The Jets have had a revolving door at cornerback this season, using six different combinations of starters at the position. It might be seven on Monday when they play the Bills.
Despite a fairly good performance from Marcus Williams and Phillip Adams two weeks ago against the Steelers, Jets coach Rex Ryan said the team was holding a competition this week again to determine who would be the starters. Darrin Walls is back from a calf injury that sidelined him for two games, so he will compete for the starting job, too.
“We’re going to let it ride out,” Ryan said. “Let these guys compete for it. We’re going to play them all and that’s why I can’t tell you who’s starting.”
Ryan was asked if managing the cornerback situation is the biggest challenge of his coaching career.
“I coached at New Mexico Highlands before,” Ryan deadpanned. “That was a challenge.
But defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman admitted managing the secondary and having to alter their defense because of it has been tough.
“It’s been crazy enough and unusual enough for me to have, at a weird moment, thought about coming out of retirement,” said Thurman, who played nine years in the NFL. “But I only have maybe one play left in me. Yeah, it’s been different. There are years that you don’t have any injuries and some that you have more than others at certain positions. For us, it happened to be at cornerback this year, and we’ve had to adjust defensively and schematically.’’
Another change in the secondary has been at safety, where Jaiquawn Jarrett has replaced first-round pick Calvin Pryor. Jarrett was limited Thursday with a calf injury, but is expected to start against the Bills for the second straight week.
Thurman was asked if he is curious how Pryor responds to the benching.
“Very [interested],” Thurman said. “We love Calvin. He is a good player, we drafted him where we drafted him for a reason. He is going to be an excellent pro. He is going to get his opportunities to play, [and] he has to go out there and perform. It’s a performance-based business.”