It was a long night for head coach Robert Saleh, he could only watch as his defense struggled to stop the run.
“Defensively, it wasn’t good enough,” Saleh said after the Jets fell to the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium, 45-30, on Thursday Night Football. “When teams run the ball the way they did, we knew they were going to try to get their run game started, the way they were talking all week, getting 28 (Jonathan Taylor) going, and with a tremendous offensive line. Obviously, we weren’t up to the task.”
The score wasn’t as close as it looks.
The Colts racked up 532 total yards, with 272 of those yards from the ground game. Their offensive line bullied and pushed around the Jets’ defense, creating lanes for Taylor to run through.
Taylor ran for 172 yards on 19 carries, he averaged 9.1 yards per carry.
For the Jets, it went downhill after losing starting quarterback Mike White.
White left in the first quarter after he said two fingers on his right hand went numb. He said he couldn’t grip the ball and watched the final three quarters from the sideline.
White’s final play, a 19-yard touchdown pass to the emerging rookie Elijah Moore made it a 7-7 ballgame. White said he’s not sure when the injury happened, but he felt it after the scoring throw.
“We feel good about him getting healthy over the weekend and being ready for next week,” Saleh said of White, who made his second start for the injured Zach Wilson (sprained knee).
Josh Johnson replaced White and threw for a career-high 317 yards and career-best three touchdown passes.
“Josh, thought he did an awesome job coming in, running the offense exactly the way it’s supposed to be played — hitting the open receiver, just moving the chains,” Saleh said. “We just need to be able to match their defensive intensity.”
With the loss, the Jets drop to 2-6 on the season, 0-5 on the road.
