Jamien Sherwood adjusting to being vocal leader of Jets' defense

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Jamien Sherwood has done a solid job stepping in to replace the injured C.J. Mosley as the defensive signal-caller for the Jets since Week 2, earning raves from his teammates and coaches. But when plays do go wrong on the field, even when it’s not necessarily his fault, Sherwood is quickly learning that he’s the guy to whom everyone looks for answers.

That green dot on the helmet might as well be a bull's-eye when things go awry.

“I joked with him after the [Broncos loss] if this game felt any different as far as the previous games he played in because there was a little anxiety coming off to the sideline on a couple of plays we had where we didn’t get the communication right,” Mosley said on Thursday. “He was really feeling that mike linebacker mindset. If something goes wrong, they come to the mike first about the communication.”

Call it some inside (‘backer) humor . . . even if the plays themselves were painful to the Jets.

In this case it was a pair of mixups in the secondary that allowed the Broncos to complete two key passes, a third-down conversion where defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said the players were “a little bit out of whack” and a touchdown pass that he called a “red-zone bust.”

“It was a communication thing that can’t happen,” Ulbrich said. “It’s three guys trying to get the perfect call and sometimes — not making excuses at all — in an effort to try to get the perfect man tool in that situation we just got out of whack. It can’t happen and our guys know that.”

Sherwood, a converted safety, wasn’t involved in those decisions directly, but he was still grilled on them. He said Thursday he thought he could have helped prevent the chaos and said communication is something he is continuing to work on. He said he stopped by several different position meeting rooms this week to ask what he can do to improve.

“If the communication isn’t loud enough, if the communication isn’t getting to them, just going out there and seeing how I can be better so we can all go out and play fast for each other,” he said. “I still feel like we executed at a high level. But going to each group, learning, hearing what they had to say so we can all be better the next game.”

“That’s part of the growing process of playing that position,” Ulbrich said. “He’s the signal-caller, he’s the quarterback of the defense. There is a huge responsibility in that. I think he’s done an excellent job stepping in for a guy that we all know is so special in C.J. But he’s held his own. The longer he plays, the more ops he gets, the better he’ll get and he’ll keep growing from moments like that.”

Sherwood’s “ops” may be coming to an end. Mosley, who has been sidelined by a toe injury since the first quarter of the Week 2 game in Tennessee, began practicing this week. He was limited on Wednesday and Thursday. He left the door open to returning on Sunday against the Vikings in London. 

“If I can go and be 100%, I am definitely going to play,” Mosley said. “Just staying realistic. I don’t want to hype myself up and go out there and do anything crazy. [Wednesday] went well as far as what I was able to do. Just want to keep that same mindset and keep getting better.”

Mosley said that he might have pushed harder to come back faster — to the potential detriment of his long-term availability — had Sherwood not been playing as well as he has been.

“Obviously I want to be out there helping, but watching our young guys go out and ball and take over and take advantage of their opportunities it’s really cool to see,” Mosley said. “[Sherwood] has proven he can play this position at a high level . . . I have 100% trust in him. He’s been holding down the fort.”

Notes & quotes: Aaron Rodgers was listed as a full participant in Thursday’s practice after being classified as “limited” with knee soreness on Wednesday. The quarterback did spend some time on a stationary bicycle while the team stretched before the workout, but he rejoined the squad for individual drills and the rest of the practice . . . G Alijah Vera-Tucker (ankle) was added to the injury report as limited; T Morgan Moses practiced for the first time since his knee injury in Week 3 and was limited . . . This week’s key to victory may be not only in the X’s and O’s but in the Z’s. The Jets departed for London on Thursday night for their game against the Vikings on Sunday and planned to practice there almost immediately after the overnight flight. “The biggest challenge is not to fall asleep [during the day],” Mosley said of handling the five-hour time difference. “Every year I’ve been there I’ve fallen asleep at some point. Just try to stay awake as much as possible.”

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.