Quinton Coples Set To Start At Defensive End

Muhammad Wilkerson left the game against the Buffalo Bills on Monday with a toe injury. Although he was able to rejoin his team-mates on the sideline, he wasn't able to re-enter the game. All indications point to Mo missing the divisional game against Miami on Monday:

"It doesn't look good for Big Mo," Ryan said. "He was not able to practice today. He is in a boot. The severity of that, I guess we will find out later. I think he is going to get, I don't know if it's an MRI or something like that on it. But, I think if you are in a boot, that doesn't look good for this week."

There is no reason to chance him, the Jets are playing for pride alone and risking your best player for the sake of pride is a fools errand. That does mean there is a good opportunity for Quinton Coples to return to his natural position on the defensive line.

Coples has disappointed since being drafted 16th overall in the 2012 draft, however we've taken him out of his natural position and asked him to play a hybrid DE/OLB role that has frustrated us all for the last two years. It was done to accommodate Sheldon Richardson who has been a fantastic addition to this team, but I can't help but feel Quinton's development was severely stunted by having to learn a new position.

This year he has registered 22 tackles, 3 sacks, 5 QB hits and 16 QB hurries. Not spectacular numbers but not terrible either. Luckily he is rarely asked to play in space but I believe he'll do a lot more damage as a 3-4 DE, or a 4-3 DT (we'll look at this further soon). I'm interested to see how he does if he gets the chance to play DE this weekend.