Shortly after Jamien Sherwood signed a three-year, $45 million contract, Jets coach Aaron Glenn labeled him the “true quarterback of the defense.”
However, following C.J. Mosley’s release and later retirement, Sherwood struggled particularly in pass coverage last year, leading to a mid-season benching.
In what could be a make-or-break season with the Jets, Glenn says Sherwood has shown a sense of urgency, as many of his players have after registering a 3-14 season in 2025.
“For him to be doing the things [in the] offseason to get himself into a position where — ‘I wanna be one of the top linebackers,’” Glenn said about Sherwood ahead of Wednesday’s OTA practice. “The way these dudes are going about the business in all three phases has been unbelievable.”
“Even when you have a down year, man, you try to look at the things like ‘what can I do to pick myself up.’ I think with Demario [Davis] being next to him, that’s going to help out a lot because he’s still a young player. He’s a player that came from being a safety to playing at linebacker. So having somebody that’s been in this league for a long time at Demario sitting right beside him, it could only help him. Any player that’s self-aware and will critique themselves like that on a year-to-year basis is always good.”
The Jets originally drafted Sherwood, 26, in the fifth round of the 2021 draft out of Auburn and converted from safety to linebacker. After three seasons of playing a reserve role, he started 16 games in 2024 and had an outstanding season, leading the NFL with 158 tackles, finishing with two sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Sherwood’s performance even earned him the 2024 Jets team MVP award, which his teammates voted on.
Despite changing regimes, Glenn and Jets general manager Darren Mougey rewarded Sherwood during the 2025 offseason, hoping his strong play and production would only increase. But that never came to fruition last season.
In what was once a strength as a former defensive back, Sherwood’s pass coverage took a drastic nose dive last year. He recorded a 46.1 grade in pass coverage, according to Pro Football Focus. That ranked 66 out of 88 qualifying linebackers.
Despite Glenn’s expectations, Sherwood said he didn’t put any added pressure on himself to produce because of the contract he signed.
“I always strive to be the best that I can be,” Sherwood said. “In certain instances, I might have lacked focus, like details in certain plays. I did get myself in trouble a few times with my eyes. So again, just being more consistent.”
Following an 0-7 start, Sherwood was benched during the first quarter of the Jets’ victory against the Bengals for Kiko Mauigoa. He played in the second quarter and finished with five tackles, but Sherwood never matched the production he showed in 2024, when he played like one of the best young linebackers in the league. Sherwood ended last season with 154 tackles and two sacks.
Entering this up-and-coming season, Sherwood said his mindset is simply to be better than he was in 2025.
“Growing in a bunch of areas,” Sherwood said. “Become a better teammate for all the new guys, showing them around especially since I’m going into Year 6.
“I finally feel like I have a great understanding about what’s going on and be a better player for my team. As far as on the field, mainly pass coverage. Pretty decent tackler but can always improve my tackling.”
Sherwood is under contract for two more seasons. However, if he has another subpar season, the Jets could release him next offseason to clear $11.5 million in cap space while eating a $7.5 million dead cap charge.
Adding Davis, a five-time All-Pro and two-time Pro Bowler, will help. In addition to Sherwood’s play, the Jets defense as a whole also plummeted last year. After finishing in the top five in yards allowed three consecutive years (2022-24), they were 25th in yards (355.6) and 31st in points allowed per game (29.6).
With Davis expected to be the defensive quarterback and take over “green dot” helmet communication duties, this may allow Sherwood to shift back to a secondary role in nickel formations, where he may become more reactive and less of a thinker.
“The only thing that I can say from last year, we were a pretty young team,” Sherwood said. “There were times where I felt like I did need someone to lean on or felt like I needed a little bit more knowledge of something.
“I feel like the last few weeks of OTAs and the offseason, he’s been there and I’ll say you can feel his presence and it’s beneficial for everybody on the team, not just myself. Beneficial for our coaches having a guy like him.”