Snaps- The defense took the field for 53 snaps against the New York Jets, which is exactly 20 fewer snaps than they played last week. On those snaps, Greg Manusky used 37 of his 43 defenders.

Starter Defense- Every projected defensive starter, except for Matt Ioannidis, played against the Jets. The majority of that group was on the field for the entirety of the Jets’ first two offensive drives, which lasted a total of 15 combined snaps and 14 offensive plays (1 play negated by penalty).

New York’s offense did pick up 3 first downs and scored 3 points between those two drives, but they also took 2 sacks and only gained 37 yards of net offense on them, which equates to a yards-per-play average of 2.64.

Sam Darnold and the Jets’ first-string O played one more drive after the Redskins’ front-line defenders exited the game. They gained 34 yards and moved the chains twice on the series, but they threw an interception on fourth down that ended the drive.

In all, the New York offensive starters posted the following stat line: 23 snaps, 22 plays, 71 yards of offense, 1 penalty (-5 yards), 2 sacks (-12 yards), 1 turnover (interception), 3 points and 3.23 yards per play.

Rushing Defense- The Jets’ starters were only able to muster 7 rushing yards on five carries against the Washington starting defense (1.4 YPC). Only one of those rushes was considered successful (a 2-yard first down), and two of them didn’t gain any yardage at all.

In total, New York was only able to gain 64 yards on their 22 rushes in the contest (2.91 YPC). Just six of those rushes were successful (27%), and they failed to gain yardage on five of them (23%). The New York ground attack only gained more than 6 yards on two rushes and gained over 9 yards on just one run (an 18-yard run by George Atkinson in the fourth quarter).

All told, this was a quality showing for Washington’s rushing defense.

QB Pressure- The defense also had a nice day in the pass-rushing department. Manusky’s bunch tallied 4 sacks and 2 QB hits, while pressuring Sam Darnold and Teddy Bridgewater on 15 of their 31 combined dropbacks, which makes for a very impressive 48.4% pressure rate. And on top of all that, one of the Redskins’ two interceptions came on a play in which Darnold was pressured.

3rd and 4th Down- The Jets went 5-for-12 on the third down (41.7%) and threw the aforementioned interception on their only fourth-down attempt of the night. That gives them a total conversion rate of 38.5% on these all-important downs.

On those 13 total plays, New York was sacked three times, lost yardage on a run once and committed a turnover once; basically, they lost yardage or had a negative play on these snaps as often as they converted on them.

Red Zone- After allowing the Patriots to score on all three of their red-zone trips in last week’s preseason opener, the defense stepped up in this game by only allowing the Jets to go 1-for-3 inside the 20.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN

Jonathan Allen- The 2017 first-round pick saw live game action for the first time since Week 6 of last season (at 49ers) and played on all 15 snaps with the starting defense.

Jon Allen was unable to pressure Sam Darnold on any of his nine pass-rushing snaps, but he did lead all Washington defensive linemen with 3 tackles. Two of those tackles were counted as defensive stops and one of them went for a loss.

Allen finished the game with a 40% run-stop rate, which currently ranks first among all defensive linemen who’ve played on at least 5 run-defense snaps. The Redskins’ defense allowed an average of just 88 rushing yards per game in the five contests that Allen played in last year.

Daron Payne- The Redskins’ newest first-round defensive linemen from Alabama made his presence known in his NFL debut.

He only made a contribution to the stat sheet on one play, but it was a big one. On the Jets’ third play and first third down of the game, Payne overpowered veteran offensive guard Dakota Dozier and took down Sam Darnold for a 7-yard sack. It was very encouraging to see Payne, who only record 3 total sacks (1 unassisted) in his entire college career, sack a quarterback on just his third play in the NFL.

Payne lined up next to Allen on all 15 snaps with the starters.

Ziggy Hood- All eight of Hood’s snaps came with the starting defense. Of course, he failed to generate any pressure and only recorded one assisted tackle during his time on the field. On a positive note, his tackle did stop the Jets for no gain on the play.

Tim Settle- The fifth-round steal out of Virginia Tech continued to impress. Settle recorded an assisted tackle (1-yard gain) and a pass defense on consecutive plays in the second quarter. He was also able to notch a QB hurry as a pass rusher. For much of the game, he went up against former Redskins center Spencer Long, who struggled at times against Settle and was tagged with a subpar 57.4 PFF grade.

Anthony Lanier- Settle’s fellow second-stringer also played 17 snaps and recorded 1 assist on the night. Lanier, however, was able to generate pressure on not one, but two of his 10 pass-rushing snaps (both hurries).

