How Much Time Will Lito See on the Field?
Even if Lito Sheppard can play this weekend, will the Jets give the start to Dwight Lowery over him all the same?
Cornerback Lito Sheppard, who has missed five of the last six games with a nagging quadriceps problem, said he will play Sunday.
“I’m not willing to name him [the] starter right now,” Ryan said. “I want to make sure everything is fine, but he was practicing fully.” Dwight Lowery has been starting in his place, and it’s likely he’ll still see plenty of action even if Sheppard plays so the Jets can avoid a potential relapse like the one Sheppard had against Buffalo last month.
Radars should be going off. I get that Lito might re-aggravate the injury and set himself back like Cotchery did in the first Dolphins game, and the Jets want to protect against that, but the team doesn’t seem much worse for wear with or without Lito.
I have to wonder if there’s something deeper at work here. Remember the terms of the trade that the Jets made with the Eagles. So far, it looks like the Jets won’t have to escalate their pick beyond the fifth rounder, but maybe something funny happened on the way to limiting Lito’s time. Lito might very well be getting Wally Pipped out of a job. In the past four games, Lowery has had 8 tackles, 1 INT, and 3 passes defensed. The Jets secondary is currently ranked in the top ten (bottom of the page of link) against all types of receivers.
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As some might know I am a big Lowery fan but the fact is he is not the playmaker that Lito is. Lito is a better CB than Lowery is at this time.
I think if he is healthy he should and will start.
Wow… we are ranked in the top 10 in pass defense and a top 5 overall defense.
You would never know it with all of the Kerry Rhodes haters out there.
Kerry and this defense have given us a chance to win 7 out of 8 games this year guys….. Lets remember that when the Rhodes hate wheel starts rolling again
I’m expecting a big game from the defense this week. I think the bye has given Rex extra time to get his defense ready to dominate.
As far as Sheppard, i’d rather see him start than Lowery. Like Drew said, I think sheppard hasm ore upside and has the ability to make a big play. I like Lowery as a prospect, but right now he is average as a corner.
Rhodes will break out the second half of the season, just watch.
I honestly don’t care which one of them starts because they’ll be rotated quite often. I think the Jets have the draft pick compensation in the back of their minds, but I also think that Rex has gotten very confident in Lowery’s game. He really has come a long way since last year, and don’t forget that one of Lowery’s main attributes going into the draft was his ballhawking skills.
Both guys have a nose for the football, it’s just a matter of matchups and who has the hot hand, at least that’s the way I would expect things to go moving forward.
Either way, we get a huge upgrade having Lito and Strickland come back and now have 4 CB’s who can play serious football.
Sheppard gets beat deep too many times. I would rather see Lowery. Dont want to hear any excuses about him being back and it takes a while to get back into football shape.
Count me in as a Lowery fan. Seems fairly solid in coverage, very good in run support, a sure tackler, always around the ball and also able to make the big play. I haven’t seen any real dropoff as far as the secondary is concerned with him in there as opposed to Sheppard. No one has really thrown all over them yet, and they’ve faced Brady and Brees.
Sheppard got torched in the Bills game, but on the whole I consider him slightly more reliable than Lowery. Lowery has a tendency to give too much of a cushion on 3rd down, although he can really make a play on the ball (and, although he hasn’t done it this year, he showed a knack for forcing fumbles last year, which is valuable).
Since Lowery is 23, I’d give him the edge for “Number 2 CB of the future”, but right now, they both need help. Few teams have two corners that can operate on an island, though.
Best player needs to play right now regardless of the contract situation, but when/if they get the 7th loss then Lito should be glued to the bench, no reason to give up a higher pick.
