One of the first things All-Pro Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner discussed with his coaches after last season was his desire to “travel” more with the opposition’s No. 1 receivers. It sounds like he is going to get his wish.
Coach Robert Saleh said this week that the Jets would be “judicious” when deciding to have Gardner travel but it could happen more this season.
“I’m always looking forward to the challenge,” Gardner said. “I would like to call myself one of the best in the game, if not the best. I’m always open to competing. I want to challenge myself, challenge other people, but ultimately I just want to do whatever it takes for the team to win. That’s what it’s all about, winning games.”
Gardner has been a star since he arrived with the Jets as a first-round pick in 2022. He has been named first-team All-Pro in each of his first two seasons.
The Jets have deployed Gardner at times on a specific receiver, but more often they have him play one side and D.J. Reed play another or move them around in specific situations like third down or in the red zone.
“He did [travel] last year, and we’ll be judicious like we normally are,” Saleh said. “He’s a weapon we can use from the defensive standpoint, but to say it’ll be exclusive, I’m not going to say that, but he did last year, to say he might do a little bit more, that’s a possibility, but I think it’s going to be more game-to-game.”
Jets fans remember Darrelle Revis in his prime as someone who shut down the other team’s top option and freed up then-coach Rex Ryan to do other things with his defense.
It sounds like Saleh and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich are cooking up new ways to use Gardner.
“When you have a guy like him, you just got to try to find ways to be creative with him, but you have to evolve in the league, I think,” Saleh said. “Obviously, every year you’re going to try new things. Some things stick, some things don’t, but this is the time of year to try all that stuff.”
For Gardner, he is making the transition from one of the youngest players on the team to moving toward being a veteran in his third year.
He said he has noticed that he and Garrett Wilson, who was drafted in the same year, are now viewed differently.
“We grown up,” Gardner said. “I’m going on Year 3. It just feels kind of different, everybody just looking at me, and I’m helping everybody else out. It feels like yesterday I was the one asking D.J., asking everybody for advice.”
At Tuesday’s OTA practice, rookie cornerback Qwan’tez Stiggers asked Gardner for some tips on playing zone coverage.
“I realized I’m getting a little bit older, but I’m not old at all,” Gardner joked. “I’m on Year 3. Now, it’s to the point where every time I’m not in, I’m just watching. I’m watching and I can see they’re looking at me a little bit, too. That’s just a great feeling. I can just be like, ‘I see you did this. You can probably do it like this and you’ll be able to come out of your breaks faster.’ Just little things like that.”
Gardner is a key piece in the Jets’ hopes of being a playoff team and winning the Super Bowl.
He has established himself as one of the best cornerbacks in football, and he is confident the Jets can achieve their goals this year.
“[It’s] the same as I felt last year,” Gardner said. “I feel like we can win a championship, a Super Bowl. We’ve got the guys. We’ve got the coaches. We’ve got everything we need. The training staff, everything that it takes for us to be able to get to where we want to get to.”