Ondre Pipkins- Ondre Pipkins led all Washington D-linemen with 23 snaps. He recorded 3 tackles (2 solo and 1 assist), with two of those tackles coming within 2 yards of the line of scrimmage. Pipkins was, however, unable to disrupt the opposing QB on any of his 13 pass-rushing attempts.

Dante Sawyer- Sawyer’s production essentially came in the opposite way that Pipkins’ did. He did not record a traditional stat of any kind, but he was able to score a QB hit in the game.

Jalen Wilkerson- Wilkerson did not record a single traditional stat or pressure on his 16 defensive snaps. After this performance, it was not surprising to see Wilkerson get waived yesterday.

Other Defensive Linemen- Matt Ioannidis was the only defensive starter who did not play against the Jets. He is still recovering from the leg injuries he suffered in the preseason opener. Phil Taylor and Stacy McGee also missed the contest with injuries.

OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS

Ryan Kerrigan- On what was his 30th birthday, Ryan Kerrigan was on the field for 12 of the 15 snaps taken by the defensive starters. He did not record any traditional stats, but was able to register two hurries of Sam Darnold, one of which forced Darnold to throw the ball away.

Kerrigan is just 11 sacks away from passing Charles Mann (82 career sacks) for second place on the all-time franchise sack rankings. Kerrigan has recorded at least 11 sacks in three of the last four seasons.

Preston Smith- Smith also played 12 snaps, and like Daron Payne, he recorded a sack of Sam Darnold on a third down (loss of 5 yards).

I’m guessing Preston Smith must love playing next to Jonathan Allen, because doing so seems like it’s going to earn Smith a lot of money. Smith has played a total of eight games with Allen (5 regular season and 3 preseason), and has recorded a sack in six of them (75%). He’s played in 11 games without Allen since the start of the last season and has notched a sack in just three of those contests (27%).

If Allen stays healthy in 2018, and my guess is that he will, then I think the Redskins may be making a Kirk Cousins-esque mistake by waiting to give Preston Smith a new contract until after he blows up.

Ryan Anderson- Anderson led all Redskins front-seven defenders with 25 defensive snaps played on Thursday night, three of which came with the starters.

It was a career night for the second-year edge rusher, who recorded two tackles (1 solo and 1 assist) and a career-high 3 QB pressures (all hurries). Just to put things in perspective, remember that Anderson had generated a total of 5 pressures in his 16 career games coming into the night (including preseason).

Anderson’s 72.0 PFF rating for the game ranked fifth on the Redskins’ defense. Perhaps changing his diet and body in the offseason is actually paying off.

Pernell McPhee- The 29-year old vet lined up opposite Anderson for a total of 9 snaps against the Jets. McPhee couldn’t disrupt the QB on his five rushes and his only tackle of the game came on an 11-yard first down reception. He also missed a tackle in the running game.

McPhee hasn’t been able to record more than 4 sacks and 21 pressures in each of his last two seasons. The Redskins are going to need McPhee and/or Anderson to step up if they hope to replace the 3 sacks and 37 pressures created by Junior Galette last season.

Cassanova McKinzy- Cassanova McKinzy played a dozen defensive snaps against the Jets in Thursday’s game. He did miss a tackle in the game, but he made up for it by recording an assist and a huge, potentially game-saving 2-yard TFL at the goal line. McKinzy also registered a hurry, despite only rushing the QB on three of his snaps.

Pete Robertson- Robertson made it out onto the field with the defense for 20 snaps. He assisted on a tackle that pushed the Jets back a yard and notched a pair of pressures on his 11 snaps as pass rusher. One of those pressures came on a third-down play, where Robertson hit Teddy Bridgewater, despite being held by Dakota Dozier.

Robertson is tied with Ryan Anderson and Anthony Lanier for the team lead in total QB pressures this preseason (3). He is one of the favorites to capture the final available roster spot on the defense. If he does make the cut, his next goal will be to top the 27 regular season snaps he had on the defense last year.

Dadi Nicolas- Nicolas did not make his way onto the stat sheet and was unable to generate any pressure on his 6 defensive snaps in the game.

Vontae Diggs- Vontae Diggs saw his snap total drop from 52 last week all the way down to 11 in this game. He wasn’t able to record a traditional stat in the contest. His lone QB pressure of the game was tainted by the fact that Bridgewater made him bite with a pump fake and avoided what should’ve been a relatively easy sack.

