Will Sauce Gardner's quest to be the very best CB be overshadowed by lack of interceptions?

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Sauce Gardner does not do holidays. The New York Jets cornerback does not imagine in them. The thought of chilling at a five-star resort, sipping fruity libations on a white-sand seaside, does not attraction to him.

To begin with, he does not drink alcohol. No sauce for Sauce. Secondly, he is a homebody. The Jets’ journey to London in two weeks to face the Minnesota Vikings can be his first time overseas. He stated he hasn’t taken a real trip since coming into the NFL in 2022, providing an existential purpose.

“Me, personally, I simply really feel such as you’re simply attempting to flee the life-style that you just dwell,” Gardner stated in a quiet second at his locker. “We play soccer, and we ought to be coaching. So occurring that lengthy trip is getting away from what you are presupposed to be.”

Which explains why he reported to the Jets’ facility two weeks after final season ended to start coaching, three months forward of the official begin to the offseason program. It is why his new, sprawling residence in New Jersey features a restoration room, full with a red-light remedy mattress, sauna, chilly tub, treadmill and stationary bike.

From the time he was 4 years previous, taking part in flag soccer within the Tiny Mites league within the Seven Mile part of Detroit, Gardner’s singular focus has been to play within the NFL and be the very best cornerback there ever was. Plenty of youngsters dream that dream, however his early-career trajectory aligns along with his life plan, and he is simply 24.

Gardner is the one cornerback for the reason that NFL-AFL merger in 1970 to be named first-team All-Professional in every of his first two seasons. Solely three defensive gamers have pulled that off: former New York Giants legend Lawrence Taylor, Dallas Cowboys cross rusher Micah Parsons and Gardner, who stated his particular person aim this season is to be Defensive Participant of the Yr.

Now If he might simply get his arms on a cross or two, perhaps that may silence cynics who counsel the sauce is not as marketed. He’ll take a 26-game interception stoop into Thursday night time in opposition to the New England Patriots at MetLife Stadium (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video).

Large deal or nah?

LONG BEFORE HE shadowed extensive receivers, Gardner shadowed his huge brother, Allante. Regardless of a six-year age distinction, the 2 have been inseparable rising up. Though there was an open room of their home, they determined to share the identical bed room.

Allante performed soccer, so Sauce performed soccer, following him into yard video games in opposition to the large youngsters. When Allante modified his uniform to No. 2, Sauce switched to No. 2. When Allante labored out with a coach throughout his school offseasons — he was a operating again/extensive receiver at Saginaw Valley State and Lakeland College — Sauce tagged alongside.

“He was all the time proper subsequent to me,” stated Allante, who knew there was one thing particular about Gardner when he discovered on the age of 5 to journey a motorcycle with no coaching or coaching wheels.

Gardner was all the time fearless, in keeping with Allante, who stated his child brother as soon as broke his arm doing a backflip off a fence. He stated they each acquired their work ethic from their mom, Alisa, a single mother who labored two jobs to help them. If one among them wished to attend a soccer camp, she labored extra time to pay the charges.

Gardner stated one reminiscence of residing on the nook of Rowe Avenue and Seven Mile East, made an impression. When he was 14, he noticed a person fatally shot exterior a liquor retailer. Out of worry, he did not inform anybody.

“It simply made me come to the conclusion that you would be able to’t take something as a right,” Gardner stated. “Me simply witnessing that, I used to be like, ‘Dang.’ I simply had to verify I used to be locked in on all the pieces — soccer, faculty, all that — as a result of I knew in the end the place I wished to go.”

No matter path Gardner goes, Allante is there with him — even when it is not bodily. Allante, who nonetheless lives in Detroit, is a vp at Vayner Sports activities — the corporate that represents his brother. Sounding like an agent, however talking as a blood relative, Allante believes Gardner has the potential to be “a once-in-a-lifetime participant.”

Cornerbacks are sometimes evaluated based mostly on their interception whole. That calculus cannot be utilized to Gardner, who has as many Professional Bowls on his resume as profession picks (two).

