Are Jets up to challenge against Dolphins' 'mini-track team' in Miami?

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. – The Jets’ defense is preparing for a track meet within a football game.

The Dolphins have speed everywhere on offense. Combine that with all the pre-snap motion and different formations they use, and the play-calling of coach Mike McDaniel and the Jets know they have to be fast and sharp on Sunday to slow down Miami.

“It’s like a mini-track team out there,” linebacker C.J. Mosley said. “You see it on film, you watch it on TV, but until you’re out there running around with them you really don’t know how fast those guys are. It’s something that tests our rules, it tests our strain.”

It did on Black Friday when the Dolphins beat the Jets, 34-13. The game will be remembered for the Hail Mary the Jets attempted just before the half that Miami returned for a 99-yard touchdown. But the Jets’ defense sprung some leaks, too.

They gave up 167 yards rushing, the third most they’ve allowed all season. Raheem Mostert ran for two touchdowns, including a 34-yard score in the fourth quarter with the Jets showing little resistance.

“The run game was the stuff that really got under me,” defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. “I didn’t coach it well enough. I didn’t create a plan that was good enough to stop their run game. We’re excited about this opportunity to show what we can do.”

The Jets (5-8) are one of the NFL’s top defenses, including No. 2 against the pass. But they will have their hands full trying to contain Miami’s speedy receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

Hill hasn’t practiced yet this week after injuring his ankle on Monday night. It’s possible he could be limited or used as a decoy, if he plays.

No matter, the Jets know McDaniel, the mastermind of the NFL’s No. 1 offense, will scheme up something.

Robert Saleh and Ulbrich coached with McDaniel previously. He and Saleh were in San Francisco together, so McDaniel knows this defense well. Ulbrich and McDaniel were on the same staff in Atlanta for two years.

“There’s a lot of coaches out there that do a great job playing their system whereas he goes to another place,” Ulbrich said. “He really does an excellent job of figuring out your rules and then how can I attack those rules, how can I compromise your rules, how can I put your guys in conflict the entire game.

“It’s my job to try and eliminate those conflicts, my job to try and figure out ways to alleviate some of that stress that he’s putting on players.”

Ulbrich laughed when he was asked if it’s fun to go against a creative play-caller and said that fun isn’t the right word. Ulbrich is not surprised that McDaniel, who attended Yale, has the Dolphins at or near the top of most offensive categories.

“He was just one of the most insanely intelligent human beings that I’ve ever been around in my life,” Ulbrich said. “He’s got a quirkiness to him for sure and he’s very unique in that way from a personality standpoint. The whole traditional NFL might have questioned if he could be that guy.”

Ulbrich remembers sitting in a receivers meeting that McDaniel was running and his quirky personality was on full display. Ulbrich said the players gravitated towards McDaniel.

“Players want information, they want to get better, they want to play well, they want to win because all those things lead to contracts and money and all the things they’re trying to attain,” Ulbrich said. “He’s that guy that he provides all that for a player. It’s no surprise in my mind that he’s having such success.”

This is an important game for the Jets to keep their dim playoff hopes alive. Their offense found their way last week against Houston. They will have to put up points again this week, but the Jets will really be tested.

“It’s a tremendous challenge,” Ulbrich said. “You got this insanely smart offensive mind that’s putting these guys in great positions to be successful. At the same time he’s got these guys that are an Olympic track team. So it’s a combination of all of it, that makes it very difficult.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.