McKnight, Trufant glow after blocked punt
Isaiah Trufant kept his eyes on the ball, letting it bounce once before cradling it into his arms for the easy score.
Of all the people to bring the fans at MetLife Stadium to their feet, the 5-8, 170-pound special teamer would have been last on anyone's list. But there he was, with the Jets in total desperation mode, scoring on a blocked punt by Joe McKnight to help lead the home team to a 27-24 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Sunday night's season opener.
Down seven with 5:08 remaining, the Jets forced Dallas to punt from the Cowboys' 41. But McKnight, who seemed to appear from nowhere, laid his body out and swatted Mat McBriar's punt with his right hand. The ball hit the stadium turf and bounced high in the air, right into the arms of Trufant.
And all he could see was "daylight and fans cheering" in front of him.
Trufant, who was elevated to the 53-man roster Saturday, scampered 18 yards into the end zone to tie the score at 24.
"Your eyes light up," he said with a wide smile. "When you hear that 'DOOT, DOOT' -- that block -- it's like, 'Find the ball.' "
Though executed flawlessly, the Jets admitted the play -- which they practiced three times this week, according to safety Eric Smith -- wasn't designed specifically for McKnight. The plan had been for the backup running back to clog the hole and force two blockers to cover him. At the same time, Smith and cornerback Marquice Cole were supposed to draw two-on-one coverage on the wing, which should have allowed one of them to break free.
"But they ended up sliding everybody, bringing the fullback over," Smith said. "Which left nobody to account for Joe."
The gaping hole in the coverage was almost too good for McKnight to believe. Special-teams coordinator Mike Westhoff already had prepped him on McBriar's "fast get-off time," so "I just took two steps past the line and dove for it," McKnight said.
Though Nick Folk ultimately sealed the Jets' victory with a 50-yard field goal with 27 seconds left, it was a pair of backups, who have struggled to find their place within the organization, who came up with the biggest play of the night.
"It changed all the momentum, brought the fans back into the game," Smith said. "It was a huge play."
After being waived by the Philadelphia Eagles on Aug. 30, Trufant flew home to Seattle but was on a red-eye back to the East Coast when he got word that he had been signed by the Jets the next day. Though he made the Jets' initial 53-man roster after final cuts, he was waived Sept. 4 before being signed to the practice squad the following day. Trufant said he learned he had been activated to the 53-man roster 24 hours before the opener.
"It's been somewhat of a roller-coaster ride but I just try to think of it as I'm just riding the wave; any opportunities that I get, I just try to take advantage of to the fullest," he said.
Though never a fringe player like Trufant, McKnight knows what it's like to perform below expectations. Nicknamed "Quicksand" by running backs coach Anthony Linn, McKnight's tenure with the Jets has been rocky and wrought with questions about his decision-making. But his confidence has burgeoned since the end of last year's preseason, and he's finally showing the Jets' coaching staff that he can handle big-pressure situations.
"Oh man, that felt real good, especially on the anniversary of 9/11," McKnight said. "It feels good from the stuff I've been through and just to get to this point today, it just feels good."
