The way the New England Patriots defense played in Monday’s embarrassing loss to the Chicago Bears, left a sour taste in the unit’s mouth.
The Bears, who came into the contest with the worst passing attack in the NFL, did whatever they wanted offensively. Justin Fields ran around and made plays with his arm and legs while Chicago bullied the Patriots up front to run for an astounding 243 yards on the ground as a team. To make matters even worse, New England couldn’t get off the field on third down.
That certainly left a mark on a Patriots defense considered to be among the best in the NFL. There’s now a strong appetite for the Patriots to prove that was just a one-off performance and get back to being New England’s backbone when it takes on New York Jets on Sunday.
“There’s a hunger,” cornerback Jonathan Jones told reporters following practice Friday, as seen in team-provided video. “Obviously, we didn’t display our best ball on Monday. So, we have a hunger to get back out there and put good tape out there.”
Jets second-year quarterback Zach Wilson doesn’t have the same profile as the mobile quarterbacks that have caused plenty of headaches for the Patriots. But he does possess some similarities as he can be a threat with his legs if he so chooses.
“He’s an athletic quarterback,” Jones said. “He always ready to throw the ball, throw the ball downfield. He has escape-ability in the pocket. He gets away from a lot of guys and always keeps his eyes down the field and ready to throw.”
Jones understands it’s imperative for a Patriots defense, which sits tied for 14th in the NFL in allowing 20.9 points per game, to return to form, especially against an upstart, 5-2 Jets squad that wants to push New England further into the basement of the AFC East.
“For us, it’s a division game, so you want to dominate within your division and we haven’t done that this year. We’re 0-1 within the division,” Jones said. “We want to turn that table. They’re looking forward to turning around their 12 straight losses against us and we want to keep that streak going.”
The Patriots and Jets will kickoff from MetLife Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
