LISTEN | Inside the Jets with CB Michael Carter II (9/20)

Hosts Bart Scott and Dan Graca review the 2021 home opener at the Patriots and what the Jets need to do heading into the Week 3 trip to Denver. Scott and Graca check in with rookie cornerback Michael Carter II to see how his first two NFL games have been,

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
It's time for Inside the Jets presented by e Y
Building a Better Working World. No, here's Bart Scott and
Dan Grassa and what is going on? Everybody? Welcome to

(00:25):
another edition of Inside the Jets presented by e Y
Building a Better Working World. Dan Grassa, joined as always
by my friend Bart Scott Bart. How's everything going, my
friend Kuda Mattada. Things could be better, but they definitely
could be worse as well. So I'm right there in
the middle of bay where you like to be absolutely balanced.
That's the important thing. Every day. You want that balance,

(00:46):
you want that consistency, and unfortunately for the Jets yesterday
they didn't have enough of that and that's why they
came on the short end of to six setback to
the New England Patriots and MetLife Stadium. It was a
great atmosphere home opener. Fans were eager to get back
to support the Green and White, but unfortunately one too
many misques, especially on the offensive side of the ball,

(01:07):
Bart where Zack Wilson four interceptions coming on his first
ten passes of the game. Robert Salis said it afterwards.
You know, when you lose the turnover battle, it's gonna
be tough to beat almost anybody. When you dig yourself
that deep of a hole, it's almost pretty much impossible. Yeah,
And when you talk about sometimes winning, boring is the
way to go. And you know, you understand the pressure, right,

(01:28):
you know, people hadn't we haven't had. It was the
first time in the year and I had that, we've
had fans inside of the stadium is electric, and I
just think the young kid came in. He wanted to,
he wanted He was too eager to please, he was
too eager to show off the big arm. And he
took some throw He made some throws that you really
can't make in his league. You can get away with
him once or twice, but you know, you can't make

(01:48):
a living and throwing through traffic or trying to fit
it into tight spots. Sometimes you just have to give,
you know, you have to take what the defense is given.
And he was trying too hard and pressing a little bit.
And it's something that the young here to learn from.
You know, understand that when you have the football in
your hands, you have everybody's future in your hands because
you are the most important person there, because you touched

(02:08):
the football every single play, every place starts and ends
with you. And I think this is a learning experience
for him. And I think he's gonna get coached up
today once they talk, go over the film, and he's
gonna understand it. All you have to do is put
the ball in your playmaker's hands, and it's not all
about you. Don't have to put it all on you,
because if you looked across the other sideline, that's exactly

(02:29):
what mac Jones did. Mac Jones didn't light it up.
He didn't make any big time throws, any wow wowing
you know ninety you know, nine of yard bombs thrown
across his body. All he did was to facilitate. And
that's really what the role of the quarterback is to
put the ball in the playmaker's hands and let them shine.
I think you hit it right on the head, you know.
Good contrast, you saw the other rookie quarterback, Mac Jones

(02:50):
do the same thing. Didn't really wow you with a
lot of the throws, but played safe, played very controlled football,
and it was effective enough for the New England Patriots yesterday.
The one thing that jumps out to me though first
two weeks of the season here for the New York Jets,
and certainly this is something that they're gonna be harping on.
Two is they get ready for their next opponent, which
will be the Denver Broncos in Week three. Offensively, part
the first half of these two games so far, they

(03:11):
haven't really been able to put enough consistent drives together
and points on the score where they have three points
so far in the opening half of the first two
ball games. Well, I'll tell you what it's all about.
Gettenough to a fast start and created some momentum. I
don't know if they have to kind of go back
and figure out what their first fifteen plays are because
most of the first the first drive, the first fifteen
players are scripted, and you're kind of going you throw

(03:33):
everything that you're gonna throw out the team From a
formation wise, you're gathering all the information that you need
to see how they react into certain formations, shifts and motions,
and um, that's what it's all about. So it's imperative
that you get up to a fast start because in
this league you can't really try and fight and dig
yourself out of a hole. They're gonna have to figure
out what their recipe is. But I tell you what
one thing. I was impressed with their ability to run

(03:54):
the ball, in their commitment to run in the ball. Now,
it's two schools of thoughts when you think about that, right,
you gotta acce yourself. Well, maybe New England was playing
light in the box so that they can allow you know,
Zack Wilson, I have to throw through complex coverages. Or
you can say, hey, well the offensive line has kind
of really tightened up, you know, because they struggled out
the unit that struggled the first week. You know, you

(04:15):
didn't see a lot of free runners, and you saw
them able to push guys off the ball and run
the ball against the New England pages. That's gonna be
a recipe for success, because that's gonna be the most
important thing is running the ball and allowing you know,
the offense to dictate and manipulate the safeties and linebackers
because that's the space that you wanted to really want
to live, you know, in between and be able to

(04:36):
get you know, high percentage throws. Absolutely, I think I
hit it right on the head, right because in week
one down in Cameralinea, Jets really didn't have a lot
of real estate to be able to run the football,
big difference complete one eighty against the Pats there on Sunday,
hundred and fifty two yards almost five yards to carry. Part.
You run the ball bad effectively more often than not,
you're gonna do good things offensively. And the way this

(04:57):
West Coast offense is predicated the running game game is
what really sets up the passing game. So you would
think that on most Sundays, if the Jets are gonna
run the ball effectively as they did yesterday, that's usually
gonna mean some good things for the offense and in turn,
Zack Wilson in that passing attack. Yeah, because you can't,
like I said all the time, you can't have action
without you know, play acts. You can't play acts without action,

