Jets' Defense Faces Chargers' Passing Attack Missing WR2 and WR3

Keenan Allen's supporting cast has been depleted by injury

Author:
Ralph Ventre
Publish date:
Nov 5, 2023 5:35 PM EST

In this story:

The Los Angeles Chargers will be missing two key wide receivers when they visit the New York Jets for Monday Night Football on November 6.

Productive complementary pieces to WR1 Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Joshua Palmer won't be available to the Bolts and quarterback Justin Herbert in Week 9.

In the case of Williams, the former first-round draft pick has been out since suffering a season-ending knee injury in the third quarter of a Week 3 win over the Minnesota Vikings. In 2.5 games, Williams accounted for 249 receiving yards and a touchdown on 19 catches.

Bumped up the depth chart as a result of Williams's absence, Palmer played through injury last week against the Chicago Bears. Starting despite practicing only once (on a limited basis) during game week, he caught three of four targets for 24 total yards.

Palmer, however, appeared to aggravate his knee issue during the 30-13 victory and was a "DNP" this past week ahead of Monday night's matchup against the Jets. He was ruled out on Saturday. The 24-year-old Palmer has 23 receptions for 377 yards and one score to his credit this fall.

Rookie Quentin Johnson (12 rec, 114 rec yds) is the next man up in the Chargers' WR corps behind Allen, who is performing at a Pro Bowl level. Allen has recorded 54 catches for 643 yards and four touchdowns. The veteran gamebreaker went off for 215 yards on 18 receptions in Week 3. One week earlier, he victimized Tennessee for 111 yards on eight grabs.

The Jets have permitted 100-yard receiving performances in three of seven games thus far with Stefon Diggs (Bills), CeeDee Lamb (Cowboys) and AJ Brown (Eagles) achieving the feat. Allen certainly has the ability to achieve the feat on Monday,

"Keenan Allen is still Keenan Allen," said Jets' defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. "Every time you watch the tape, he is the best player on the field and he continues to do that. We are going to have to go fight him. We have our hands full across the board with these guys."

It's unclear if Sauce Gardner will travel with Allen throughout the game or multiple corners will take turns on the Chargers' WR1.

The Bolts' next-best receiving threat after Allen is arguably running back Austin Ekeler. The Jets will be challenged to keep pace with the elusive ball carrier and shut down the screen game. In four appearances, Ekeler has 177 receiving yards on 16 catches.

For the most part, Gang Green's pass defense has fared well thus far in 2023. The Jets limit opposing passers to 5.66 yards per attempt, the fourth-lowest number in the NFL. They held Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts to a combined 3:8 touchdown-to-interception ratio.