The last time the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets met was in Week 1, and LeSean McCoy was largely responsible for his team coming away with a 21-12 victory. The Jets have to game plan accordingly for Thursday night’s game, but defensive lineman Steve McLendon doesn’t think there’s any need to get carried away.
McCoy finished with 159 total yards from scrimmage in Week 1, and McLendon is very much aware of that. However, that doesn’t mean Jets players are worried that McCoy can’t be stopped.
“He’s not a superhero,” McLendon told Daniel Popper of the New York Daily News on Tuesday. “You don’t want to make it seem like he can’t be stopped. He’s an amazing athlete. He can do some things with the football that you see done on the basketball court. I give him that.
“(But) this is how I look at everybody. And like I said, no disrespect to anybody. They put on their pads just like I do. They put on their pants just like I do. They put on their helmet just like I do. They put on their jersey just like I do. It doesn’t make no difference to me.”
McCoy picked up 18 or more yards on five different plays in Buffalo’s first meeting against the Jets. The Jets have improved against running backs in the weeks since, though they enter Thursday on a three-game losing streak. Stopping McCoy has to be their top priority whether they admit it publicly or not.
“Every superhero gets knocked down some time,” McLendon said. “Ya’ll looking at him as a superhero. We’re looking at him just like an ordinary man that has to be stopped.”
An ordinary man can’t do some of the things we have all watched McCoy do over the years. The Jets know that. They also know they have fallen into last place in the AFC East and the Bills just acquired another great offensive playmaker, so preparing for just one player is far from adequate. That’s likely the point McLendon was trying to make.