(05:17):
and that action is running the ball and making people
fearful of you. Winning on first down. Went in on
first down, puts them in a dilemma, puts defenses in
the dilemma trying to figure out, you know, what's second
down and second out is a tremendous play action down
because it can be either a run or a pass
to try and you know, get the sticks view. If
you're running the ball at a five yard clip and

(05:37):
that beings. Technically, if you continue that, you know that
you're going to be getting the first down every two plays.
You know, then they have to put the eighth man
in the boxing and that's when you're able to get
those explosive players and show off that beautiful arm. You know,
But listen, is this something they're gonna have to learn from?
I think on the flip side, the defense did a
tremendous job and being put in some very adverse situations
to go down in a half after having that many

(05:58):
turnovers and only be down you know, you know, tending
to third with thirteen and three donald ten points, it
was a blessing. I thought they fought hard and I thought,
you know, what we thought was gonna be a big
issue going into this year. The fact that they let
guys like Blessing on Austin go, they didn't bring in
and go draft or going free agency to get a
lot of high end corners. Let you know that the

(06:20):
system is working, that they're teaching these guys, you know,
formational awareness, understanding, not getting beat and it's not like
they're just coming out there and play Tapa three or
Tapa two or three. They're still out there competing playing
cover one, but everybody's playing at a high level, and
that's something that you can build off us when you
go watch this film today, it's about building off the
positives and eliminating the negatives. You're absolutely right about that.

(06:42):
You know. Defensively, you think about New England, what they did,
sixteen of the twenty points they scored came off of
those jet turnovers there. So as a whole that side
of the football, talking about Jeff Albrick's defense, they really
buckled down and did a nice job. They remember to
talk all throughout the week that Robert Salin Jeff Albrick
we're telling and everyone was. You know, their philosophy is
to eliminate the explosive place, and for the most part

(07:04):
they did that. Yesterday. You know, Harris had the one
big run there for the touchdown, which you know there
were some mistackles along the way. But I thought, as
a whole, this defense played very very well. I mean,
they kept the Patriots the only two hundred and sixty
yards of total offense. Part I think when you look
at the eight quarters as a whole this year, from
the defensive side of things, I think there's a lot
to be satisfied with especially considering, as you said, think

(07:26):
of how many youngsters, rookies, second year players that they're
trying to will incorporate onto that side of the ball. Well,
that's why you have to play complimentary football. That's why
I's important for Zach Wilson understand that, Hey, listen, a
pun is a good thing because you punt the football,
you can maybe play the field position game and you
can gain yard is that way and let their young
quarterback or let their quarterback make the mistake because our

(07:48):
defense is capable of that. Right, they're capable of getting
to the past. I think emerging early on in this season,
we thought, you know, how would the Jets replace Carl Lawson. Well,
Franklin Myers is starting to assert himself and get recognition
for what he's been able to do and how he's playing.
Early on in the season, we saw Sheldon Rankins come
around and we know if he can get back to

(08:09):
that Pro Bowl for him. Quinnin Williams is working his
way back in the shape to get ready to continue
to be able to you know, start taking the next step,
you know, coming off an injuries, trying to get back
his his sea legs. I believe underneath him and and C. J.
Mosley has been who he's always been when he's healthy.
That's one of the top five middle linebackers in this game.
Marcus May showed up, so you know, once you understand that.

(08:30):
On the other side, like listen, we're a team. We're
not offense defense, We're a unit. And sometimes you gotta say,
you know what, I don't want to put my brothers
in harm's way, So I'm gonna make sure that I
make the right play, and that may be throwing the
ball away, that may be eating it. I think early
on with if IF I can have one critique of
Zack Wilson is that he doesn't understand in this league
that windows open and closed pretty fast, and sometimes you

(08:54):
can't hold on. You can't take that millisecond to think
about it. It has to be impulsive. You have you
have to be able to throw the ball when you
see you guy open and let him work. There's a
couple of players where you know he had you know,
they had cellar routes boots and he's thrown it to
the to the tight end or throwing it to the
receiver and he's on the sideline, he has no choice
but to go out of bounds. But understanding, once you
flip those shoulders, if you can get get him the

(09:16):
football in his hands, then you have the opportunity to
get those jack yards. You got those opportunities to get explosives.
You know, it goes down in the books the same
you know what I mean, it doesn't. You know, if
you throw a two yard pass and a guy runs
twenty five yards, well guess what you get to add
twenty seven yards to your passing total. It's It's okay,
It's not all the time about how far it goes
in the air. And that's something that they have to

(09:37):
learn how to play as a team. As a unit. Understand,
what you do on offense affects the defense, but you're
do on defensive affects the offense and special teams all
are connected. Now, you're absolutely right about that, I mean,
and the Jets have seen it up close from the
other side of things. Right last week in the game
against Camera Line, I think how many dump offs that
Sam donald anter Christian McCaffrey which went for a lot
of yards. Yesterday Matt Jones had a couple of them

(09:58):
to James white doesn't matter of fact. So look, moving
the football any which way you can is something I'm
sure that those coaches are gonna drill into Zach Wilson
here moving forward. And look, there's a lot of quarterbacks
that have games like he did yesterday. The real good
ones end up becoming the ones who learned from those
mistakes and are able to apply those tough lessons into
positives moving forward. And again it'll be next test up

(10:18):
for the Jets and Zach Wilson, that offense coming up
next Sunday in Denver against the Broncos. And this is
inside the Jets were brought to you by Selective Insurance,
be uniquely insured. Now. One of the guys that stood
out yesterday bart one of the rookies on this team,
one of the many that have made a contribution here
thus far. That's Michael Carter, the running back out of
North Carolina, was the team's leading rusher yesterday in the

