Great players can’t always control their circumstances.
In the case of New York Jets cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, who came off a 2022 season that saw him win the consensus Defensive Rookie of the Year award, the expectations were that with the addition of Aaron Rodgers, the Jets were Super Bowl bound. Of course, that went out the window when Rodgers was lost for the season early in the team’s regular season debut, and at that point, you just have to make the best of it.
Which is exactly what Gardner and the Jets’ defense has done. While Gang Green has rifled through quarterbacks, and the offense ranks last in the NFL in DVOA, the defense ranks third, behind only the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens. Gardner has been a big part of that, allowing 27 catches on 44 targets for 236 yards, 75 yards after the catch, one touchdown, no interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 83.1. Gardner and his guys on that side of the ball have maintained a standard of performance with no margin for error.
I recently got to sit down with Gardner and go through some of his best plays from the 2023 season. Gardner was representing his role in Verizon and UNINTERRUPTED’s “Verizon Run the Playlist,” a one-of-a-kind content series offering exclusive access to the music that inspires fans’ favorite NFL teams,
Doug Farrar: First of all, tell me about your involvement in “Run The Playlist.” The Jets playlist must be of specific interest to you. Were there specific songs you wanted on that playlist?
Sauce Gardner: I feel like the ones I chose were the ones that specifically stuck with us throughout the season. Like “SkeeYee” by Sexyy Red was in Hard Knocks — we used that in training camp. There was another song called “Talk” by Yeat, that’s one of Garrett Wilson’s favorite songs. Those two songs kind of summarize the season.
DF: I’ve talked to other cornerbacks through the years – most specifically Richard Sherman – about how interceptions aren’t usually the best arbiter of performance. This would seem to be the case with you this season, because you don’t have an interception yet this season, but you’ve played very well. How do you feel about the lack of picks?
SG: I just feel that I could have gotten the ones back that I didn’t. Make the most of those opportunities. At the end of the day, I’m not getting targeted much, but I still had those opportunities earlier in the season.
DF: You rarely travel from side to side – this season, you have 93% of your snaps on the defensive left side, whether it’s outside, the slot, or a split alignment. Is this your preference, or would you perhaps like to move around more often?
SG: It doesn’t matter to me — wherever the coaches want me, I’m gonna play.
DF: I’m in Seattle, so I know how good D.J. Reed was up here. What makes him such a great (and underrated) cornerback?
SG: Man, he’s just always working. He’s always watching film, taking care of his body, and finding ways to get better. He’s a guy I always watch, and that’s my dog right there. We’re always with each other, picking each other’s brains, asking each other what we see from receivers, and what we can expect.
DF: Through the season, the Jets’ defense has been on point. What does that say about you guys that you’re able to maintain a level of performance regardless? And what does that say about head coach Robert Saleh?
SG: We’re hungry. We’re always finding ways to get better. We play fast — Coach Saleh, he always tells us what to expect, and who we need to stop when we’re playing against an offense. He’s a defensive head coach, so he knows everything about our defense. He’s a great head coach, and we appreciate having him. [The problems] happened on offense, and they’re our brothers, but as a defense, we still have our jobs to do.
With that, let’s get into the job Sauca Gardner has done this season.
Vs. John Metchie of the Houston Texans in Week 14.
DF: This rep against John Metchie – I mean, you can’t cover a guy much more oppressively than this. He tries to give you a quick outside move before running his in-cut, but your feet are so aligned here; he doesn’t have any point in his route where he can get away from you. Walk me through this play, your responsibility in Cover-1, and how important it is to align your feet to everything else.
SG: When it comes to playing cornerback, especially with press coverage, you want to be able to have your feet square, because it allows you to go either way — left or right. If you can stay square, especially at the line of scrimmage, you’re going to be a pretty good player.
DF: On this play, it looked like you were in off coverage to start, and then you moved up to press. Was that pre-snap trickery on your part, or was it based on something you saw?
SG: It was a little bit of both. Our coaches, they let us play. So, if I wanted to stay planted off, I had the ability to do that. I just knew that was my man. But [Metchie’s] split told me to go press, so I went up to press. I kind of knew the route, so I just played it through.
Vs. Stefon Diggs of the Buffalo Bills in Week 11.
DF: A lot of bigger and taller cornerbacks tend to struggle with receivers who can run quick angles and quick moves, because it takes a split second more time to align anything. But you did a great job against Stefon Diggs of the Buffalo Bills in Week 11 on this quick comeback. How are you able to stay step-for-step with guys like this, and how did you work this rep to force the incompletion?
SG: I know I’m like 6-foot-3, but I want to be able to play like I’m 5-foot-10, 5-foot-11. You know, when it comes to the bend and the change of direction and everything like that. I feel like that’s what makes me unique — I’m not just an average 6-foot-3 cornerback. I have a lot of intangibles. I’m a competitor at the end of the day, and it doesn’t matter how big or how tall or how small somebody is. I want to go out and dominate. That’s the reason I’m out there, and I can go out there and play like I play.
DF: When it comes to Diggs, what’s the toughest thing about covering him?
SG: He does a lot of things really well. I would say that he makes his routes look the exact same, so it’s hard to really get a bead on what routes he’s going to run. He’s strong at the catch point, and he’s strong when it comes to breaking down his routes at the top. That’s just a few of the things he does well.
DF: It seems like he has those late hands, too — he gets his hands out at the last split second, so you can’t read his hands and tell when the ball’s coming in.
SG: Yeah. He’s been in the league for a long time, so that’s Wide Receiver 101 right there. Some people just aren’t trained enough to have late hands. He’s one of them [who is trained], Davante Adams is one, Justin Jefferson. A lot of elite receivers have late hands like that.
Vs. James Cook of the Buffalo Bills in Week 11.
DF: I wanted to ask about this play, because there was a lot going on here. Looks like Quarters again, and you seem to be watching the run. After Josh Allen play-fakes to James Cook, you’re signaling to your teammates, and at the same time, dropping and watching the sideline. Then, you work back to deflect the pass to Cook on the sideline. Can you walk me through all the things you were trying to accomplish here? Because you had everything in view.
SG: What I would say about that… the way we play defense, especially when it comes to our zones, we have multiple responsibilities. Sometimes, you are going to have the run fit, and the flat, and no matter what it is… everyone on our defense has at least two jobs. Maybe not the defensive line, but everybody else on back, we have at least two job assignments, and it can be even more. That’s just a play where I’m being a ballplayer.
Vs. CeeDee Lamb of the Cowboys in Week 2.
DF: Here’s a rep against CeeDee Lamb of the Cowboys in Week 2, and it’s another underneath route against a receiver who can tie a lot of cornerbacks in knots. This looks like Quarters, and you’re handing off Jalen Tolbert to the zone. Was this Quarters Lock, where you go with Lamb no matter what?
SG: Yeah, that’s a dropped pick right there. That wasn’t a deflection. It may look like it, but… I hate seeing that play, because I really should have caught that. But that’s me studying quarterbacks and mannerisms, what they like to do when they get out of the pocket. The receiver comes vertical and goes back on the sideline of whatever, that’s me being a ballplayer right there. I should have caught that one!
