Three on D: Clemons, Reed, Adams

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:

Mike what you see?

Micheal Clemons saw his involvement in Friday's game ended prematurely as he was disqualified for making contact with an official. This was a complete accident, and he actually wasn't even involved in the scrum that was taking place after an extra point, but you have a duty to be careful in situations like that so he can't really argue the call.

Prior to that, Clemons had played 16 snaps and was putting together one of his better games of the season. He had a nice run stuff coming downhill, one pressure, and a half sack on a play where he impressively dominated a tight end.

Clemons provided the Jets with excellent rotational depth off the bench last season but this year, instead of taking his game to another level, his production is down slightly pretty much across the board. He's also made more mistakes, notably missed tackles where he has four this year after not having any last season.

This begs the question as to whether it was a mistake for Clemons to bulk up to over 290 pounds in the offseason. It was hoped that he'd be able to play inside more but this hasn't really happened and it may also have impacted upon his explosiveness.

In addition, would the Jets not be better off employing a player who so obviously holds up against the run but doesn't offer much as a pass rusher or a team that spreads you out horizontally in a more situational fashion rather than in a strict rotation?

Either way, a solid mid-round pick seems to have stagnated somewhat in his second season and it's unclear how his career will progress in his current role within a deep group.

Reed and React

DJ Reed has had another terrific season this year, even though he continues to be overshadowed by all the attention Sauce Gardner deservedly gets.

Friday was significant for Reed because he intercepted his first pass since his Jets' debut last September. On the play, he impressively stayed on Tyreek Hill's hip all the way across the field. How many number two cornerbacks could do that?

It wasn't a perfect game for Reed, who gave up a season-high 87 yards on six catches. He also gave up a season-high in yards after the catch and his longest play of the season on a 35-yarder to Hill over the top.

The only other game where Reed has given up anything like this was in the opener when he gave up seven receptions. In that game and this one, he gave up 145 yards on 13 catches but in the eight games he's played in between, he's only given up 103 on 12.

Reed isn't just a cover corner though, as he showed on this play. The amount of ground he covered to blow up this gadget play after making a quick read was extremely impressive.

Reed continues to be a key player for the Jets and it will be interesting to see if they look to extend him as he's entering the last year of his three-year deal next season.

Ashtyn you shall receive

Ashtyn Davis didn't look likely to make the team last season and spent virtually the entire season in a special teams role after the team opted to keep him over Jason Pinnock.

This season, Davis, who had a great preseason, has actually had a role on defense. The Jets regularly use all four of their safeties in various situations and Davis has played on defense in every single game and over 100 snaps overall. His 14 snaps on Friday were his second-most all year.

Davis was credited with two tackles on defense and another two on special teams, while also drawing a hold on special teams and recovering a fumbled hand-off on defense.

He also made a good play here to break up this short pass (originally ruled as a fumble).

Davis will sometimes still take overaggressive angles and get caught inside on outside runs, but he's played a useful role this year and has always seemed to have a nose for the football. It will be interesting to see if the Jets look to bring back Davis, who is out of contract at the end of the season, but he's enhanced his reputation with his play this season.

Three-on-O will follow tomorrow.