Winless, injury-depleted Jets visit the unbeaten Buccaneers on Sunday
New York Jets (0-2) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-0)
Sunday, 1 p.m. Fox.
Against the spread: Jets 1-1; Buccaneers 2-0.
Series record: Jets lead 10-3.
Last meeting: Buccaneers beat Jets 28-24 on Jan. 2, 2022, in New Jersey.
Last week: Jets lost to Bills 30-10; Buccaneers beat Texans 20-19.
Jets offense: overall (26), rush (10), pass (21), scoring (21)
Jets defense: overall (23), rush (24), pass (13t), scoring (30)
Buccaneers offense: overall (21), rush (9), pass (26), scoring (18)
Buccaneers defense: overall (15), rush (5), pass (23), scoring (13)
Turnover differential: Jets -2; Buccaneers even.
QB Tyrod Taylor. The 36-year-old backup gets the start in place of Justin Fields, who suffered a concussion during the Jets’ loss to the Bills. Taylor last started in 2023 while with the Giants, for whom he was under center to start five games. He has 58 starts over 14-plus NFL seasons. Taylor missed the entire preseason after having arthroscopic knee surgery, but he’s healthy and coach Aaron Glenn doesn’t expect him to have a tough time catching up with the game plan.
WR Emeka Egbuka. The rookie first-round pick has three TD catches in two games. Overall, he has eight catches for 96 yards. Baker Mayfield isn’t afraid to throw to him in critical spots. He caught a go-ahead score in the final minutes in the opener at Atlanta.
Jets CB Sauce Gardner vs. Buccaneers WR Mike Evans. The Texans had All-Pro cornerback Derek Stingley shadow Evans last week and he still ended up with five catches for 56 yards, including a clutch reception inside the 10 that set up the winning score. Gardner is a two-time All-Pro with shutdown talent.
Jets: Other than Fields, edge rusher Jermaine Johnson (ankle), safety Tony Adams (hip), nickel cornerback Michael Carter II (shoulder), defensive tackle Jay Tufele (illness), wide receiver Josh Reynolds (hamstring) and running back/kick returner Kene Nwangwu (hamstring) all missed practice Wednesday and were being evaluated through the week.
Buccaneers: DT Calijah Kancey (pec) was lost for the season. RT Luke Goedeke (foot), G Cody Mauch (knee) and Egbuka (hip/groin) are dealing with injuries. All-Pro LT Tristan Wirfs, WR Chris Godwin (ankle) and WR Jalen McMillan (neck) haven’t played yet this season.
After losing eight straight against the Jets, the Buccaneers have won the past two. ... In the teams’ most recent matchup, Tom Brady led Tampa Bay back from a 24-10 deficit in the third quarter to beat New York 28-24 by tossing a 33-yard TD pass to Cyril Grayson with 15 seconds left. In that same game, frustrated Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown took off his jersey, pads, gloves and shirt on the sideline in the third quarter and jogged inside — and was released by Tampa Bay a few days later.
The Jets are looking to avoid their third 0-3 start in six years. They have lost at least their first three games 11 times and made the playoffs only once after doing so: in 1981 under Walt Michaels. ... Glenn is looking for his first win as an NFL head coach. He’ll try to avoid joining Robert Saleh (2021), Adam Gase (2019) and Lou Holtz (1976) as the only Jets coaches to start their tenures 0-3. ... Glenn played for Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles twice during his career: in 2000 with the Jets when Bowles was the secondary coach and in 2005 and ’06 in Dallas, where Bowles served in the same capacity. ... Taylor was 7 of 11 for 56 yards in place of Fields against the Bills, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Ruckert. ... Taylor will become the 40th quarterback to start a game for the Jets since Joe Namath’s final game for the franchise in 1976. ... The Jets went 0 for 11 on third down opportunities against Buffalo. ... New York had just 154 total yards last week, including just 83 passing. ... WR Garrett Wilson has caught at least one pass in 53 straight games, the NFL’s longest such active streak since 2002, according to Tru Media. ... Nick Folk is 65 of 68 on field-goal attempts in his past 40 games, a 95.6% success rate that is the highest in the league among kicker with 40 or more games played since 2020. Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield leads the NFL with 74 TD passes since 2023. hasn’t thrown a pick in two games. He has seven straight starts with at least two TD passes. ... The Bucs have rushed for more than 100 yards in 16 games since start of last season. ... RB Bucky Irving had six catches and 121 scrimmage yards last week. ... RB Rachaad White had 65 yards rushing and go-ahead score vs. Houston. He had six TDs in his past six home games in 2024. ... WR Mike Evans is ninth in NFL history with 105 receiving TDs. ... WR Emeka Egbuka is aiming to become first rookie since Ja’Marr Chase in 2021 with a TD catch in first three games. ... Edge Haason Reddick played in 10 games for the Jets last season.
Irving has 108 yards rushing and 10 receptions for 58 yards and one TD in two games. With much of the focus on Evans and Egbuka in the passing game, Irving can rack up numbers on short passes.
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