Robert Saleh Has Solution to Jets' Interception Drought

New York is the only team in the NFL that still hasn't recorded an interception this season. Robert Saleh believes one pick can open up the turnover floodgates

Interceptions have doomed the Jets on both side of the ball so far this season.

Not only does New York lead the league with 11 interceptions thrown through Week 7, the Jets are the only team in the league that hasn't picked off a pass in 2021.

Jets head coach Robert Saleh has addressed his team's interception drought multiple times this season, but it sounded like the frustration was reaching a tipping point this week.

"If you’re not winning the turnover battle, you’re probably not winning football games," Saleh told reporters on Wednesday. "You do your best to take care of it, you do your best to take it away, and the teams that do the best at both of those are the teams that usually win. Hopefully we get this thing flipped quickly, so we can start getting some wins."

To Saleh, the key is getting the first one. The team discussed ways to break through over their bye week, preceding a 54-13 shellacking at the hands of the Patriots. From there, he believes this secondary will be able to produce takeaways in bunches.

"We’re on an unlucky streak right now," Saleh added. "We’re looking at three different opportunities a game where we have a chance to get a ball and we’re just not getting it. We’re going to get them, we just have to catch the ones that are thrown to us."

This Sunday, New York faces the first-place Cincinnati Bengals, a team led by phenom Joe Burrow under center with a slew of talented wideouts, like rookie Ja'Marr Chase. As much as Cincinnati has been off to a hot start this year, Burrow has struggled with the turnover bug, throwing eight picks this year.

Will that number increase on Sunday? After all, only two other teams (the Chiefs and the Jets) have thrown more interceptions than the Bengals this season. 

Asked how this defense can hold the Bengals' offense down Sunday afternoon, Saleh said it starts up front. Like always.

"We got to dominate and dominate the line of scrimmage," he said. "From there, we just got to keep our feet in the ground and play fast. It really is that simple. It’s win one-on-one battles, pressure the quarterback, win in the run game."

Force some pressure, make smart plays in coverage, take advantage of mistakes and an interception is bound to happen eventually. It's just a matter of how many more weeks until then.

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