(10:40):
game against the New England Patriots. And after it, when
final our team reporter Ethan Greenberg sat down with the
Jet rookie, he was running back Michael Carter. Michael, what
didn't work for the offense today? I don't know what,
I guess we had to go back and look on
the film. I think that it's important that we just
were just straining to finish. He's playing, Um, New England

(11:02):
was a good team, and I think that, well, you know,
it's one of the teams that you gotta be on
your ps and ques the beat. So I think just
moving forward, we just gotta go look at the film
and see what we did wrong and did right, and
build off and build off what we did right and
correct what we did wrong. Obviously, tough day at the
offense for your rookie quarterback Zack Wilson, But did you
say anything to him and what did you notice about

(11:24):
his temperament throughout the course of the game. I think
I think I'm really proud of that, you know, and
and a lot of people, I think, Jess fans are
so eager to win that it's you know, they get
upset easily. But I feel like, you know, with what
we're doing right now, you know, and we loved it.
We love the fans so much and we want to
We want to win way worse than they do. We

(11:45):
want them to know that. So, um, we're working every
single day. I'm really proud of that because you know,
amidst all the booze and amissed all the everything, you know,
he kept playing and he made some great throws after that.
He made some great decisions after that. So it's a
we're working every day. Nobody's perfect. We just we just
want to be great, so we're working towards that. How
comfortable do you feel in this offense? Feels like you

(12:07):
had a very good performance. I know it's a team game.
The average over five yards and carry and felt like
you had one of your better days today. Yeah, I
feel like, Um, the first of all often line, they
blocked it up. Um, we did a great job. Just
we came in with the right mindset today and I
feel like a mindset as a team is right and
we're developing into a championship mindset every day. And in

(12:30):
a fight, you know you're gonna get hit, but as
long as you can hit back, you know, I feel
like that's that's a sign of a sign of growth.
And so I feel like even though we lost today,
I feel that we grew as a team. What do
you guys need to do? Is there one thing in
particular that comes to mind for next week against the
Broncos as an offense in particular. Yeah, I just feel like, um,
it's always gonna be about us. So um, of course
they got a great defense. Um, and then they got

(12:52):
one of the best in the league. Um, and that
just speaks to the you know, to the chinn that
they put in. But I think as far as next
week goes like, it's about us, you know, as it
is every week, we gotta focus on were on what
we gotta do because at the end of the day,
we gotta do what we gotta do to make things happen.
You know, nobody's gonna give anything to us in this league.
As you can see. You know, it's hard enough to win.

(13:14):
Um when the when it's all even, you know, when
we're making mistakes and it gets way harder. So we
just gotta play mistake free football. Awesome, Michael, Thanks all.
I appreciate the time. All right, Thanks Ethan Greenberg, and
thanks to Michael Carter for chatting after that game yesterday
and Bart, you know, the success of the running game
and as things really got going for them yesterday. When

(13:35):
you look at the different personnel packages that the Jets featured,
one of them that really stood out I thought you
saw a little bit more of that traditional twelve personnel
with the one running back and the two tight ends,
you know, Ryan Griffin, Tyler Croft. Those guys also got
in there and did a lot of the dirty work
when it came to run blocking, helping to open up
a lot of these holes which these running backs ended
up finding some success with. Are you talking about that

(13:55):
Tiger personnel, that personnel that people love to have. You
talked about the Tampa Bay bucket. There's have it if
they looked on the other sideline, they see it with
Jonald Smiths, and they see it with Hunter Henry. It
creates so many different issues, especially if you have guys
that are able to be able not just you know, blockers,
but also can catch the football down the field, and
you think about the boots and waggles as usually what's

(14:17):
used is in that personnel off the play action, you know,
I think also you know, being able to help the
offensive line as well to give support when it is
play action. Now you have tight ends on the outside,
you have more of a seven man protection, you know,
and it allows you to get to the end. And
that's really what they have to do early on. That's
what La Flour is gonna have to do is really
figure out what his best personnel group is, you know,

(14:38):
versus the opponent that they're going against, just Davis twelve
personnel and what we call where I'm from, tiger personnel.
You know, it was able to be able to be
successful and help you get to the edges because the
miss directions getting that more more athletic person to the
second level to try and hit moving targets. There's allowed
to ask sometimes to act, you know, three pile men
to go to the second level and hit the key

(15:00):
it or a guy that's quicker than you fast and you, yes,
you're bigger than than him. But it's hard to hit
a nat, right. We've all tried to catch a fly.
We all try to swat a net and most more
time than that we miss him. You know, So I
think you know it's going forward, you know, Let's see
if they can generate this and this can become a habit,
not just a one off. Certainly some of the offense
wants to feature a heck of a lot more like
this moving forward here throughout the course of the season, well,

(15:22):
we talked about Michael Carter, the running back when we
return here on Inside the Jets, will check in on
the other Michael Carter. He, of course the corner out
of Duke. This is Inside the Jets presented by e
Y Building a Better Working World. And welcome back to
Inside the Jets presented by e Y Building a Better
Working World, Dan Grosso alongside Bart Scott. It's now time
for our player guests segment, also presented by e Y

(15:44):
Building a Better Working World. And we're pleased to be
joined by one of those rookies that is making plenty
of contributions for this version of the New York Jets.
He is the rookie corner from Duke and he's Michael Carter.
He's nice enough to give us some time here on
the program. Michael, it's Dan Gross and Bart Scott. Thanks
for spending some time with us today. How are you,
I'm good. How are y'all maintaining and maintaining? Tell us

