The New York Jets were busy at the NFL's trade deadline, shipping out defensive cornerstones Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams for premier future draft capital.
They received calls on another important defensive piece, edge rusher Jermaine Johnson, but refrained from trading the former first-round pick.
In the weeks following, it's easy to see why. Johnson is arguably New York's best defensive player in the wake of the trades, and according to the team's defensive coordinator, he's stepping up as a leader as well.
Steve Wilks praises Jermaine Johnson for leadership
Steve Wilks, the Jets' defensive coordinator, spoke up about Johnson at his Thursday press conference.
"I think Jermaine's just slowly but surely, dealing with the injury, coming back and then all of a sudden having another setback, he's getting back to his form," Wilks told the press.
Johnson suffered a torn Achilles tendon in Week 2 of the 2024 season and missed a handful of games to start the 2025 season thanks to an unrelated ankle injury.
"And then also, I just think you see a little bit more, I don't want to say he wasn't that leader before, but he's stepped up in the absence of Quinnen and you can see him trying to be a little bit more assertive, not only with the D-line room but just with the whole defense as a whole. I appreciate that from him."
Johnson is now one of the longest-tenured Jets on the defensive side of the ball, so it's awesome to see the former Florida State product stepping up after the departure of key veteran voices in the locker room.
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