Three on D: Jackson, Brownlee, Enagbare

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:

Last night a D.J. saved my life

Sunday's win might be remembered as a breakout game for David Bailey, but another rookie - defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. also had a breakout of sorts.

Sparking this breakout was a shift in how the Jets used him compared to previous games, which may be something they stick with going forwards.

When he was drafted, some analysts suggested that Jackson would be a nose tackle at the NFL level, but he's not been employed as T'Vondre Sweat's backup, instead mostly rotating in as an end in odd-man fronts.

Jackson actually hasn't played a single snap in the A-gap all season. He did play some snaps there in preseason, but they didn't go so well, which perhaps informs the decision to use him that way.

Last week, he had a season high snap count of 41 snaps and was in on four run stops, so there were perhaps some signs that maybe this breakout was coming. His snap count dropped to 29 this week but, of course, the Bears ran a load more plays than the Browns, so it was a similar percentage of snaps.

However, the major change here was that they often employed him alongside Sweat in four-man fronts instead of rotating him in as a 3-4 DE. Many of these were in passing situations too, so Jackson was pass rushing over two-thirds of the time. In the first four games, he had played more run snaps.

On the basis of how he did with these pass rush snaps, Jackson may be getting more in the weeks ahead. He had an important sack and back-to-back pass deflections.

With three minutes remaining, he actually had zero pressures on the season, on over 50 pass rush attempts. However, he broke through with his first career sack and, if he was ever in any doubt as to how he might generate pressure against NFL talent, relying on his impressive player was obviously a good choice.

He did well against the run too, although there were a few plays where he was controlled or driven back at the line. He was in on a handful of stops, including this big play on third down, which again saw him using his strength to fight off his blocker.

The Jets have a nice mix of experienced players and youngsters on their defensive interior. On the basis of how Jackson is progressing, he and Jowon Briggs could complement Sweat well to create a bright future at that position.

What can Brownlee do for you?

Jarvis Brownlee returned despite having been concussed in the previous game and was a bit of a mixed bag, but certainly made some key contributions to the Jets' win.

One big feature of his performance, and the Jets' gameplan, was his blitzing. Brownlee is in his third season and entered the game with just 25 pass rush attempts in his career - 14 of which were this season. Clearly, the Jets were already using him as a blitzer more than he ever has been in the past. However, in this game, they ramped it up even more as he blitzed eight times.

The Jets obviously saw some potential in Brownlee even though he had failed to create a pressure on any of his 14 pass rush attempts this season and only had two pressures in his NFL career. He had one sack in college.

Brownlee finally delivered on the potential the Jets see in him within this role as he got to Deshaun Watson three times. However, he struggled to get him down as Watson broke his tackle and completed a pass for a key third down conversion to Isaiah Bond for 20 yards on one and Watson was able to throw the ball away before he was down on another. Even on the play where Brownlee finally registered his first NFL sack, Watson got the ball out for an incompletion but it had been - perhaps prematurely - blown dead.

Aside from the missed sack, Brownlee had some negatives in coverage as he gave up six catches, including this 30-yard play.

Only one of his other catches was a first down, although that was a 24-yard gain. He also had another potential first down dropped.

Brownlee did make two really nice plays in coverage though. On the first series he picked up Quinshon Judkins coming out of the backfield and tackled him in the flat for a short gain.

However, he had an even better play in the fourth quarter when he stopped this receiver screen for a loss:

On the play, he did a terrific job of aggressively shedding Malachi Corley's block to get to the ball carrier.

Brownlee continues to frustrate anyone who is keen to see D'Angelo Ponds on the field, but right now is making a good contribution and the coaching staff probably trusts him slightly more than the rookie.

No doubt Ponds will be keen to get his shot if Brownlee falters, though, so he needs to keep up his consistency.

Kingsley of the Hill

Kingsley Enagbare only signed a one-year deal in the offseason, whereas Joseph Ossai signed for three years. The Jets may regret that, because while Ossai has been a non-factor so far, Enagbare looks really good.

He also had a bit of a role change this week, as the Jets employed some different personnel groupings in pass rushing situations that involved three and some times four edge rushers on the field together.

Although not credited with any of the Jets' eight sacks, Enagbare was second on the team in pressures, a few of which set up opportunities for others, including on the Jackson sack above. He was credited with one knockdown, on the long pass that Brownlee gave up.

Not for the first time, Enagbare gave the Jets an immediate spark as he exploded into the backfield to blow up a run on the first play of the game, then created pressure off the edge on the next snap.

You can see some of the intensity he brings at the end of each play he makes, and he seems to be a popular teammate. The hustle is impressive, too, especially on this downhill pursuit.

Ossai has been banged up, which has clearly affected his production so far. Hopefully once he gets healthy, he will start to bring similar things to the table. If not, the Jets might be looking to extend Enagbare at the end of the year and could start thinking about phasing Ossai out.

Previously: Three on O: Tippmann, Patrick, Davis