(16:05):
what first of all, for the first time in the
year and a half, we had fans in MetLife Stadium.
Tell us just coming out of the tunnel, you know,
being able to open up what it felt like one
to really be accomplished your dream, but to to kind
of hear the cheers for the first time of your
own fans when they counted. It's going on the permanent record. Yeah,
I think, um, you know, adding more fuel to the

(16:27):
fire for me. Um, just coming out and being in
that environment, UM, as packed as it was for the
first time. UM, and just you know, just continuing to
bring even more emotion than than what I was feeling
UM coming in. UM. And and anxiousness as well to
to just go out there and hit somebody. Um. It
felt really good to be out there. Though. Was that

(16:49):
as loud I was gonna say, Michael, was that as
loud and as packed as any stadium that maybe you've
ever played in before? I mean, compared to the college level? Hey, yeah,
yeah for sure. I mean I think the only other
stadium I can think of that UM was loud, But
definitely I don't even think as loud as that was,
like Virginia Tech or something like that. Now, I know,

(17:10):
like when you when you're going like, not only is
this the opening day at the home stadium, open it up,
but also you're going against the divisional rival to fold
the team that's had our numbers, had everybody number for
the majority of the last twenty years Um, how did
that feel and how was the week of focus and preparation.
Was there any butterflies for you or were you just
so locked into the game plan that you're ready ready

(17:32):
to go? Yeah, I mean, I think as as far
as the game plan, um, you know, I was definitely
locked in. I think, um, you know, along with what
I was doing as far as film study and our coaches, um,
you know, they prepared us um really good. Um too
as far as what we might expect from from them,

(17:52):
and so going into it, you know, I feel like
we had all a confidence in the world to be
able to, um defend what was going on on there
eight tackles for you yesterday, which was second on the team.
One of them was for loss. You know a lot
of fans they think about the corner position and it's
just running alongside a wide receiver and making sure that
he doesn't get open to catch a pass from the

(18:13):
QB there. But the tackling element is also a very
very big part of playing your position. How much of
an emphasis do you put on that and the work
that you do and getting yourself ready to play each
and every work technique to make sure that hey, if
you gotta wrap up. You're gonna wrap up. Yeah, I
think what you know, it helped me a lot was
just being even though you know, in college, UM, being

(18:35):
a nickel corner and moving around, UM, you know, playing
all the positions at some point at one point or another. UM.
The way it was set up in at Duke was,
you know, our nickels were in the safety room, so
we learned how to say all the safety stuff. We
did individual drills with the safeties, UM, and so I
was considered a safety and that kind of, UM, you know,

(18:58):
develop my mentality as far as you know, I'm a
considered a nickel cornerback or whatever. But you know, all
that safety uh come downhill mindset. It's crazy because I
played safety and linebacker in both college and in the
league as well. And what it really does is it
helps develop your eyes because a lot of guys that

(19:19):
have to drop down into that box can't understand what
the combination of blocking schemes are, whether the guard is
pulling somebody, you know, the the in man a line
of scrimages is blocking down. They have no awareness that
it means somebody is coming from somewhere. Everybody, everybody's accounted for.
So listen that. Then sometimes that's a gift and the course, right,
I tell people all the time when you don't go
to big time college, I went to a D one

(19:41):
double A, so I was forced to do everything. So
I had to go down to the d N room,
then I had to go to linebacker room. Then I
had to go to the safety room. But it gives
you a skill set which makes you unique. So listen,
always embrace embrace that. But you know when you talk
about early in the season and you see this happening
around the league as as a whole, is the tackling
that isn't as good because you really don't get the

(20:03):
hit live and you're really not going with the same
speed that you that you're gonna do in the game.
You know, how's your development as far as your eyes,
your technique and as far as taking guys down developing
and how far do you guys think you have to
go as a team to become one of the better
tackling teams. Bid that you don't get a lot of
practice that you're hitting dummies and you're not really hitting

(20:23):
live bodies like practice used to be when I play, Yeah,
I think, um, you know a lot of it is, UM,
you know, defensively, UM, you know, treating you know, even
the practice reps when we're we're you know, just have
hellmnts on. Or even when you know, when we put
on shorter pads and you know full gear that you

(20:45):
know we're in the right our body positions, right to tackle. UM.
You know, make taking shots at the ball as well.
UM coach always says, you know that that will definitely
make you a better tackle as well. Just putting yourself
in a position to get the ball out or or
ball hunting, UM and things like that. Just just putting ourselves,
UM in in body positions that will UM, you know,

(21:07):
help us when we're in those positions in the game
and you know, now we're we're wrapping up obviously we're
wrapping up on dummies. And you know even in practice.
UM you know how we with thud and training camp
and things like that, that that still you know, carries
over UM into the season. UM. You know it's hard
to forget. UM. You know, you may forget I guess
the physicality takes the tackle, but UM, part of that

(21:30):
comes with UM, you know, just treating all those reps. UM,
you know, like you would bring somebody to the ground,
but protecting a teammate At the same time, we're talking
with Michael Carter, rookie defensive back here on inside the Jets.
And look, it's no secret that there is a lot
of roster turnover for this team here in Michael, and
there's a lot of youth, you know. I think it's
something like ten or eleven guys made their debuts last

(21:54):
week in the season opener. There were six rookies in
the starting lineup here. The fact that there are so
many of you who maybe you're lacking that NFL experience
but certainly not lacking in talent, does that help a
little bit with the transition with all of you guys,
maybe so many of you going through this journey together
and maybe helping each other along the way as you go. Yeah,

(22:14):
I think, um, you know, that's part of it, because
you know, we definitely want to um, you know, uplift
each other and help um, you know, each other succeed
and as as best as we can. And also you know,
all the older guys who who you know, help us
suggest to the speed of the game and what was
being taught and how we can you know, UM, adjust

