Lowery Talks About New Role

Dwight Lowery is excited about the opportunities the additions of Antonio Cromartie and Kyle Wilson will bring.

Lowery started 10 games at cornerback his rookie year and five games last year. This season he will have the luxury of playing on the inside in pass situations — a role that fits his skill set as a blitzer and dime cornerback. He enjoys his starting opportunities but also believes that his talents in a complementary role can help the Jets achieve their goals

"Things happened last year where I was pressed into the starting role, which is fine," Lowery said. "But in terms of my abilities with blitzing, there’s a chance you can come free, and there’s nothing like it. If you’ve shown the quarterback you can come on the blitz, now he’s aware of you, now you can play the game with him a little bit and now he’s focused on you more than what he’s supposed to be doing."

Lowery isn’t proficient just when blitzing the quarterback, considering he intercepted three passes last year and forced five fumbles during his rookie year. At 5’11" and 198 pounds, the San Jose State product can clean a quarterback’s clock, but he has the coverage skills to make an impact in the passing game. During his junior year at San Jose State in 2006, he led the country in interceptions with nine. And his play this offseason have made an impact on the rookie.

One of the many things Rex does well is find a niche for role players in subpackages. Think Eric Smith last season. It's nice to see Dwight take the glass half full approach to the team bringing in players to reduce his playing time. I think we'll see Lowery line up all over the place, including safety, and do some different things.

Even so, the importance of his coverage cannot be sold short. Many of the teams the Jets will have to go through in the AFC have deep receiving corps. Take the Colts. Anthony Gonzalez will be back next year. He, Reggie Wayne, and Austin Collie will be the top three. That would leave Dwight against Pierre Garcon, who torched him in the AFC Championship Game. This team still needs him to make strides in coverage.