{"id":350831,"date":"2025-09-08T05:47:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T05:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/350831\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T05:47:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T05:47:14","slug":"sauce-gardner-shuts-down-dk-metcalf-while-shadowing-steelers-star-in-new-jets-wrinkle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/350831\/","title":{"rendered":"Sauce Gardner shuts down DK Metcalf while shadowing Steelers\u2019 star in new Jets wrinkle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sauce Gardner spent almost his entire Sunday shadowing DK Metcalf, a change for the young cornerback.<\/p>\n

It was something the Jets defensive back has publicly said he would like to do, but it wasn\u2019t implemented by the previous coaching staff, except on a situational basis.<\/p>\n

Sunday was different.<\/p>\n

\u201cI liked it. I\u2019m a competitor. Our coaching staff is pretty much full of guys who played in the league, so it\u2019s no surprise,\u201d Gardner said after the 34-32 loss to the Steelers<\/a> at MetLife Stadium. \u201cI feel like any time I was on him, he knows what it is. He was trying to be physical after the plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewSauce Gardner reacts after forcing an incomplete pass against DK Metcalf Sept. 7. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"NewSauce Gardner shoves DK Metcalf during the Jets-Steelers game Sept. 7. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Steelers were able to scheme Metcalf away from Gardner a few times. <\/p>\n

He really only had one catch when Gardner defended him, a key 11-yard reception on the Steelers\u2019 game-winning field goal drive. <\/p>\n

On a slant, Metcalf got inside position. Gardner broke up the pass, but Metcalf deflected it to himself twice. <\/p>\n

It then caromed off teammate Jonnu Smith and landed in Metcalf\u2019s arms while he lay on the turf.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a catch on me. That\u2019s a huge deal for me,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cWhen it came, it was towards the end of the game. No matter how it happened, that got them closer to field goal range.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allen Lazard was inactive<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The veteran wide receiver was not on the injury report all week, so he was a healthy scratch.<\/p>\n

It came as somewhat of a surprise, given how few known quantities the Jets have at receiver behind star Garrett Wilson. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Josh Reynolds, Tyler Johnson (who was just elevated to the active roster from the practice squad Saturday) and rookie fourth-rounder Arian Smith comprise most of the unit outside of Wilson.<\/p>\n

Wilson predictably dominated the targets, catching seven passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. Reynolds and Johnson each had two catches, as did running back Breece Hall.<\/p>\n

Lazard had a quiet summer while also battling a shoulder injury, failing to earn the No. 2 wide receiver job that was up for grabs for all of training camp. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

And he struggled the past two seasons after signing a four-year, $44 million deal with the Jets \u2014 he recorded a combined 60 receptions for 841 yards and seven touchdowns.<\/p>\n

There also is a new Jets regime in place that did not bring Lazard in. <\/p>\n

Lazard was teammates and close with Aaron Rodgers on the Packers, which played a significant factor in the Jets signing him and providing Rodgers with a familiar weapon.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet the insider\u2019s view on Gang Green\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Jets by Brian Costello, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

As expected, the Jets started Josh Myers at center and Joe Tippmann at right guard in the wake of Alijah Vera-Tucker\u2019s season-ending triceps injury<\/a>. \u2026 Running back\/kick returner Kene Nwangwu suffered a hamstring injury in the first quarter and didn\u2019t return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sauce Gardner spent almost his entire Sunday shadowing DK Metcalf, a change for the young cornerback. It was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[5561,2870,7,255,6,520,57,2360,9,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-350831","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-ahmad-sauce-gardner","9":"tag-dk-metcalf","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-new-york-jets","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-pittsburgh","14":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","15":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115167104013672991","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}