(22:36):
to what's going on on the field. UM. And coach
always you know, coach tell us UM. You know a
few times too. You know, you're never too young um
to lead. UM. And so you know, and in the
corner room specifically, you know, speaking from from that perspective,
that's kind of how we approach it. UM. You know,

(22:56):
just being able to set the tone on the back end. UM. Honestly,
you know helps helps everybody else in the long run too.
If you guys named yourself yet, you guys have a
name for yourself. I'm not saying like like pop group,
like when I played we were we were the Lions,
right and the DBS were the highenis because they hunted impacts, right.
They knew they were little, they knew they had to
bring people down together. We had the Bears in front,

(23:18):
which was our defensive linement. If you guys got to
that point yet or is it just kind of too
early but you guys to figure out what your avatars are? Yeah,
it might might be might be too early. We've got
some suggestions, UM, but I don't. I don't think it's
it's anything setting stone just yet. As far as um,
you know, uh, animal or or you know, like some

(23:41):
air traffic control something like that. Um, you know there's
people throwing names out, but we haven't come to like
a conclusion on that end yet. I'm really surprised that
part's nickname was the Hyena. You know, I don't know
you were the Lions. Yeah, understood. Where wherever I played
the lineback has kind of ran the show, right, you

(24:01):
understanding myself? Ray Lewis you know what I mean? Peter
Brower t Sizzle when I came here met David Harris,
so it was kind of like that, right. But the
Highenas man they catch you. We used to do stuff
like in the in the hallways. The Highenas catch you,
they might jump you. You can't kill all of them.
Are you can't kill a bunch of high endas. It's
twenty of them, like they hunt impact are individual with hunters? No, Yeah,

(24:22):
for sure. Um, you know there's definitely a lot of us. Um,
you know, we're definitely I feel like we're close. Um,
But as far as the name, you know, I don't
think it's anything official yet. But um, you know, we
break it down on the Dirty Boys or or you
know what else to be continued. It's worth I get it,

(24:46):
so tell me to tell me this then, right. You know,
coming into this year, the concern was that they didn't
have enough you guys didn't have enough experience or you know,
maybe the talent there and they were surprised let the
less sign Austin go. You know, it was rumors and
maybe you know, because Solid was from San Francisco, that
maybe Sherman would come. You know, but you guys have
played at a high, high level. You know, no balls, No,

(25:08):
it's closely for the most part, you guys have been
you know, I think really the strength of this team
as well, like what type of pride is going into that?
And you know how you guys jelling as a unit
as far as the hardest thing when you got a
bunch of people that's never played together. As the verbal
nonverbal communication, how's that development going? UM? I think you
know we're getting better and better. UM. You know day

(25:29):
by day and week by week. UM. Communication is huge,
especially on the field. UM. And you know it starts
in the meeting room. How we communicated the meeting room
when we're watching the tape in practice and then you
know how it Um, that's that will translate to the
game when it's loud and you really can't here that well,
but you know, you might hear a little, you might

(25:51):
hear just something a sound from somewhere on the field,
and they'll get your attention and let you know, you know,
what's supposed to be going on in that particular place
or something like that. Um, So I think you know,
week by week we're still growing together. Uh, you know
that's part of the process. Um, you know, young guys,
but you know everybody's hungry, humble, undry for sure. Well,

(26:16):
we want to get into more with Michael Carter coming
up next year, and we were talking about names before.
He also shares one with one of his teammates, which
will get into coming up here in just a bit.
Here with Michael Carter, the rookie dB out of Duke.
This is Inside the Jets presented by e Y Building
a Better Working World. And welcome back to Inside the
Jets presented by e Y Building a Better Working World.
Dan Grasso, Bart Scott joined by Jets rookie corner Michael Carter.

(26:39):
All Right, Michael. Obviously a lot of Jet fans know
there's two Michael Carter's on the team. Both part of
this rookie class. He got the running back out of
North Carolina. You the defensive back out of Duke. So
not only did you go to colleges that were rivals
Duke and North Carolina, now you're on the same tier.
How is that Holds experience been like for you coexisting

(27:00):
with two guys who bear the same name. Yeah, I mean,
it's honestly been pretty pretty easy. And and um, you
know we kind of got along right off the rip,
so it wasn't uh, you know anything, you know crazy. Um,
you know we came in um and you kind of
we kind of just messed together. And you know, um,

(27:20):
now we're on the same team, so um, it's even more.
You know, it's a stronger relationship. And you know we
knew of each other, uh when we was when we
were in school. Um, but now we're on that same team.
You know, it's it's um, you know, it's a it's
a good relationship we have with each other. Well, you know,
how about how about well, no, I was gonna say
bart like, think about thinking about the possibilities you guys

(27:41):
could have one plays offense, one plays defense. I mean,
we got to get the marketing and the Merchandizing department
on this. I mean, yeah, I see one m C two.
I mean think we could do something like this, right, Yeah,
for sure. Well I'm definitely what I'm trying to figure out.
We want to practice both at the field. Somebody says, dammit, Michael,
like which one? Y'all turn around like you know what
I'm saying, like like like it's like coaches are like parents, right,

(28:05):
they gotta make sure to understand that it's two Michaels
out there. So how do they differentiate the two when
they're trying to coach both of you guys up and
yell from the sideline during practice during the game is easy, right,
because if there's defense you out there, you know who
the hell getting yelled at. But if you how y'all
know who they who get chewed up. I think, uh,
I've kind of taking on the just the the part