INSIDE LINEBACKERS

Zach Brown- Zach Brown donned the Burgundy and Gold for the first time since Week 14 of last year (at Chargers); he was leading the entire league in tackles by a margin of 12 at the conclusion of that week.

Brown played on all 15 of the starter snaps but finished the game with just a single solo tackle to show for it. He was not targeted on any of his eight coverage snaps.

Mason Foster- Mason Foster, who is entering his fourth year as a starting insider backer for the Redskins, also played on all 15 of the first-team snaps. And just like Brown, he finished the game with just one solo tackle to his name. The difference between the two was that Foster was targeted and gave up a 6-yard reception on the play. His 79.5 PFF grade for the game ranked third on the defense.

Shaun Dion Hamilton- Hamilton was tied with Ryan Anderson for a team-high 25 snaps by a Washington front-seven player. Unfortunately, he did not play as well as his fellow Bama linebacker did.

SDH recorded 3 tackles, two of which were 1-yard stops, but also missed a pair of tackles and gave up a 19-reception to Clive Walford the only time he was targeted. Hamilton did pressure Teddy Bridgewater on a snap, but just as it was with Vontae Diggs, Bridgewater avoided what should’ve been an easy sack for Hamilton and completed the pass for a first down. The Jets scored the game’s only touchdown on the following play.

His 42.9 PFF rating ranked third worst among the 37 Washington defenders that played on Thursday night.

Jerod Fernandez- The rookie inside backer filled up the stat sheet against the Jets. On just 19 snaps, he led the team in solo tackles (3), total tackles (6), defensive stops (3) and sacks (2). New York gained a total of just 3 yards on the plays Fernandez made a tackle on.

Those are some really nice numbers, but they don’t completely erase the mistakes Fernandez made in the game. He missed a tackle and gave up catches on both targets thrown his way for a combined 36 yards and 2 first downs.

If Jerod Fernandez can clean a few things up and finish the preseason out the way he started it, then making the final roster is certainly not outside the realm of possibility for him.

Martrell Spaight- Martrell Spaight may not be the most multi-dimensional football player in the world, but he shows flashes of borderline greatness as a tackler, especially in the running game.

Spaight only played 13 total and 6 run-defense snaps in the game, yet somehow, he tied Fernandez with a team-high 6 total tackles and led the team with 4 assists and 4 tackles in run defense.

He made four those tackles on consecutive third-quarter plays, did not whiff on any tackles and added a solo takedown on special teams. It looks like Spaight is not going to go down without a fight.

Zach Vigil- Vigil saw 17 snaps of action against the Jets and recorded 4 tackles on the night (2 solo and 2 assisted). Two of those takedowns were counted as stops and one of them went for a loss. In the four games in which he played over 80% of the defensive snaps in the 2017 regular season, Vigil averaged 11.8 total tackles per game.

He did surrender 2 receptions on the 3 targets thrown in his coverage against the Jets, but New York only gained 15 yards and picked up a single first down on those plays. Vigil allowed less than a yard per coverage snap last season (0.90).

Jeff Knox- Jeff Knox was signed last Saturday. He played 2 snaps, recorded no stats and was given a team-worst 27.0 PFF grade on Thursday. Finally, Knox was waived yesterday. Fin.

Josh Harvey-Clemmons- JHC remained sidelined with a hamstring injury.

CORNERBACKS

Josh Norman- As usual, Josh Norman played every snap with the starters. He was not targeted, which is pretty typical, as well. Norman was only targeted one time for every ten coverage snaps he played last season, which is an average that ranked 5th in the NFL last year.

His 2 solo tackles on Thursday night came on the final two plays of the first quarter.

Quinton Dunbar- With the release of Orlando Scandrick, who signed with Kansas City (AKA former Redskins corner country) today, Quinton Dunbar is now the undisputed starter opposite Josh Norman. He too, was in on all 15 of the starter snaps.

Unfortunately, Dunbar’s first showing as the official starter did not go as planned. He gave up 2 first-down receptions that went for a total of 24 yards to Jets’ backup receiver Tre McBride. He made a solo tackle on one of those plays and assisted on another.

His 46.5 PFF grade was the lowest rating handed out to a cornerback in the game.

Fabian Moreau- The second-year man out of UCLA didn’t start, but also got 15 snaps of work, six of those coming with the starters. Seven of Moreau’s eight coverage snaps came in the slot, where he was targeted twice and gave up 1 reception for a gain of 4 yards. The other pass thrown in his coverage was deflected and picked off by backup safeties Deshazor Everett and Troy Apke, respectively.

