Sauce Gardner delivered an apology on Wednesday for responding to people on social media earlier this week.
Gardner fired back at a reporter and a fan after Sunday’s 31-6 loss to the Cardinals and had a direct message he sent someone circulated.
None of it reflected well on the 24-year-old Jets cornerback.
“That’s on me. Me being a leader of the team, of the defense, I can’t be on social media with my emotions, saying certain stuff,” Gardner said. “I know better. My coaches know that I know better. My teammates know that I know better. I’ve just got to be better. Obviously things are not going the way we expected them to go. But what I can say is I’m going to do everything in my power to change that.”
Gardner, who has been All-Pro in his first two seasons, is having a down year for himself.
The frustration seemed to spill out on social media following the Cardinals game.
Gardner said he deleted X from his phone earlier this season but he said he went back on it to find a DM and ended up going down a “rabbit hole.”
“Where I come from, I’m just so like down to Earth,” Gardner said. “So, sometimes I just do certain things or say certain things to certain people not really understanding who I really am, not really understanding that I’m Sauce Gardner for the New York Jets, just me being me, a cool person. That’s why I regret sending that DM. That don’t directly reflect the type of person I am. I know I’m a humble person. I know I mean well. I know I’m a leader. I know I want what’s best for me and my team. That didn’t correlate with that.”
Gardner also apologized to an ESPN reporter who pointed out he missed a crucial tackle on Sunday. Gardner quoted the post and took offense to it.
Gardner said he knows he needs to play better, and tackle better in particular.
Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said he expects Gardner to play better.
“Sauce recognizes the fact that he has a very high standard for himself as we have a very high standard for him and he knows that and he needs to and he wants to play better and he’s working his butt off to get that accomplished,” Ulbrich said. “Some of the lack of interceptions are lack of [opportunities] from the standpoint he’s just not targeted a ton, but he is part of all of us in the building that need to do a better job.”