NY Jets news: Sauce Gardner takes blame, Jets 'lack energy,' Mike Williams trade

It's been a difficult season for the NY Jets, and perhaps no player better encapsulates the team's struggles than cornerback Sauce Gardner. Following a historic two-year start to his career, Gardner has taken a step back in his third season, with his tackling woes coming under immense criticism.

Gardner was the culprit of one of his worst tackling miscues of the season in the Jets' Week 10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Facing a 3rd-and-7 with a little over 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter, Gardner failed to tackle Cardinals tight end Trey McBride in open space, resulting in a huge gain for Arizona.

Gardner took accountability for the mistake after the game, insisting that he needs to be better and that he needs to make the tackle. While it's nice to see Gardner accept the blame, that doesn't offer much solace to Jets fans.

While some of the criticism around Gardner has been overblown, his tackling remains a major concern. Sunday's game did little to alter the narrative surrounding the two-time All-Pro.

Other NY Jets news:

The Jets still "lack energy"

The NY Jets' lack of effort and energy has become an increasingly troubling trend this season, and despite the team's insistence on fixing their issues, the result on a weekly basis has been the same.

Jets wide receiver Davante Adams and quarterback Aaron Rodgers were quick to question their team's energy following Sunday's loss to the Cardinals. Rodgers insisted the loss was "disappointing" and that he was surprised by the outcome given the team's encouraging week of practice.

The Jets have consistently fallen flat on their faces in the face of adversity. With their postseason hopes on the line, the Jets have routinely fallen well short of expectations. This is just who the Jets are at this stage.

It's hard to "lack energy" when your team doesn't have energy to begin with.

Mike Williams trade already hurting the Jets

The Jets' decision to trade Mike Williams to the Pittsburgh Steelers last week is already haunting the team. Not only did Williams catch the game-winning pass for his new team on Sunday, thus hurting his former team's playoff chances, but his replacements didn't do much to inspire confidence in Week 10.

The trio of Malachi Corley, Xavier Gipson, and Irvin Charles combined for one target, one catch, and two yards in the Jets' 31-6 loss to the Cardinals. Corley was the only one of the trio to record a catch. Gipson drew a pass interference penalty downfield.

Williams didn't fill up the stat sheet in his Steelers debut, but he picked the best time to make an impact, hauling in a 32-yard game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter. That's one more touchdown than the Jets scored on Sunday.

Maybe it's for the best that the two sides parted ways, however. After all, the Jets aren't making the playoffs this season anyway. At least Williams is now free from this monstrosity.