Put your phones down and try to do your best to save a life,” Saleh said.
WR Garrett Wilson, an Ohio State product, wore a Michigan sweatshirt during his media availability after losing a bet on last week’s Ohio State-Michigan game to a Jets employee.
“Next year it isn’t going to be this way,” Wilson said. “The ‘M,’ I’m trying to cover it up. It hurts. I’ve never had these [maize and blue] colors on before. They don’t feel good. They probably don’t look good, but I lost a bet and I’m a man of my word.”
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