Quincy Williams and Marcelino McCrary-Ball may be "out for a while" due to injuries, according to Jets head coach Aaron Glenn. But cue Tom Petty's "Full Moon Fever" because the Green & White 'backers "won't back down" on Monday night when they take on the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium.
"There's a standard to be upheld, whoever's the next man up," fifth-round rookie Kiko Mauigoa said following Thursday's return to practice for the Jets' only MNF game on the schedule. "I'm going to do everything I can to uphold that standard. Quincy's a hell of a linebacker. I want to make sure I put myself in the best position to play the best football that I can."
Cam Jones jetted in even more recently than Mauigoa, from the Chiefs via waivers in late August. And he sees only good things for himself and for his locker mate, in part because Kiko is returning to the University of Miami's home stadium to play this game.
"Kiko's a dog, man," Jones said. "Coming in, I didn't even know he was a rookie at the time, just by the way he carries himself, You don't see a lot of rookies that go about their business like Kiko does. I asked him, Is your family coming to the game? Just go out and have a day. This is your game and you're a beast. Just believe it, man."
Glenn is equally upbeat about the prospects of replacing Williams, who has started 64 games since coming to the Jets in 2021, earning All-Pro first-team honors and the Curtis Martin Team MVP Award at the end of 2023, and McCrary-Ball, named special teams captain before the season, then increasing his defensive reps in each of the first three games.
"Kiko's been doing a really good job for us, especially on the special teams side," Glenn said. "He has to grow up quick, and he's been growing up quick for us, and he's been playing a good amount of ball for us on the defensive side as our Sam 'backer. So he's going to get a chance to play.
"And I've talked before about Cam, that he was going to help us at some point, and it just so happened with these two injuries he's going to be able to help us. Listen, we're not going to lose those guys when it comes to special teams, but their role is going to actually expand when it comes to playing on defense."
And the plan is for those two young 'backers, plus perhaps Mark Robinson, signed off the Patriots' practice squad this week, to help bring the "Wood" against the Dolphins. That's Wood as in Jamien Sherwood, who has been petrified-forest-steady in the middle of the LB corps, seamlessly assuming the leadership/availability/impact role from C.J. Mosley during last season.
Sherwood leads all Jets in total snaps (223, including 20 snaps on special teams) and continues to rise in the NFL tackle rankings — his team-leading 30 total tackles are tied for 7th-most in the league through three weeks.
"Wood is a great leader," Mauigoa said. "He gathers around the guys and makes sure that everybody's on the same page. Getting to talk to him, his knowledge about the game of football just changes your perspective."
"We're able to chop it up outside this building," said Jones of Sherwood, who wears the same uniform number 44 that Jones wore in his two seasons with the Chiefs. "Him being able to teach me little things I can work on as far as my stance, my eyes, my steps, he's been an amazing leader."
Such is the eternal nature of the NFL. A star player like Williams, an up-and-coming contributor like McCrary-Ball get hurt, young players such as Mauigoa and Jones get to leap into the fray. There is no time to contemplate the situation or suffer performance anxiety. There is only time, in Jones' words, to "go out there and be a beast."
"It's an exciting opportunity, for sure," Mauigoa said. "It's another opportunity for me so I'm going to make sure I'm ready. And I will be ready. The coaches have done a great job of putting the game plan together. So everybody's going to be ready to play their best football Monday night."
