Three on D: Carter, Surratt, Quincy Williams

After each game, we'll be highlighting three defensive and three offensive players and looking in detail at their performance. We'll start today with the defense:

Is the Deuce worth the Squeeze?

During the offseason, Deuce Carter signed a three-year extension that made him one of the NFL's highest paid slot cornerbacks. However, after starting the season banged-up due to a sore ankle, is he worth the money?

Based on his excellent performance on Sunday, he is. Carter didn't allow a single completion on five targets, didn't miss a tackle and recorded a first half fumble recovery.

His only real negative was a pass interference penalty that gave Denver a first down on their lone touchdown drive. He was perhaps a little over-physical on that play.

It's not just in coverage where Carter is valuable. His ability to come up closer to the line of scrimmage and contribute in the box essentially enables the Jets to remain in nickel against any personnel grouping.

Hopefully Carter's ankle issue won't continue to linger as Robert Saleh had suggested it might. He continues to provide the Jets with solid play and hopefully this fumble recovery is a sign he'll start to be involved in more turnovers going forwards.

In spite of my rage, I'm still just Surratt in a cage

Last season, Chazz Surratt was basically just a special teamer, as the 27-year old former third round pick played just nine defensive snaps. His role has been bigger in 2024, mainly due to CJ Mosley's absence. He played 14 snaps in the first three games and 16 on Sunday, as the Jets played more base defenses with Denver not offering much of a passing game threat.

Surratt didn't get any defensive reps as a rookie with the Vikings in 2021, despite playing in nine games, and spent the 2022 season on the Jets' practice squad. Sunday was therefore the first time he's played more than 10 defensive snaps in his four-year career.

On Sunday, Surratt showed a couple of flashes of the athleticism that made him a day two pick three years ago. He filled the hole, closing quickly for the run stuff on this play.

This was also a good play as he chased down the running back from behind in backside pursuit.

Surratt did have a missed tackle and was late to react on a crossing route from Courtland Sutton that went for a 23-yard gain, but he's starting to look like he belongs when he's out there.

When Mosley returns, Surratt will probably revert to being the fourth linebacker and therefore not seeing any defensive reps other than perhaps on the goal line defense. However, his gradual progression over the past few seasons suggests the Jets might like him enough to keep him around as a rotational contributor if they can.

Quincy Market

Another player who is forced to step up in Mosley's absence is Quincy Williams, who had a great game on Sunday.

Williams had seven tackles, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble. Those seven tackles all came within five yards of the line of scrimmage, on plays that netted just four yards. He also had another two tackles that didn't count due to offensive penalties.

His terrific closing speed on this third down forced fumble gave him a great highlight in a situation where two years ago he'd often have been a step slower out of the blocks and taken a bad angle.

Williams was arguably partly responsible for the Sutton 23-yard catch mentioned earlier, where Surratt ended up as the nearest defensive player in coverage. That was the same route on which he was open for the only touchdown of the game. It's in these situations that the Jets miss Mosley most, because he perhaps would have communicated better than Jamien Sherwood before the snap.

Other than that play, Williams was targeted three times for minus-one yards. He also made excellent contributions against the run, cleaning up well here in the backfield after penetration from his brother Quinnen.

Williams blitzed six times but didn't register a pressure, but didn't miss a tackle and had very few things you could point towards as negatives. Playing at this level, he is dramatically underpaid on $6 million per year.

Three-on-O will follow tomorrow.