Jets DC Jeff Ulbrich considers Eagles game a do-over for Colts debacle

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Jeff Ulbrich still has a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach from the way the Jets were embarrassed by a top rushing team. He's also been losing sleep preparing to stop the Eagles and dual-threat quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Yet when they face the Eagles’ No. 1 rushing offense Sunday, the Jets’ defensive coordinator believes his group will be ready for the "fantastic challenge" of proving they’re better than they’ve shown this season.

Ulbrich stopped just short of declaring that the Jets will shock the world.

"I really look forward to Sunday. I really do," he said Thursday. "I feel for what they’re going through and the adversity they’ve faced this year and what a great opportunity to just go out there and show the NFL, the world and themselves, ‘We’re coming. We’re struggling. We’ve struggled, but we’re coming and we’re getting better and we’re not the defense that we’ve been.’ "

The Eagles have been running over, through and by teams, especially lately. They average 157.9 yards per game on the ground. In its last five games, Philadelphia has averaged 215.6 yards.

Ulbrich, a former NFL linebacker, sounded as if he wishes he had a chance to put the pads back on and play in this game. He’ll have to trust that the players he’s coaching learned from their last game against a strong rushing attack, when they allowed 260 yards and 45 points to the Colts in a Thursday night game a month ago.

"Ever since that Indy game, it’s just a [knot] in my stomach and a [knot] in our guys’ stomach," Ulbrich said. "Collectively, we know that’s not who we are. But we put it on tape. Until we prove otherwise, that is who we are. So I look forward to these guys getting an opportunity to really show who they can be."

The way Ulbrich sees it, and the way he’s approached it with his team, is that this game is almost a do-over for the debacle against the Colts and a chance for the Jets to prove "that was a fluke."

The Eagles present different players, but the schemes are similar. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni spent the previous three seasons as the Colts’ offensive coordinator.

"You got to imagine like they’re not going to go very far to find the blueprint of how to attack us," Ulbrich said. "From our standpoint, coaches, players alike, you don’t get very many opportunities to do a do-over. This game is that.

"That is the challenge this week. There is no doubt how they’ll attack us. Now can we stop it? There’s not a ton of deception within their scheme. They’re straightforward. They’re really good at what they do, and they got good players to do it. It’s going to be who’s better. I’ll put my money on our guys."

There is one major difference between the Colts and the Eagles, and that’s Hurts.

The Colts rely on NFL leading rusher Jonathan Taylor, who torched the Jets for 172 yards, including a 78-yard touchdown run in which he was untouched. The Eagles use a running back-by-committee approach, with Miles Sanders serving as the lead back, but Hurts is a part of it.

Hurts is a mobile running quarterback in the mold of Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson. Hurts doesn’t just scramble and run when he sees a gap; some are designed runs in which he takes the snap and takes off. He leads the Eagles in carries (122), rushing yards (685) and touchdowns (eight).

"It’s a great challenge," Ulbrich said. "It’s the reason it’s so successful in college. You don’t see it as much in this league because I think people are a little bit more wary of getting their quarterbacks hurt. They’re going to get hit when they do it. But it’s something they have a lot of success with.

"It’s going to be a great challenge. It absolutely is something that keeps me up at night with a quarterback that can run the ball like he does."