Jamien Sherwood may be back after strong showing without Steve Wilks

The New York Jets may have surrendered 29 points in their loss to the New Orleans Saints, but Jamien Sherwood and the defense put together a much more respectable effort under interim defensive coordinator Chris Harris after the firing of Steve Wilks.

So many players on the Jets' defense have regressed this season, but that might be due to a scheme that was ridiculously rigid and a coordinator who appears to be behind the times. Harris may not be the next Steve Spagnuolo, but he definitely had many of the Jets' biggest sore spots playing better.

Sherwood, who has found himself in the crosshairs of this fanbase after a very difficult start to the 2025 season, both in run defense and coverage, looked like the player who was thriving under Robert Saleh. Perhaps the demise of Sherwood after just one season may have been greatly exaggerated due to how bad Wilks made him look.

Looking ahead to 2026, the Jets should feel better about Sherwood if he is being coached by someone other than Wilks, who is looking more like a proverbial dinosaur as the season starts to go on and the defense improves without him.

Jets LB Jamien Sherwood's poor 2025 may be due to Steve Wilks

Sherwood has not lived up to the three-year, $45 million contract extension he signed in the offseason. However, given the complete capitulation of this defense due to injuries and Quincy Williams regressing in an even more alarming fashion, Sherwood can't be blamed for everything that went wrong.

If Sherwood ends up playing better under Harris, his down 2025 season can be chalked up to both being out of position as a MIKE linebacker and seeing his production held back by Wilks' archaic scheme. The Jets may have an entire offseason to put No. 44 in a better position to succeed.

Not only can the Jets use their nearly nine figures in cap space to compete for some of the best free agents, but they have four picks in the top 50 of the 2026 NFL Draft that can be used to improve upon a terrible safety room and possibly land a Williams replacement who can stay next to Sherwood.

Sherwood will likely be back in 2026 as an unquestioned starter, and playing like this under Harris suggests that with enough talent around him, he can be a big part of turning this Jets defense around in 2026.