Three on D: Fitzpatrick, Sherwood, Thomas

After each game, we typically highlight three defensive and three offensive players and look in detail at their performance. We'll wrap up today with the defense:

In the Minkah of an Eye

On the face of it, Minkah Fitzpatrick contributed well in Sunday's game, as he racked up 10 tackles and didn't give up a catch in coverage. However, as we've discussed before, high tackle numbers for a safety are often indicative of defensive frailties elsewhere.

This was the case again on Sunday. Six of Fitzpatrick's 10 tackles came on plays where a first down was recorded, and three of the other four were a yard or two short of the marker, so a first down was converted a play or two later. Only once was he in on a tackle that ultimately led to a defensive stop, as he was in on a run stop on 2nd-and-8 and the Dolphins failed to convert on 3rd-and-5.

Of course, he may be getting there quicker than a replacement level safety so maybe these plays are gaining 8-12 yards instead of 15-20, and have less chance of being broken for a big play. However, on the one occasion where he failed to get over in time, it led to the biggest and most decisive play of the game.

On the play, the Jets sent Brandon Stephens on a corner blitz, which presumably means David Bailey should have dropped into the flat. He did not, forcing Fitzpatrick to try and make the play in space. An impressive burst of speed from Caleb Douglas just as Fitzpatrick hesitated enable him to beat him to the edge and the Jets' hopes of winning were up in smoke.

It may be unreasonable to expect Fitzpatrick never to make a mistake and may also be true that he makes fewer mistakes than most other safeties available to the Jets in recent times. However, in this situation, that was a mistake he could not afford to make and, in his futile desperation to prevent a first down, Fitzpatrick took an overly aggressive angle that ruined the Jets' hopes of a comeback.

On a more positive note, he did make this nice run stop in the fourth quarter:

It's difficult to call Fitzpatrick anything other than a disappointment right now because his contributions have not been leading to wins. That may be unfair to him, but it will be difficult to shake that narrative unless the wins start coming.

Sher-fire Success

Some writers suggested that Jamien Sherwood should be benched a couple of games into the season, with one beat writer even implying that such a line-up change may have been on the horizon.

Obviously it wasn't, because the Jets were always going to give Sherwood time to mesh with Demario Davis and get to grips with the new system. In recent weeks, he's been doing well.

On Sunday, Sherwood was all over the field as he racked up eight tackles with two tackles for loss, two pressures and two pass-breakups. Unlike Fitzpatrick, most of these were at or close to the line of scrimmage, with only two being more than two yards downfield.

He got his day off to a good start by making this play in the backfield after Miami got into the red zone.

Of his two pass breakups, this one was particularly frustrating. Sherwood made a great read to jump in front of the dump-off but failed to snag the ball cleanly as he went after it with one hand. A luckier bounce there and this could have been a game-altering pick-six. These are the game-changing plays literally nobody on the Jets seems capable of making right now.

Sherwood wasn't perfect, as he gave up four catches for 46 yards, with Greg Dulcich open a few times early in the game. He also had a missed tackle and a defensive holding penalty. However, considering he was viewed as a scapegoat for some of their early performances, Sherwood has done a decent job of showing that he's not one of the main problems with this defense right now.

Just another AZ Sunday afternoon

Azareye'h Thomas gave up a touchdown pass for the third time this season and will no doubt be disappointed with his route anticipation as Douglas once again stood out in his first full game of the season.

However, as has been the case all year, Thomas did an outstanding job of limiting the damage as he only gave up one other short catch.

Assessing his performance through the first seven games, Thomas is in some rare company. He's been targeted 34 times and hasn't given up a play of longer than 20 yards yet this year. The only other cornerback in the NFL who can say that is Devon Witherspoon.

Comparing him with Stephens is interesting too. Thomas has been targeted five more times but has given up 50 yards less over the first seven games. In addition, that's based on PFF's coverage numbers which credited the Romeo Doubs 42-yard touchdown last week - where he clearly beat Stephens deep - to Fitzpatrick's coverage. That felt like a bit of a leap, so the discrepancy could have been even more significant.

Thomas doesn't grade out among the elite right now but that's got less to do with his coverage abilities and more to do with his inconsistent tackling. He is among the league leaders at his position with seven missed tackles this year, including three last week. He had none on Sunday, though.

Even so, you have to like his willingness to get his nose in there against the run and he had a few more examples of this on Sunday.

The Jets privately expressed optimism during the offseason that Thomas could be a legit number one corner and potential future pro bowler. So far, he's achieving the former and if he keeps playing like he has, the latter could also be within reach.

Previously: Three on O: Cooper, Allen, Meredith