Lowery seems to ALWAYS be giving up TD’s. He gave up 7 last year (which is A LOT for a cb), I like him for the future, but he needs to stop giving so much of a cushion and tighten up his red zone coverage
I agree with AKA and Brendan — Lito is certainly the better playmaker, but that doesn’t mean it won’t benefit him in his first full game back to not play every down and only come in on passing downs in the first half. The Jags will run often on 1st down and short yardage situations, and the plan is to stuff them and put them in 3rd and longs, where Lito can make that play. get a lead and force them to throw — and then in the second half the plan is to have a nice lead and force them to throw more. That’s when Lito can play more.
Lowery is a better tackler at the line of scrimmage, so I am all for having him start and play half the downs in the first half, until we lead in the game and create more passing downs.
http://twitpic.com/p8j6v
Courtesy of Jay Feely- this is how Clowney and Keller prep for practice haha.
I’d rather have Lowery in there, he’s played better. I specifically recall the Bills game, Lito was in there and giving up plays, Lowery replaced him on one possession and got a pick. Maybe Lito was sucking due to injuries, but Lito sucked in the preseason too, when he suposedly was healthy. He just hasn’t shown much with the Jets, and wasn’t too good last season with the Eagles.
jsa,
I wouldn’t count the preseason as anything against Lito. They weren’t blitzing, and Lito was left to guard on an island much of the time. I would look to the first 1 1/2 games (before he was injured in week 2) as more of a barometer of how he could perform with this defense firing on all cylinders.
The problem is everyone looks like they suck when they play next to Darelle, he is so good that he actually makes the other DB’s look bad.
Lito is a good corner. Like Brendan said, when Rex game-planned and played to teams tendencies, Lito was good. He had a pick in the Hou. game and broke up a TD against the Pats.
The Bills game everyone talks about, he did blow a coverage that led to a TD, but thats what happens when you blitz and you dont get home, you leave your CB’s in bad spots.
I said this yesterday in a post about Lito, we have to EASE him back. He should split time with Lowery, and as the injury gets better or his play warrants more or less playing time, then you make the decision. But sticking him out like Darelle every play wouldnt be smart. You have to access where hes at physically, when he is healthy he is def better than D-Low, but if he still a little nicked up our D is going to suffer
Jets’ draft plans becoming clear
11:28
AM ETNew York Jets Top Email While the reports of New York Jets DT Kris Jenkins’ surgery on Wednesday are positive — he’ll be back in time for off-season conditioning in March, according to what a source told the Newark Star-Ledger — there’s a growing feeling that the nine-year vet, who’ll celebrate his 31st birthday next August, may not play for much longer.
If that’s the case, the Jets need to find a replacement pronto. Unless things get really bad for the rest of the season, they’re unlikely to be in the running for the two studs, Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy, but they might take a long look at Tennessee’s Dan Williams, who made it onto Mel Kiper, Jr.’s Big Board this week. The mountainous Terrence Cody (6-foot-5, 354 pounds) has to be a consideration too, just based on that build.
Mel Kiper, Jr.
Behind the Big Board
“What I love about Williams is his total relentlessness and superior lower-body strength. Here’s a guy who gets great leverage and is disruptive in the backfield, but then you also see him chasing down plays and making tackles 10 and 20 yards downfield.”
Saying “top-ten” doesn’t do this defense justice. As of last night the Jets had the #2 pass defense in the league, based on passing yards per game.
” He had a pick in the Hou. game and broke up a TD against the Pats.”
Sadly, the latter cost him the next five games.
The Lowery of 2009 is better than the Lowery of 2008. I think overall it is a toss-up with Lito as to who should start. Therefore, I’d let the younger guy play so we can see what we have going into next year.
Everone is killing Lito for Buffalo when the Jets pass rush couldn’t beat Buffalo’s porous OL on an all-out blitz. With a better pass rush, Revis and Lito will be like the Maytag repairman.
He really hasn’t panned out. In the name of giving up as little as possible and further developing the younger talents I would let Lito play Dimeback at the most.