(28:27):
of the name. So I'm like m C. I'm just
em C and he's like Mike or Michael and and
so it's not too you took a swag down there,
you take MC yeah, MC two whatever whatever the coach
just want to want to say. But so it's not
really too much confusion as anymore on that on that end. Now,

(28:48):
I want to I want to get into the game
right because I've been part of every situation that everything
happened on the football field, and it's always tough, you know,
to try and stay the course and keep everybody together
when you have you know, the offense struggling and having turnovers.
You gotta get back right back out there changing the possession.
What was the morale like and what was the mindset?
You know, when you have the turnovers, you gotta go

(29:10):
right back out there after you know, going out there
and playing well, and did you guys wear down a
little bit, you know because maybe you know, taking the
extra reps and extra snaps. Now, I think the only
thing on our mind was, you know, get the ball
back for him. Um. You know, just do what we
can control. We can control, um, because if we were
in the in the position, you know, they do the

(29:31):
same for us, UM. And so that you know, that's
that's part of being a team, lifting each other up
and keeping each other uplifted. UM. And so you know,
when things aren't going our way, you know they got
our back. And when and when you know things might
be going the other way, we got them that's just
you know, part of being a team. And that's kind
of the mindset you know, we had going forward throughout

(29:53):
the whole game. UM, I think everybody did a great job,
you know, winning and losing, right, that's the ultimate That's
what you're measured by the final score. But given everything
that took place in that game yesterday, some of the
things that Bart was just alluding to their Michael, I mean,
the defense as a whole, you only allowed two sixty yards.
You know, you kept this team in the football game.
I know the coach Solid likes to preach about, you know,

(30:15):
limiting the explosive plays and not giving up too many
of those, and for the most part, you guys did
that yesterday. I mean, do you take any sort of
satisfaction away from that yesterday saying, you know, as a whole,
I think we did a pretty good job. I think, UM,
you know, just taking away from yesterday that UM, you know,
as a unit, you know, we the way we finished

(30:38):
and and fought, UM, we have a chance to to
be great and then we can continue to make the
team great. UM. As a result of that. UM. And
but you know, obviously there's no satisfaction and UM you know,
if we couldn't pull it out on as far as that, so, um, yeah,

(31:02):
that's really how I feel. But I think we finished good. Um.
But then you know, we still we gotta get the
ball back for them as well. So we had a
lot of things we can improve on too, but a
lot of promise. I think optimism. Now, you know, it's weird, right,
I like to flash forward a little bit now thinking

(31:23):
that you guys have Denver, right, That's that's one thing, right,
because when you go to Denver, you don't know this ship.
They're gonna have the altitude sitting there for you. You know,
when you're walking there in the locker room, they're gonna
make sure that you know that it's thin air up there. Right.
But also for the first time, I don't know if
you've ever played, you know, at four o'clock. I'm sure
you maybe played at four o'clock or a night game before,

(31:44):
but you know, how are you in developing your routines
so you can learn how to deal with a one
o'clock game opposed to a four o'clock game, opposed to
a Monday night game on Thursday night game. How are
you developing your routines do you have any like crazy
routines that you do to get get ready for a game,
understanding you have to eat at different times so that
the energy kicks in, right, UM, Yeah, I think I

(32:05):
kind of keep my routine probably kind of lame, to
be honest. UM, as far as on game day, you know,
I try to wake up so I can you know,
eat breakfast at a decent time, so it's not sitting
on me. UM. As far as for the one o'clock game,
so it's not sitting, but you know, I have enough
energy to to get through it. I'm full enough to

(32:27):
you know, perform at uh, you know, my highest level. UM.
As far as how a four o'clock game would go
or has been in the past, you know, I kind
of just keep all that stuff. Similar to college. Um,
you know, go go eat breakfast, go back to the room.
I might go back to sleep, I might not, and

(32:48):
then just wake up, UM, eat again and get ready
to play. UM. You know, as far as on on
game day with me, UM, I feel like, um, um
super prepared, and so it's not as much as UM
as far as you know, yeah, are you the quiet

(33:10):
Are you the quiet guy? You too? Youself are because
you got to do that. Want to be amped up,
want to get everybody, want to talk to everybody. And
you got the guys in the corner with their eyes covered,
laying out off their feet. You got then you got
the other dudes and sitting up there talking stuff or
to do this watching TV? Which one are you? Yeah,
I'm definitely. I'm definitely a chill um, you know, laid back,
but but trust me, I'm definitely locked in and focused.

(33:32):
And you know I'm just as hype as the you know,
the hypenan themselves. Um uh, you know, I just when
get on the field, it comes out. But as far
as you know, pregaming and things like that, you know,
I like to just keep all I just like to
keep to myself and and um, you know, just relax
because I don't want to get too I don't like

(33:54):
to overwhelm myself, um with what I might be feeling
or or what I'm thinking about, you know, just stay neutral.
And then when I when I get on the field
and I see what's going on, you know, everything just
comes to me. I know, I prepare it will um.
And that's kind of how you know it's been throughout
college and and I contact. I've been taking the same approach, um,

(34:15):
you know so far in the league as well. Yeah, Michael,
real quick here before we let you go. And just
I'm curious, you know, your transition to the NFL as
a rookie. You know we were talking a little while ago.
How you know you're kind of glad that you could
put all the academic stuff away. You went to a
school Duke which is a very very prestigious academic institution there.
What do you like to do in your downtime you're

(34:36):
off days that you have here now during the season,
what does Michael Carter like to do it? Online? And
you know on on off days in downtime's um, you know,
definitely take care of my body, um, and you know,
make sure you know I'm getting back to a hundred
percent are as closely as possible, um to you know,
take on the week and tapple every obscole and all

(34:57):
diversity that may come with preparing a week, practicing hard
and things like that. And then you know, playing video games.
It's always been my thing probably forever. Um, you know,
I'm still just you know young, and they like to
play you know, Madden MLB, Call of Duty all that stuff.
Just just take me away from from football for a

(35:19):
little bit and just everything outside of you know, my
my little room and that TV right there. Do you
play with yourself and Madden? I have, yes, don't do
it early on a disrespectful early on in your career. Yeah,
they're very disrespectful. But you know, I ain't gonna lie
and say I ain't up my stuff a little bit.

