Jets Q&A: Was costly roughing-the-passer call the right one?
Michael Carter II of the Jets celebrates his second-quarter interception against the Patriots with his teammates at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. The interception was called back due to a roughing-the-passer penalty. Credit: Jim McIsaac
How crucial was the roughing-the-passer penalty on John Franklin-Myers? Was it the right call?
It was a game-changer. It took away Michael Carter II’s pick-6 that would have given the Jets huge momentum going into halftime of their 22-17 loss to the Patriots.
The Jets, of course, didn’t agree with the penalty.
“It’s a terrible call,” Zach Wilson said, “but that’s football. It happens all the time.”
Robert Saleh was livid when it happened. He called for the official to discuss it and said he was told that Mac Jones “got hit too hard.”
Franklin-Myers hit Jones a little high, and it was late, but “hit too hard’’ was an unexpected explanation.
When Franklin-Myers was asked if he got an explanation, he said he didn’t seek one. “No,” he said. “An explanation ain’t going to reverse the call. You got to move on from that and play football.”
There have been a number of questionable roughing-the-passer penalties this season, including controversial ones against Tom Brady and Derek Carr that had huge impacts on the game, like this one.
After retaining the football, the Patriots kicked a field goal as time expired at halftime and then scored on the first drive of the second half.
“Ten-point swing,” Saleh said. “It ended up being 17 if you count what happened in the second half. It was a costly penalty.”
Saleh will ask the league what the coaching point needs to be for his defensive linemen. “Hopefully,” he said, “we get a good explanation on Wednesday.”
Was Devin McCourty out of bounds on his first interception?
It was close. McCourty’s left knee appeared to land out of bounds when he picked off Wilson’s sideline throw. The call couldn’t be challenged. It was reviewed and the interception stood.
“I don’t understand that one either,” Saleh said. “Hopefully I will get a good explanation when we turn it in.”
Why was Mike White active and Joe Flacco inactive?
The Jets decided that White will be their backup quarterback and Flacco will be No. 3.
This was a bit of a surprise because Flacco started when Wilson was injured and has been his primary backup. White was the No. 2 quarterback this past week in practice.
Saleh said the Jets need to see what they have in White, 27, who has appeared in only four NFL games — all last season.
“If Zach ever gets hurt, we’re giving Mike White the opportunity to go in there,” Saleh said. “We felt like rather than just bump him all the way up, just allow him the opportunity during practices to get his mind right and just allow him the opportunity to prepare as if he’s the next man up.
“Mike is a young guy. We got to figure out what we have in him if that opportunity presents itself.”
Why was practice squad quarterback Chris Streveler elevated for the game?
This also was a surprise, and then it was even more surprising that the Jets didn’t activate Streveler for the game. When the Jets announced they brought Streveler up, the belief was that he would be used in some packages. Saleh’s explanation didn’t really clear anything up.
“We had some things going into the weekend,” he said. “Not going to go into detail in terms of having the opportunity to get him up. You got to declare by Saturday at 4 [p.m.]. You can’t wait until game day to get him up. A couple of things happened, and we deactivated him.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
