FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Jets officially have a kicking crisis.
Greg Zuerlein missed an extra point and a field goal attempt in Sunday’s 25-22 loss to the Patriots.
Zuerlein has now missed six field goals this season. In this one, he missed a 44-yard attempt in the fourth quarter that would have extended a 16-14 Jets lead.
“We’ve got to take a hard look at everything that we do; everything,” interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said when asked if the team is committed to Zuerlein. “It’s not just on Greg; it’s on all of us. We’ll do that this week.”
Zuerlein was not in the locker room when the media was allowed in.
The veteran kicker had been reliable for the Jets over the past two seasons.
He only missed three field goals all of last season.
The Jets rewarded him with a two-year, $8.4 million contract in March.
Zuerlein may not make it through Year 1 of that deal.
Patriots DT Davon Godchaux had an interesting quote about Jets QB Aaron Rodgers after the game.
“Hall of Fame quarterback. Hate to see him go out that way,” Godchaux said. “He definitely don’t look the same. He kept moving back there — [shoot] I could run him down and catch him. He don’t look mobile at all. That’s good for us.”
The critical play of the final drive for the Patriots was a 34-yard completion from QB Jacoby Brissett to WR Kayshon Boutte.
Jets CB Sauce Gardner was in coverage on the play.
The Jets blitzed safety Jarius Monroe and he almost got Brissett, but the veteran quarterback let the ball go and Boutte caught the underthrown ball.
Gardner said he expected help inside from safety Jalen Mills.
“I knew they were in a score situation, so I play upfield shoulder,” Gardner said. “It was a pressure, and J. Mills said he had an issue on that play. We call it an issue play, so he had to vacate the post to help on like a race route. First of all, I didn’t even know that the post was going to get vacated. But he vacated the post, and I was on the upfield shoulder. The quarterback underthrew it, and he caught the ball. It’s simple.”
The Jets used three timeouts in the first quarter and looked like they had issues with getting plays off all game.
“I’m not exactly sure,” Rodgers said of the timeouts. “On one of them, we were lagging out of the huddle, one I was trying to get the protection right. One I felt like we could have gotten off, but it was fine to take it there. Yeah, our operation was a little slow at times.”
LB C.J. Mosley said his neck “locked up” during pregame warm-ups. He did not play at all in the game. … WR Allen Lazard was inactive with a chest injury.