His lone contribution to the box score was a solo tackle on a 6-yard reception.

Danny Johnson- Danny Johnson was on the field for 16 defensive snaps against the Jets. He worked primarily out of the slot, which is where six of his nine coverage snaps were from. Johnson surrendered 2 receptions on the 3 targets thrown his way, but the Jets gained just 4 total yards and failed to move the chains on those plays.

One of Johnson’s two solo tackles came on a third-down play where he stopped Robby Anderson a yard short of the line to gain. He knocked the ball out Anderson’s hands at the end of the play, but the would-be forced fumble was negated because the whistle had already been blown.

Greg Stroman- Greg Stroman played on a team-high 31 defensive snaps. The seventh-round rookie was only targeted once on his 17 coverage snaps, but he did give up a 13-yard reception on the play.

Stroman was even better as a tackler. The Jets only gained a single yard combined on his three tackles (-1, 0 and 2 yards), which gave him a game-high 3 defensive stops on the night. Those plays are big part of the reason he earned a game-best 89.5 PFF grade in run defense.

Ranthony Texada- After an impressive performance last week against the Patriots, Texada’s play regressed in his 27-snap game against New York. The rookie DB missed a tackle and both of the tackles he did make came after the Jets had picked up a first down.

More importantly, Teddy Bridgewater completed all three of the passes he threw into Texada’s coverage for a total of 39 yards and 3 first downs, both of which were team worsts. Yes, that is correct, Texada was targeted three times and gave up a first down on every one of those plays.

Prince Charles Iworah- Your royal highness, Prince Charles Iworah, did not allow a reception on his 10 coverage snaps (15 total snaps) and intercepted the only pass thrown into his coverage. Iworah earned the highest PFF grade in the game (91.1) for the performance.

Darius Hillary- Hillary was signed to the roster yesterday. The third-year corner is now on his fourth NFL team. He’s only seen regular season action on a total of 7 special teams snaps.

Other Cornerbacks- The Redskins’ final pick in the 2017 draft, Joshua Holsey, is still on the Active/Non-Football Injury List after injuring his foot on a table. Holsey’s former teammate at VA Tech, Adonis Alexander, sat out with a hamstring injury.

SAFETIES

D.J. Swearinger- Swearinger suited up despite missing some practice time this past week and played both drives that the starting defense was out there for. He was targeted twice and allowed receptions of 9 and 2 yards. His only tackle of the night came on the 2-yard catch he allowed, which happened to take place on the Jets’ first play from scrimmage.

We can only imagine what could’ve been if former teammate and current nemesis, Terrelle Pryor, had played in this game. Alas, Pryor wanted no part of Swearinger and the Redskins.

Montae Nicholson- Nicholson also started and played for 15 snaps. He was not targeted and did not record any stats in the game. He would not have shown up in the play-by-play data if he did not commit an offsides penalty on a New York extra point.

Deshazor Everett- The former cornerback only played 8 snaps, but he was able to help make one of the biggest plays of the game on one of those snaps. Everett tipped up a fourth-down pass inside the Redskins’ red zone and set teammate Troy Apke up to make a sliding interception on what would end up being Sam Darnold’s final play of the night. Everett’s 85.1 Pro Football Focus grade for the game ranked second on the Skins’ defense.

Everett made 8 starts and played 589 defensive snaps last season, after not starting once and only getting 76 snaps of work on defense in his first two years in the league combined.

Troy Apke- His interception of Darnold was just his fourth takeaway since high school; he only had two picks and a fumble recovery while at Penn State. This was also Apke’s second pass defense of the exhibition season, which is only four fewer PDs than he had in his entire four years as a Nittany Lion.

Apke did more than just intercept that one pass, though. He recorded 1 solo and 2 assisted tackles in the game (3 total), as well. Unfortunately, he added a missed tackle to his stat line, too.

Apke led the Washington safety corps in defensive snaps, with 22 of them on the night.

Fish Smithson- This was not a great showing from Fish Smithson. He missed a tackle and committed a lowering-the-helmet-penalty on a third down in Redskins territory. He did, at least, make tackles on special teams and defense on back-to-back plays to start the fourth quarter. Smithson’s PFF grade of 30.2 ranked dead last among Washington players who took more than 2 snaps in the game.

Smithson hasn’t played horrible football this August, but he also hasn’t performed at the same level that he did at this time last year.

Quin Blanding- The UDFA safety from Virginia saw the field for 15 snaps against New York. All of his 4 tackles (2 solo and 2 assisted) came on one drive, with three of them actually occurring on consecutive plays. Two of those four takedowns were counted as defensive stops. He was not targeted in the passing game.