I think its funny that everyone points out that Lito gave up a TD in the Bills game. So if a cornerback gives up a TD he is bad? Lito is our 2nd best corner, and he will have a significant role the rest of the season as long as he stays healthy.
jameson, the defensive stats make Jets top Five for sure, but they have been helped immensivly by playing five games vs. teams ranked 28th or worse in passing offense.
They caught Brady and Schaub early before they caught fire, and of course shut Brees down which was mighty impressive.
Jax is ranked 20th in passing offense and then they get the rejuvenated Brady, we will find out soon how much the loss of Mr. Jenkins hurts, or doesnt, hurt.
On that Buffalo play, Lito was so far out of position it was pathetic.
The reason the Lito play sticks in the mind is because it was the only TD of that game. Without it, the Jets probably win in regulation.
It wasn’t a case of the Jets blitz failing to beat the OL. They overloaded one side but the Bills countered with a great play call, also overloading that side and going for a quick drop pass. The Jets usually overload the side away from Revis – to entice a throw his way – but on this occasion, they overloaded to the other side, but the Bills had the perfect counter.
One thing about Lito, with all those penalties early on, it became obvious that the guy depends a lot on cheating and does not have the best footwork. Something I did not know about before the trade. I feel like, in the games where I’ve watched him, he’s been burnt or been called for holding an awful lot relative to the time he’s played. I don’t think he has a future outside of dimebacking. Let the players with upside get some burn.
Guys Lito is a better player if he is healthy. Lowery is a great prospect and but for week 10….Lito is the guy…..if healthy
igs,
Dimebacking? The Buffalo game, where he was clearly not recovered from his quad injury, notwithstanding, he looked good against the Texans & Pats. He basically made a game-saving pass breakup on Moss in the endzone against the Pats (the play he hurt himself on). He clearly has skill and when playing with a real pass rush I am willing to bet he makes some big plays the rest of the way. Of course that is assuming he is healthy.
Didnt Lito have a INT that was called back against the Bills that would have wrapped up the game?
Brendan, I didn’t say the guy can’t play or has never made a play this season. i’m saying that he has bad footwork, can and will get burned for big touchdowns, and is way too slap-happy with hands on receivers. While Lowery and the pick we get by not giving Lito too much playing time have a bright future, i don’t think Lito does.
Also, as I’ve said before, Brady wasn’t stepping nto his throws in that 1st game – partially because o the defense, but also because f rust and jitters. The Texans are the Texans. Revis drew Johnson anyway.
Wise Old Jet Fan,
I disagree with your point. Although the Jets played 4 (not 5) games against teams who are top 5 in worst pass offenses, that is offset by the fact that they shut down 3 top 10 pass offenses in NE, HOU, and NO.
The Jets defense is even better than the numbers show, because as a team they have allowed 6 TD’s off KR, int and fr. Without these TD’s they would have the best scoring defense by far.
Drew (and anyone else): Hope to hear you calling in to Corey’s show this afternoon. It begins at the top of the hour.
I just got back into the office. I totally forgot about the 2:00 show….
Bent,
I watched the play again and the Jets blitz just didn’t get to Fitzpatrick. The Bills had both RBs in and the Jets overloaded the Bills on the left side (and the Bills were strong left). Strickland had coverage to the outside, but Evans went inside and it looked to me that the real culprit was Leeonhard, who fake blitzed but did not get back into position fast enough to check Evans. Did the Bills make a good call…sure, but the point is that the blitz didn’t get to Fitzpatrick at all. And, it was not Lito’s fault, his man ran right where Leonhard should have been.
I’m killing Leonhard, but it could’ve been Smith….I can’t see the number well enough on the replay.
IGS that was my point his play is pretty good IMO but the peneltys are really killing him .
That pass to evens at the bills game really hurt ,but it happens .
Tos
True, it happens here and there, but having a lot of penalties as a DB is def. a sign of bad footwork. He’s keeping his hands on the recievers and and grabbing because he can’t keep up with the routes. Revis has so few penalties as a shut down corner because he has superb technique.