10 Players to Watch: Jets vs. Titans
Jets Who Could Have an Impact in Nashville
Head coach Rex Ryan said Johnson will have "special motivation" when taking the field Sunday against the Titans. Tennessee drafted Johnson in the first round of the 2008 draft and Johnson spent the first six years of his career there. Johnson had a spectacular run with the Titans, including rushing for more than 2,000 yards in 2009. Johnson is trying to approach the reunion as a normal game, but he's looking forward to getting a chance to play against his old team: "Of course I want to go in there and tear it up and show them what they missed out on and make them regret that, but I'm not going to come into the game and make it me vs. them."
Coming off a performance in which he had three sacks, one of which came in the end zone for a safety, look for Richardson to continue his hot streak. DE Muhammad Wilkerson is listed as doubtful, so last season's Defensive Rookie of the Year will need to keep up his high level of play in this game.
Decker is coming off one of his best performances as a Jet against the Vikings. Decker caught six passes for a season-high 89 yards. With Harvin possibly out of the lineup, he could see an increase in targets. In three games against the Titans, Decker has caught 15 passes for 165 yards and one touchdown.
If Percy Harvin is held out of the game against the Titans with an ankle injury, the Jets will need to look elsewhere at kick returner. Both head coach Rex Ryan and special team coordinator Thomas McGaughey mentioned WR T.J. Graham, who knelt in the end zone for a touchback on the opening kickoff of OT against the Vikings, as a possibility. There are others on the roster as well, including WRs Saalim Hakim and Chris Owusu.
After nearly three full seasons without an interception, Walls has two in the last six quarters of football. Walls is currently first on the team with 11 pass defenses. The next closest defender is Antonio Allen with six.
Smith had a nightmarish game last year against the Titans. He turned the ball over 4 times, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Last week against the Vikings, Smith was able to rebound after throwing a pick-6 on the first play from scrimmage. After that interception, Geno completed 64% of his passes and threw for 254 yards and one TD for a passer rating of 105.4.
"The Hitman" is 14 tackles shy of hitting 1,000 for his career, head coach Rex Ryan said in his Friday news conference. With a spectacular game, there's a chance Harris could reach the milestone against Tennessee. Either way, Ryan said what Harris is about to accomplish is special: "I don't know how many people have done that in their career, but when they said that number it is almost staggering. To think that usually that is from guys that are at the tail end of a career, but I don't see that from Dave. Dave still has a ton of football left."
The rookie has missed two weeks of action while progressing through the NFL's concussion protocol. He is listed as probable against the Titans. He spent Wednesday in a red no-contact jersey, but was able to participate Thursday and Friday.
While Chris Johnson has been the running back who's gotten the most attention this week, Chris Ivory should be excited when looking at the Titans 32nd-ranked run defense. The Titans allow 141.5 yards/game on the ground, nearly five yards more than the next team.
The rookie saw an increase in playing time last week, being on the field for 61 total plays. He was in on 37 snaps in the defensive backfield and 24 plays on specials. Against the Titans, we'll most likely see plenty of No. 25 as Coach Ryan wants to get younger players more playing time.