In an ESPN survey of practically 80 NFL coaches, scouts and executives, one unnamed personnel evaluator referred to as Gardner “one of the overrated gamers within the league.” The identical survey ranked him the third-best nook, behind the Denver Broncos‘ Patrick Surtain II and the Cleveland Browns‘ Denzel Ward.

Former star Richard Sherman, a three-time All Professional cornerback, believes Gardner has benefitted from geography.

“Clearly, being within the New York market helps,” Sherman, a Prime Video analyst, stated on a convention with reporters. “It helped [Darrelle] Revis, it helps Sauce. … He is extremely worthy [of his accolades]. He is been named first-team All-Professional. It isn’t as a result of he hasn’t performed effectively, but it surely positively helps taking part in in that New York market and getting that target you after which taking part in effectively when you’ve acquired that focus.”

For his cash, Sherman stated Surtain is the very best all-around nook within the sport, including, “If he was in an enormous market, if he was taking part in for the Dallas Cowboys, I do not assume there can be any debate as a result of folks can be watching him on a regular basis.”

WHEN TOLD OF Sherman’s feedback, Gardner shrugged. He agreed to a sure extent, saying he does revenue from taking part in in New York. However he stated that it is a double-edged sword: Extra eyes on you means extra strain. Even Sherman acknowledged, “New York can chew you up and spit you out the identical approach it might increase your recreation.” Gardner added, “Plenty of instances, there is not any in-between.”

Gardner welcomes the scrutiny. Requested if he is the very best nook, he stated merely, “I attempt to do it as if I am the very best.”

Former cornerback Jason McCourty, who performed 13 years, had preliminary questions on Gardner regardless of his lofty draft pedigree — fourth total in 2022. These questions did not final lengthy.

“Even coming in, I am questioning how he will do it, masking these guys man-to-man, coming from [the University of] Cincinnati — and he is simply been superior,” stated McCourty, now an ESPN analyst, in a cellphone interview. “To step into the NFL and to have the ability to cowl a few of the greatest extensive receivers, to be an All-Professional and to hit the bottom operating is simply fully elite.”

However what in regards to the lack of interceptions? McCourty stated it should not be a barometer, that Gardner’s capability to neutralize extensive receivers trumps his low interception whole.

Sherman believes the sport has modified. Gone are the times, he stated, when corners corresponding to Deion Sanders and Champ Bailey made the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame with gaudy interception totals — 53 and 52, respectively. In 2023, Revis, the previous Jets star, was elected on the primary poll with 29.

“I do assume interceptions are essential, however I suppose, these days, [people] do not as a result of there’s simply not loads of guys getting them,” stated Sherman, who made 37 in his profession.

Whereas the interception whole will not be eye-popping,Gardner is a cross break up machine. His profession whole of 33 is the third most amongst corners since he entered the league. If he is getting shut sufficient to defend passes, in idea, he ought to be catching a few of them.

He is aware of this; he does not shrink back from it. Requested his targets for 2024, he stated, “Get extra picks and preserve grinding for that Defensive Participant of the Yr [award].” He desires at the very least 4 or 5 interceptions.

Gardner spends time after follow on every-day drills, together with catching balls from a Jugs machine. His coaches love his work ethic. As cornerbacks coach Tony Oden likes to say, “Simply once you assume you have arrived as a participant … dangerous issues begin to occur.”

Every time coach Robert Saleh is requested about methods by which Gardner can enhance, he normally responds: Intercept the ball extra usually. Oden, all the time pushing his protege, stated “there’s extra meat on the bone.”

Maybe, however his profession is off to a historic begin. He has pitched a league-high six shutouts since 2022 — video games by which he allowed zero receptions as the closest defender with a minimal of 20 protection snaps, in keeping with Subsequent Gen Stats.

Gardner acquired the All-Professional nod with a zero-interception efficiency final season. For a nook, that hadn’t occurred since 2010, when Revis and Nnamdi Asomuha each did it.