(35:40):
Already up my stats, my my attributes, making plays on
Madden as well, So you know I've already been on that,
no doubt about that. Well that those numbers are gonna
keep going up as you continue to keep playing well
and doing your thing. And Michael, we really appreciate a
couple of minutes from you today here and continued success.
I'm sure things are. I'm gonna get better for yourself

(36:01):
and that defense as we move forward through the season.
But we always appreciate your carving out some time. Yes, sir,
appreciate you having me all right. So that's Jets rookie
dB Michael Carter joining us here. We got a lot
more to do on Inside the Jets presented by e
Y Building a Better Working World and welcome back to
Inside the Jets. Presented by e Y Building a Better
Working World Dan Grass alongside Bart Scott. Remember Jets fans,

(36:21):
you can watch Inside the Jets through the Jets App
presented by Fubo Sports Book. Go to the app store
or Google Play right now in search Official New York Jets. Bart.
Let's go around the league in the time that we
have left over. I would say that the game last
night between the Ravens and Chiefs, I think that one
was pretty entertaining. No, that was a cherry on top.
I mean, you talk about the four o'clock games were exciting,
came down to the wire. Whether you want to talk

(36:43):
about Dallas and Chargers, you want to go back and
talk about Minnesota, Arizona. I think you know the NFL
and Week two did not disappoint. We knew it was
going to be difficult for them to outdo Week one,
but I think they did. I mean, you should talk
about Dallas and last minute kicks. Some teams made them,
some teams didn't ACoM but they all came down to
that forefront one that stole the show. Talking about Lamar

(37:04):
Jackson and how that game started with him throwing a
pick six, another interception, and they just stayed the course,
and it gives you the glimpse of what you hope that.
You know, you just take the guys out the uniforms
and you put Zack Wilson in one uniform and you
put you give Robert Solo over there, and you you
hope to have that type of relationship that John Harball
has with Lamar Jackson when he looks into his quarterback,

(37:27):
I say, you want to go, you wanna go? We're
gonna go, and like, yeah, we want to go, knowing
what he's already gonna say, you know what I mean?
And and that's what we're building too. Right. We saw
some great examples of quarterbacks kind of punching above their
weight teams, like you know, defying the eyes because you know,
early on in the season, we think we know who's good,
who's gonna be good, and then we two just shatters everything.

(37:47):
You talk about the Las Vegas Raiders going to Pittsburgh
at the Pitts person dominant against the Buffalo Bills and
getting the job done. You talk about nobody thought Baltimore
was gonna win. You talked about Minnesota, the agony of defeat,
missing a thirty seven yard field goal week two gave
you everything that you wanted. Now you're right about that.

(38:08):
And let's start with that Chief's Ravens game last night,
and that's a big one potentially. I mean, you talk
about playoff implications, tiebreakers, that sort of thing. You never
know how things are gonna stand in early January once
we get to the postseason. But as you watch that
game unfold, it had the feel of whatever team has
the football last is gonna win the game. The problem
for Kansas City was you thought they were gonna have

(38:29):
it last, and then Edwards Hilaire puts it on the ground,
Baltimore recovers it and Lamar Jackson, as you said, the
fourth and one ice is the game himself, coach has
trusted him there. I'll tell you that is a heck
of a win for the Baltimore Ravens coming from behind,
especially bart think about how crushing that Week one loss
was for them out in Vegas against the Raiders. That
is a huge statement for them last night on a

(38:50):
short week, right and right now there one in one
because people thought, even myself being a former Ravens like, hey,
well they're probably gonna be on two. But it's okay
because everybody else is lost in the division. Cleveland's loss,
Cincinnati is lost. But right now now they're tired with
the leading. You talk about who has the best win
and all the football, you have to say that the
Ravens will not in that division. You have to say
the Ravens. And what what really? It showed me and

(39:12):
what I've always known, you know, being a former Raven
is about their DNA, right, because when you take the
players away, the standard remains the same. And that's really
what we're trying to develop here with the Jets, right,
a DNA. What is a jet? Play like a jet?
What does that mean? We've always known with certain franchises

(39:32):
what that meant. And playing like a Raven, you know
what it is to mean the Raven. You know you
talk about you change the names, and you change the
names and the people change, but the standard remains the same.
We were how how often did we talk about all
all treason? About oh Way not having any sacks at
Penn State? Who made the big play always right? And
he was he was busy all day, right because he

(39:53):
also calls the other interception when he came back and
he mirrored my homes and got him and was taking
him down for the sacking my Homes at the interception, right,
So I think you know, if anybody watched that game,
you should be able to one be excited about the
league is in a good position when you think about that, dude,
because that Dudel is going nowhere, right, Lamar Jackson versus
Patty Mahomes is going nowhere. And that's good for football.

