TY LAW’s stay with the Jets, which will end the moment this season is over, has been a curious one.
He came to New York seemingly as the perfect fit – as perhaps a final piece to a playoff puzzle, a proven, Pro Bowl veteran shut-down corner with great leadership abilities.
And yet, he’s been almost invisible.
Sure, Law has a team-leading five INTs, but don’t mistake that with him playing to his usual Pro Bowl standards.
Law has been a shadow of his old self in terms of coverage and he’s never adjusted to the newly installed rules that prohibit any contact by a defensive player to an offensive player beyond five yards from the line of scrimmage, a rule that was unofficially named for him.
For his standards, he’s given up an inordinate amount of key completions on third downs.
And, Law has accumulated nine penalties this season, and that doesn’t include a handful of flags thrown his way but were declined or picked up, like one was Sunday against the Saints.
And through it all, he’s sounded almost delusional in saying he thinks the NFL is going to have to look at changing the rule after this season “to give us [cornerbacks] a chance.”
Does he not understand that the NFL is interested in enhancing offenses, not helping out defenses?
Beyond that, though, what’s been most disappointing is that, despite some behind-the-scenes urging from some coaches, Law never has taken on any sort of leadership role, instead, just passively watching this lost season pass him and the team by.
The Jets, by Law’s own observation on a couple of occasions this season, have a young defense. It’s a defense devoid of vocal veteran leadership. There are talented players, but DEs John Abraham and Shaun Ellis are not outspoken and LB Jonathan Vilma is still growing into a leadership role.
This is an area where Law could have made a difference. Now, perhaps being so new to the team, he didn’t feel comfortable doing that. Or perhaps since he had to adjust to his new team and a new defense so quickly, that was too much for him to take on. It’s possible Law simply has not felt comfortable assuming more of a leadership role because he knows he hasn’t played up to his own lofty standards.
Maybe we’re being unfair in asking too much of him, but it just doesn’t seem as if Law ever has made a long-term investment in the Jets.
In the one seemingly key team defensive players’ meeting of the season with defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson a few weeks ago, Law wasn’t even in the building; he was excused to take care of personal business.
In fairness to Law, he came off a major foot injury from a year ago and no one knew what he had left, and he’s come to a new team, always an adjustment.
He, too, came here thinking this was going to be a winning situation, something he’s been quite used to for a long time, and the losing (six in a row and counting) surely has been a shock to his system like it has to everyone else’s.
But there are things he could have controlled better, such as being a bit fitter (coaches believe he’s overweight), adjusting to the new rules better and being more committed to being a leader on a relatively young defense that needed some veteran direction.
Not that he signed on to be some sort of team spokesperson, but there are many who expected Law to be a more stand-up presence in public, in the media, because he was that way in New England.
While Law never has run from reporters and has been a standup guy in the locker room during some of the bad times, he’s seemingly absent from the room more often than he’s there.
Law’s stay here has, quite simply, always had the feel of a short one, a stopover before the next move, and the Jets and their fans surely had bigger plans than that for him.
Sources inside Weeb Ewbank Hall have told The Post that Law is a sure goner after this season.
Sometimes you wonder if he hasn’t already left.
mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com
