Three on D: Stiggers, Sheffield, Surratt

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:

Qwan' but not forgotten

Qwan'tez Stiggers' first NFL start only saw him on the field for 31 snaps as Kendall Sheffield saw more time. It's not clear if this was just a rotation or if Stiggers got hurt or did something wrong.

Anyway, for the time he was out there, Stiggers held up pretty well. Maybe he was slightly out of position in zone coverage on a Brian Thomas catch over the middle, but the only direct catch he gave up in coverage was this one:

Clearly this was poor awareness by Stiggers who got badly caught up in traffic. However, it would only have been a five-yard gain if not for a missed tackle by Tony Adams.

Stiggers was in position on two other incompletions and - despite protestations from Mac Jones - didn't seem to have committed pass interference as he stayed with his man on one of those.

Where Stiggers impressed most of all was on a couple of good tackles, including this run stop:

Stiggers also contributed on special teams, forcing one fair catch and making a tackle on a punt return. Perhaps these duties are viewed as just as important as him getting defensive experience, so that's why they were rotating him.

It's a pretty incredible achievement by Stiggers to start a game given where he came from (no college experience and a year in the CFL) but this was a season where it looked like he might have a more significant role so it's been disappointing. Hopefully, he can now build on these opportunities he has at last started getting.

Let Sheff Cook

As noted, Kendall Sheffield saw even more playing time than Stiggers, as he was in the game for 50 snaps. Perhaps the most surprising thing about this is that he was playing outside having filled in as a slot corner in his previous appearance in Pittsburgh.

Sheffield was outside with Isaiah Oliver mostly in the slot. These are two players Jeff Ulbrich has coached before in Atlanta, so he obviously trusts them. However, they gave up 10 catches for over 100 yards between them.

Sheffield's worst rep came ironically on a play where he ended up in the slot. Brian Thomas shook him on the inside release, getting him slightly off balance for a yard of separation and then out-pacing him to the end zone.

Sheffield was also in position on an incompletion and then made a stop short of the marker right before Sauce Gardner's game-clinching interception on 3rd-and-1.

He was also in on three stops near the line and his best play was probably this one, where he avoided the right tackle in space for a run stop.

In all, Sheffield was a downgrade from DJ Reed but not a complete disaster and if Ulbrich was returning (which seems unlikely) his return as a rotational option on the practice squad would probably be inevitable.

As it is, he's a useful piece that the Jets might look to bring back, but isn't someone you'd ideally rely on to make major contributions.

Surratt as eggs is eggs

Another player getting extra playing time due to an injury was Chazz Surratt, who manned the headset for 11 plays when Jamien Sherwood was checked for a head injury.

Surratt was also in the linebacker rotation, although the Jets didn't play many base packages so his total snap count only ended up being 22, which is one shy of his season and career-high.

Surratt's best moment was this run stop in the red zone.

Aside from this, Surratt had three other tackles and the only significant negative saw him give up a five-yard catch underneath for a first down.

Surratt also contributes well on special teams where he has 11 tackles in coverage on the season to lead the Jets. He didn't add to that on Sunday, though, as he had a missed tackle and was blocked to the ground (albeit on an apparent block in the back) on two kickoffs.

It's that special teams production, coupled with his not-totally-out-of-his-depth rotational contributions which will have the Jets interested in bringing him back at the end of the season when he'll be a restricted free agent.

Three-on-O will follow tomorrow.