(40:15):
That's saying that, Hey, the position is in a good
spot with the young talented quarterbacks in this league. As
we usher out the Drew Brees is, as we usher
out the Ben Robin's Burgs, we usher out the Philip
Rivers that the standard and the entertainment factor is tremendous.
They both get it done, but they get it done
in so many different ways or uniquely different ways that
it's fun to watch. And you know something, I know that, Look,

(40:37):
the Chiefs are the Chiefs. They're gonna be fine. You
know that as long as you have Mahomes in that offense,
they're gonna puts up on the scoreboard. But the one
thing that stands out to you when you look at
their performance the first two weeks of the season, their
opponents are eight for eight in the red zone. So
that defense has to buckle down here and start to
make some stands because you know what, even if you
have Superman at quarterback, eventually it's all three phases and footballs.

(40:59):
We talked about a lot. That defense is gonna have
to start to make some big stops if they want
to get to where they want to go. Yeah, what
did the Ravens do? Right? They said, we're gonna keep
my homes on the sideline. They have a seven minute drive.
That where's the defense out? And it was a battle
of attrition, right, and they were able to just outlast
And now, listen, my Homes was probably gonna go down
if a layer doesn't fumble and win that game. But
then you can say, hey, well what if you don't

(41:19):
have those turners in the first quarter, it's a much
different ball game. And eventually that's what That's what Tampa did.
That's what they show. Make the defense have to, you know,
hold up the end of the bargain. So often you
think about my homes putting up so many points and
explosive plays with Terrek Hill that you're two scores behind,
you can't catch up. You know, the Ravens kept in striking.
They since they made big plays and it was a

(41:40):
great game to watch. You know, you talk about you
know early on m VPS you got Lamar Jackson. That's
you know, definitely always an m v P candidate. We
know my homes is. But I tell you what, man,
we got some people that's invited to the party. When
you think about what the air raid and what Arizona
has been able to do with Kylin Murray throwing for
over eight hundred yards in his first two games and
Derek Carr, you have to give me credit, you know,

(42:00):
I'm sorry, Dred carrent store for over eight hundred yards
and this offense has never been a problem. Looks like
they have a little bit better defense. So listen, it's
so much exciting going on. But the one for me
was like, I like the throwbacks, right, and the the Ravens winning.
That was a throwback, right. They run the ball, they
played good defense. But man, did you see King Henry
and what he was able to do putting the team
on his back. Julio Jones after he was punching at

(42:22):
the air like trade from Boys in the Hood, comes
back and give you six ft one twenty Derrick Henry
puts the team on his back a hundred eighty seven
yards and then listen, just going down and went in
the way that you play the Ravens in the in
the in the Titans played the game like they're in
n right, running the ball and listen, what's old is
new was new as old, and it's interesting to see

(42:44):
how this season is gonna play up. We're off to
a great star. Jets play the Titans in a couple
of weeks and met like stadium out in the next
home game in October the three year. So right about
Tennessee though, right because they were down a couple of
scores in that football game, and so many times we
see teams around the league when they trail like that,
it's all we got to abandon the running game. We
gotta throw, throw, throw, throw, throw. Not them, they stick
to their DNA. They stick to what their bread and

(43:05):
butter is. And you said, when you got Derrick Henry,
I don't know how many more years it's gonna last,
given the workload that he produces. But you know what,
when he's still ticking, you might as well keep running
embark and it works for him, and you know, it's
a supernova right, because to me, the biggest cop we
have isn't Eddie George, it's Brandon is Brandon Jacobs right,
they're built the same, but his ability to continue to

(43:26):
play at a high level and get stronger. You know,
Brandon jacobs on he was only good for like four
teen carries and that's what he would get a game.
King Harry put the team on his back and he's
been doing is for North for three years. Like you said,
it's like a supernova. You don't know how long it's
gonna last, but man, is it beautiful to watch. All right,
let's talk about the Jets next opponent here, that'll be
in Denver, back on the road week three. Now, look,
the Broncos are two and oh gloves right, He's making

(43:49):
it happen here. Now. They beat the Giants, they beat
the Jacksonville Jaguars. This is their home opener because they
have the two road wins. It's always tough to go
to Denver. You know about the altitude, that place is
gonna be crazy. They're welcoming in an undefeated team. But
I wouldn't sit here and say it's an unwinnable game
for the New York Jets. I think that if they
play like they're capable of, they should be able to
have some success in Denver. Well, it's gonna have to

(44:11):
be a complete team game because you look at Denver,
they're stacked on offense and defense. There they have depth
at every position. You think about von Miller, you think
about Chubb, you think about you know certain Kyle Fuller
and and Derby and and probably the best safety in
the game, and Simmons. You're gonna have to make sure
that you take care of football and punting isn't a
bad thing. You actually can gain yards with Punny. We
understand how how thin the area is. I wonder, hey, man,

(44:34):
we who knows who's gonna be out there, But you know,
Zack Wilson out there, he should with his arm strength,
he should be able to throw the ball in ninety yards.
So maybe pet birth the baby a little bit, if
you can get it and run a one man around
and see how far you can get it. Man, things
travel farther in Denver. But it's gonna be interesting. They're
gonna have to play a complete game. Denver is very
very well disciplined team. Big Banjo I know him very well.

(44:54):
He's a he's an old school player. You know. They
have tremendous, too too good running backs. We think about Gordon,
think about Williams but fat and you know, Judy being
Andrew helps out a little bit, but Hambler has picked
up the slack and Sutton is a beast vant Williams.
Like you said, the rookie from North Carolina share the
backfield with Michael Carter from the Jets at U n C.
Both getting a thousand yards last year. Bart, this was

(45:17):
fun is always my friend, and again we'll reconvene again
next Monday and talk about a Jets trip to Denver,
which we hope produces a w but great job out
of you as always likewise, Man, see you next week.
All right. He's Bart Scott. I'm Dan Grazza. This is
Inside the Jets, presented by e Y building a better,
a working world. So long everybody will talk to you
next week