J.J. Wilcox reveals biggest reason he joined Jets

Safety J.J. Wilcox has finally revealed the biggest reason why he ultimately decided to sign with the New York Jets.

When news broke out that safety Rontez Miles would miss a significant portion of the upcoming season, the New York Jets acted quickly. They came to terms with free agent safety J.J. Wilcox who snubbed the San Francisco 49ers and preferred to sign with the city that never sleeps.

At the time, no one knew why he made the decision that he did. Recently, Wilcox revealed what made him change decisions to join the Jets when he was hours away from signing with the 49ers.

It ultimately came down to what was best for him and his family, with head coach Todd Bowles having a big influence on his final decision. Bowles met Wilcox about four years ago and have since kept in touch.

More from The Jet Press

• NY Jets: 3 tight ends to target in 2021 free agency
• NY Jets: 3 more players who should be cut in the coming days
• NY Jets: Mark Sanchez says Sam Darnold needs to get out of New York
• NY Jets: Joe Thuney must be the top priority in free agency
• NY Jets: 3 trade packages for Sam Darnold that have been proposed

In an article written by Josh Alper by NBC Sports, Wilcox ultimately decided playing for a former safety of the NFL would be an ideal situation for him. Here’s what he said why he signed with the Jets and wanted to play for Bowles:

“He was a defensive-minded coach, he played the position,” Wilcox said. “When you look at that kind of stuff, you want to go to a guy that knows your position who knows how to make players into great players.”

It’s great to see that a player come to the Jets due to the leadership regime that is doing everything in its power to rebuild towards being contenders again. It might take another year or two but the Jets are slowly getting the pieces together to make a serious run in the future.

Overall, Wilcox is a fine addition to the Jets secondary as he’ll be used mostly as quality depth at safety and in a rotational role with Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye. He’s a solid tackler and so far in his career, has six interceptions. These are attributes that Bowles loves to see in his defensive backs.