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Before Sunday's Jets game against the Broncos, safety Jamal Adams delivered an impassioned speech to his teammates, with defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers absent because of a serious, non-specified illness.
Adams reminded the Jets how to be healthy enough to play, and urged them to play for Rodgers. Jets coach Todd Bowles, who is longtime friends with Rodgers, revealed Friday that Rodgers is dealing with a serious medical issue.
As Bowles called the Defensive plays in Rodgers' absence Sunday, the Jets pounded the Broncos 34-16 and played much better on defense than they did last week at the Jaguars. After the game, in the locker room, the team honored Rodgers with a moment of silence.
"I think it was a lot of people's minds," said Jordan Jenkins. "We were very excited about Kacy, because we got high out there. now, and he's fighting for his life. "
A week after the Jets allowed 503 yards (their most since 2008) in a 31-12 loss at the Jaguars, the defense more effectively and played unified against the Broncos.
"We did not need point fingers, like, 'Hey, you [expletive] up. You've gotten to be better than that, '"Jenkins said." We just came together and stayed together as a defense. "
The Jets do not award their game balls until a couple of days after games, but Jenkins knows how to win.
"It's definitely going to go to him," Jenkins said. "After what happened last week, we definitely need to respond this week." "That's a thing any defense wants to be associated with, this was a start."
Cornerback Morris Claiborne said all of the Jets 'defensive players' took this game just a little bit over, just because of the situation that's going on with coach Kacy's I do not really understand, still, what's going on, but I know it can not be good. "
Claiborne feels Rodgers text messages on Saturday night, and Sunday morning, "just to let him know"
Major progress from Sam Darnold
Rodgers' absence during Sunday's game "was in everybody's heads," Jenkins said. "We thought about him [Saturday] night and this morning. We really wanted to play hard for Kacy. We got him the victory. "
The Jets' defense on the Sunday delivered Rodgers a performance that included four sacks, seven tackles for loss, seven quarterback hits, one interception, six pass breakups, and two forced fumbles, though the Jets did not recover either.
"I know he's smiling right now," said Adams of Rodgers.
But Jenkins knows Rogers would not be happy with a game in which the Jets allowed 436 yards.
"We can not have these kemosabes out of position," Jenkins said, borrowing one of Rodgers' go-to phrases.
Darryl Slater can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @DarrylSlater. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.
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