Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich: Certain penalties can illustrate ‘lack of discipline’

NEW YORK — There has been much chatter about the Jets and their lack of discipline, even dating back to last season.

In Sunday’s loss to Seattle, Gang Green committed 12 penalties for 83 yards.

So, how does Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich define a disciplined player?

“A disciplined player is a player that executes his job to the best of his abilities every single play, and you see that,” the coach said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean they win or lose the down, it means they are executing and doing exactly what you asked. Part of that process is the penalty or lack thereof.

“Some penalties, as we spoke about at length before, are aggressive penalties, and you live with them. Solly’s [Solomon Thomas] penalty with the horse collar, he’s in the pits scrapping for a third-and-1, fourth-and-1, you are just trying to grab at whatever you can grab at. The beauty of that play is when he realized it, he let it go and ultimately, that wasn’t what tackled the guy. If you get called for stuff like that, we can live with those.

“The ones that you can’t live with are the illegal shifts, the illegal formations, the delay of games, offsides, those are absolutely unacceptable, and those are the illustration of lack of discipline at times, so got to be better in that way.”

Penalties, or self-inflicted wounds, as the coaching staff has repeatedly called them, have been a consistent issue for the Jets. They led the NFL in penalties last year (124) and are also among the leading offenders this season.

Gang Green is fourth in the league in penalties, with 89 through 12 games. During the fourth quarter against the Seahawks, the Jets committed five penalties on a single drive.

Among the penalties were too many men on the field, pass interference, and a horse collar penalty that helped Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet score the eventual game-winning touchdown. After the game, Jets cornerback D.J. Reed blasted officials on social media.

“@NFLOfficiating you f—— suck, yall should be ashamed of yall selves!” Reed said on X before later deleting the post.

Ulbrich said he holds Jets players accountable during team meetings to try and prevent penalties from being committed.

Like many other teams, the Jets have a fine system for players who are late or get a warning, which could lead to fines for committing preventable penalties. Players receive a warning and after that they could be fined for every infraction that they receive.

Team fines can also be less than what the NFL decides to fine players for hits or penalties.

“It’s a bunch of different ways that you can do it,” Jets left guard John Simpson said to the New York Daily News. “I felt like I never really had a problem with it. I think it is about making those things a priority at showing those things at the beginning of the week, and that’s something that we do now.

“We show certain things that go on in the league and allow people to understand and know this is what will happen when you do something like that. Not everybody knows what a penalty is. When they show us, that information helps guys for sure.”

This week, the word “undisciplined” also came up after Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair was suspended three games for his illegal hit on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence during Sunday’s game. During the first half of Sunday’s game, Lawrence slid following a scramble when Al-Shaair hit the quarterback in the head with a forearm blow. Lawrence quickly went into the fencing position after suffering a concussion, and he was later carted off the field.

Al-Shaair was ejected from the game, but not before he engaged in a brawl with various Jaguars players.

Al-Shaair apologized on social media Monday to Lawrence, saying first that he didn’t see the quarterback sliding until “it was too late,” and it happened “in the blink of an eye.” On Wednesday, the Jaguars placed Lawrence on injured reserve, which means Lawrence is out at least four games.

With five games remaining and a 2-10 record, Lawrence’s season is likely over.

“Every time I see a quarterback run, my thoughts are to go hit him,” Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley told the Daily News. “I was taught as a young backer, you always dive for the head because when they do slide, you are going to aim high. If they slide, you should go over and if they don’t dive then, it’s a body shot and for me it is that simple.

“Some quarterbacks slide late, some try to draw a penalty. On that one, it was a bang, bang play. You can look at it both ways, but at the end of the day, you are taught to dive high and if they slide late, you try to aim over their head.

“That’s the only coaching point I would receive. Some hits can be avoidable, but on that one, it was tough. Obviously, on the offensive side, you are going to take offense to it and on the defensive side, you are going to be defensive about making a legal tackle.”

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