Jets' Punter Braden Mann 'Couldn't Care Less' About Criticism Of Game-Saving Tackle

Some Jets fans weren't too thrilled about Braden Mann's game-saving tackle against the Rams on Sunday.

After all, if Mann didn't bring down Nsimba Webster with five minutes left in the fourth quarter, preventing a 77-yard punt return and preserving New York's three-point lead, odds are the Jets would've gone on to lose in Los Angeles. 

That means New York wouldn't have fallen out of pole position for next spring's NFL draft, a win that delivering a decisive blow to their chances at drafting Clemson's Trevor Lawrence.

A couple messages on social media in the hours after the Jets' first victory of the season, however, won't bring Mann down. 

"I couldn't care less about the social media reaction, to be honest with you," Mann told ESPN's Rich Cimini. "Whoever says something like that, I don't think they ever tried to compete at something like this. For us, we get paid to play. We get paid to win."

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The sixth-rounder out of Texas A&M went on to call the play "sweet," explaining that his "lucky adjustment" gave him a chance to take down Webster in the open field. It was his fourth tackle of the year, but easily the most significant.

"I don’t think I’ve been around anybody that’s this good," Jets head coach Adam Gase told reporters in a Zoom call this week. "We joke with the defensive guys that if we need to learn how to tackle, we’ll just bring him over to the defensive side. If we have a couple missed tackles, we give them some crap about it."

Jets special teams coordinator Brant Boyer added that Mann's college tape had evidence of the 23-year-old's tackling skills. Little did this coaching staff know he would be saving them from a winless season this late in the year.

"The kid is a competitor, he can run and he's tough," Boyer explained on Thursday. "No matter what we've asked him to do this year ... he's done a great job adjusting."

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Mann has punted the ball more than any other player at his position in football this year (70). Sure, that's more of a testament to New York's offense struggling throughout their winless start to the campaign than anything else, but Mann's selfless play on Sunday shows how much he cares about winning games.

"For him to have a really good punt in that situation and then have to make the tackle there, just tells you what kind of kid he is right there," Boyer said. "Heck of a job and it saved the game for us."

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