Blanding hasn’t made any big mistakes this preseason, but then again, he hasn’t made any big plays either. That might be good enough to earn him a spot on the practice squad, but he’ll need to do a lot more if he wants to put himself in contention to make the final 53 on cutdown day.

Kenny Ladler- The same thing goes for Ladler, who was relatively quiet on his 13 snaps. He was credited with an assisted tackle on defense and special teams and was not targeted on his 8 coverage snaps.

ALL DEFENSIVE PLAYERS

SPECIAL TEAMS

Snaps- Ben Kotwica’s special teams unit utilized 57 of the 87 active players on the roster (29 defense, 25 offense and 3 specialists) over the course of 24 snaps.

For the second straight game, OLB Vontae Diggs led the team in specials snaps (12). Jerod Fernandez, Garrett Hudson and Kenny Ladler were right behind him with 11 special teams snaps a piece.

Kick Coverage- Diggs made a solo tackle that shut down a Jets’ kickoff return at their own 22-yard line, Shay Fields assisted on the play. Tackling machine Martrell Spaight added a solo teams stop of his own at the New York 20.

Matt Flanagan and Nick Sundberg made solo tackles on Jets’ punt returns that ended at the 35 and 33-yard lines, respectively. Backup safeties Fish Smithson and Kenny Ladler combined to end a 2-yard punt return at the 29-yard line.

PFF gave Ladler a game-high 90.2 special teams grade. He currently leads the Redskins with 2 total special teams tackles in the preseason (1 solo and 1 assist).

Tress Way- All four of Tress Way’s punts took place in the second half of Thursday night’s game, with three of them coming in the fourth quarter. His punts traveled a total of 184 yards (46-yard average). Three of them were returned for a total of 19 yards (41.3 net average). Way was only able to pin the Jets inside of their own 20 once, but that was because three of his four punts were kicked at or inside of the Redskins’ 31-yard line.

Dustin Hopkins- Hopkins connected on all five of his field goal attempts and scored all 15 of Washington’s points in the game. He connected from distances of 22, 35, 36, 26 and 40 yards out. The 40-yarder was a game winner that sailed through the uprights as time expired. He was technically perfect on field goals, but it should be noted that his 35-yarder was the beneficiary of a lucky bounce off the right upright.

Hopkins kicked the ball off four times in the game. He booted one touchback and pinned the Jets inside their own 25-yard line with the aid of his coverage unit twice. His lone true blemish was a kickoff that rolled out of bounds at the New York 2-yard line. His mistake set Sam Darnold and the Jets’ first-team offense up at the 40-yard line, on a drive in which they would score their first 3 points of the night.

Kickoff Returns- Byron Marshall and Darvin Kidsy split kickoff return duties; Kapri Bibbs was also back deep on one kickoff.

Marshall let the game’s opening kickoff bounce out of bounds for a touchback. He returned the next kickoff 20 yards out to the 25-yard line. The play was initially ruled a fumble, but that call was reversed upon review. Marshall was injured on the third play of the ensuing offensive drive. Darvin Kidsy replaced Marshall as the primary kickoff return man after that.

Kidsy foolishly returned the pair of kickoffs he caught two yards and a yard deep in the end zone. His returns on the plays went for 11 and 18 yards, but because of where he caught them, he only made it out to the Washington 9 and 17-yard lines on those respective returns. He basically cost the team 24 yards of field position by not simply taking a knee on both returns.

The Redskins have yet to return a kickoff past their own 25-yard line this preseason.

Punt Returns- Danny Johnson returned the Jets’ first punt 4 yards out to the 32, but because he was horse collared on the play, the Redskins’ offense ended up with incredible starting field position at the 47-yard line. The ensuing drive ended with, you guessed it, a Dustin Hopkins’ field goal.

Mr. Irrelevant himself, Trey Quinn, operated as the team’s punt returner on the final three New York punts of the game. He wisely let the first punt he saw bounce into the end zone for a touchback. Quinn caught the next one at the 10-yard line and returned it 22 yards out to the 32. He gained 6 yards on a second return that set the Redskins up at the 40-yard line.

Two punt returns for 28 yards (14 yards per return) is not bad for a guy who took his six college punt returns for a total of just 20 yards (3.3 yards per return).

*All statistics are courtesy of ESPN, NBC Sports, NFL.com, NFL Gamebooks, Pro Football Focus, Pro Football Reference, USA Today, Redskins.com, The Washington Post and the Washington Times*