Jets’ Defensive Star Sets The Record Straight On 2024 Expectations

The New York Jets entered last season with Super Bowl expectations after acquiring Aaron Rodgers in a blockbuster trade with the Green Bay Packers.

Unfortunately, Rodgers tore his Achilles on the Jets’ first offensive series of the regular season, ending the club’s championship aspirations.

But now, Rodgers is on the mend and will almost certainly be ready for Week 1. As a result, the Super Bowl buzz has returned, and during a recent appearance on NFL Total Access, Jets defensive end Jermaine Johnson II says the goal is, “Super Bowl. Do or don’t.”

He also stated that the defense bears the brunt of that responsibility.

“I mean, it’s a lot of excitement, but the goal never changes,” Johnson said, via Coral Smith of NFL.com. “In order for us to get to a Super Bowl, we have to go 1-0 every single week. The defense’s goal has to be to pitch a shutout every single week, and so that’s where we’re keeping our heads right now, and the goal is that if you do that enough times, we’re in the big one.”

Defense certainly wasn’t New York’s issue last year.

The Jets ranked third in the NFL in yards allowed in 2023, and while they finished a much more modest 12th in scoring defense, much of that had to do with the fact that they were typically losing the field position battle due to their putrid offense.

Johnson himself is coming off of an impressive campaign in which he played every game and racked up 55 tackles, 7.5 sacks, an interception, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, seven passes defended and a defensive touchdown en route to a Pro Bowl appearance.

That came after a very disappointing rookie season in which Johnson logged 29 tackles and 2.5 sacks in 14 contests.

Johnson, who played his collegiate football at Florida State, was selected by New York with the 26th overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft.

We’ll see if the Jets can finally get over the hump in 2024.