Saleh walks back comment about Jets' defense 'embarrassing' opposing QBs

New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh downplayed comments he made about his defense embarrassing "a gauntlet of quarterbacks" to begin the season.

"The word 'embarrassed' was probably not the right choice of words for me at that time," Saleh said on "Good Morning Football" Tuesday, per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. "But there's a lot of faith in our defense and (defensive coordinator) Jeff Ulbrich and how good a job he and the defensive staff do in terms of preparing guys every week and just doing everything we can to make quarterbacks' lives hell."

The Jets coach initially said his team had "embarrassed" opposing quarterbacks following New York's 20-14 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, in which the defense picked off Jalen Hurts three times.

"Through these first six weeks, we've played a gauntlet of quarterbacks. I know we haven't gotten all wins, but we've embarrassed all of them," he told reporters postgame, according to The Associated Press' Dennis Waszak Jr.

The Jets' defense has performed remarkably well during a tough slate against high-caliber quarterbacks, including Hurts, Josh Allen, and Patrick Mahomes. The unit has yet to allow a single passer to throw for over 300 yards and is only giving up 216.7 passing yards per game (15th in the NFL) and 19.8 points per contest (13th).

New York has posted a 3-3 record entering its bye week despite losing starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers to an Achilles injury in the season opener.

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