Uncommonly tall for a nook at 6-foot-3, with 33.5-inch arms, Gardner makes it troublesome for receivers to flee his clutches. His dimension and physicality permit him to jam greater receivers on the line of scrimmage, in keeping with McCourty. What actually impresses McCourty is how Gardner can keep on with smaller, faster receivers on the high of their routes. These abilities, he believes, might make him the most effective corners of this period.

“When you could have an extended man, a taller man that may run, it is form of robust for a receiver,” Tennessee Titans receiver Tyler Boyd stated. “It is robust to only run away from the man, realizing how lengthy and athletic he’s. However do not get me unsuitable, he is beatable. Each DB on this league is beatable.”

The Titans proved that Sunday, beating Gardner on a 40-yard landing cross to Calvin Ridley. The protection was tight, however quarterback Will Levis dropped the cross between Gardner and security Chuck Clark. All instructed, Gardner allowed 5 catches for 97 yards when focused, his most yards allowed as the closest defender in his profession, in keeping with Subsequent Gen Stats.

It was an uncharacteristic day for Gardner, who not often surrenders chunk performs. Afterward, within the locker room, he was shaking his head. “I nonetheless do not understand how he caught that,” he stated.

IN THE SEASON-OPENING loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Gardner acknowledged a gadget play was coming.

On a third-and-5 from the Jets’ 29, he alerted teammates to observe for a reverse. Linebacker C.J. Mosley heard him earlier than the snap, adjusted and helped lure extensive receiver Deebo Samuel within the backfield. Mosley credited Gardner, calling him one of many smartest gamers on protection.

“He is turn into an actual pupil of the sport,” Mosley stated. “He is much more vocal than he was as a rookie.”

Gardner made the sort out and was credited along with his first profession sack due to Samuel’s intention to throw a cross.

“He is a movie junkie,” Allante stated.

Allante stated Gardner watches about an hour of recreation movie each night time in his residence theater, studying opponents’ tendencies and critiquing his personal efficiency. He described it as a singular focus, saying his brother possessed it at an early age.

“He is a distinct man,” Allante stated. “He do not drink, he do not smoke, he do not social gathering.”

Exterior of soccer, Gardner performs video video games — he is an achieved gamer — and hones his golf swing in his residence simulator. Golf is a brand new ardour. He proudly declares that he broke 90 for the primary time earlier than coaching camp.

Life is nice for Gardner. Enterprise is booming.

The worth for Gardner will enhance within the coming years, maybe subsequent yr, when he is eligible for a contract extension. The ceiling on the cornerback market was raised just lately, when Jalen Ramsey ($24.1 million per yr) and Surtain ($24 million) signed extensions. With one other good yr, Gardner might leapfrog each to turn into the highest-paid nook.

Gardner acquired a cellphone alert when Ramsey’s deal was accomplished, saying his first thought was: “Dang, Pat wasn’t even the highest-paid nook for a day.”

He applauded the contracts, noting that corners lastly are closing the hole with the highest-paid receivers, however stated he is not looking forward to his potential blockbuster deal.

Gardner’s job as a nook is to make these receivers appear invisible. He is additionally had a knack for making quarterbacks shrink back from him. In two video games, he has been focused solely eight instances as the closest defender, having allowed 5 receptions for 97 yards.

Within the offseason, he requested the coaches to present him the added accountability of masking the opponents’ No. 1 receiver. Philosophically, the Jets’ employees is against doing that on an every-down foundation, citing scheme and personnel issues, however they’re giving him a style of it.

Within the opener, Gardner traveled with Brandon Aiyuk for a handful of performs and allowed no catches. In Week 2, regardless of the lengthy landing to Ridley, Gardner was given an enormous accountability with the sport on the road. Within the ultimate minute, with the Titans within the purple zone, down by a landing, Gardner shadowed DeAndre Hopkins on 4 straight cross performs. Levis averted that matchup. The end result: Three incomplete passes, a sack and a 24-17 victory for the Jets (1-1).

“We now have a particular expertise in No. 1,” defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich stated, “and Sauce can do some issues which might be so distinctive and particular.”

Gardner welcomes the problem. He does not thoughts taking part in on an island, the way in which Revis did again within the day. Given his dislike for holidays, it may be the one island he enjoys.