Mike LaFleur shoulders blame for Jets’ failed…
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The ill-fated play is now four days old, but it was still eating at Mike LaFleur on Thursday.
The Jets offensive coordinator took full ownership for a lack of communication on the fourth-and-2 play call gone wrong, which helped turn a potential upset of the Buccaneers into a gut-punch loss on Sunday.
LaFleur called a play for an end-around to wide receiver Braxton Berrios, but it included a built-in read for Zach Wilson to run a quarterback sneak if he got the right look. Wilson went for the sneak and came up short, allowing Tom Brady and the Bucs to march 93 yards for the game-winning touchdown drive.
“First, it’s 100 percent on me,” LaFleur said Thursday. “Disappointed in myself for two reasons: I pride myself on communication and our unit on execution. I failed at both of those. The total intent was to get Braxton the ball, he was balling. I failed at that, to get that relayed.
“Our quarterback did exactly what he was supposed to do in that moment. I know what our intent was, whether people want to believe that or not, but that’s what happened. I failed at both and I have to live with that. I know I’m going to learn from that. I know I have learned from that. You can’t let the same play beat you twice. In that situation, I’m going to make sure that absolutely does not happen again.”
In the aftermath of the game, Wilson received some criticism for being selfish and taking the ball himself. But LaFleur took the blame, adding that he knows he called the right play, he just didn’t have the proper communication.
“Not a time to sneak it, obviously. That’s why I can’t call that play. That’s why I need to communicate what needed to happen,” LaFleur said. “But it didn’t get done.
“Again, it just didn’t get communicated the way it needs to get communicated. I have to live with that and learn from that. So it sucks.”
https://nypost.com/2022/01/06/mike-lafleur-shoulders-blame-for-jets-failed-fourth-down-sneak/
