The impact was devastating. But the hit was clean.
If anyone blames former Jets linebacker Mo Lewis for blowing up Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe and opening the door to the Tom Brady era, they shouldn’t.
Lewis, for his part, blames Bledsoe.
Via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com, Lewis finally addressed the matter for the new book from Gary Myers, Brady vs. Belichick.
"[Bledsoe] just signed a $100 million deal to be what type of quarterback?” Lewis told Myers. “A passing quarterback, correct? Had he not got outside the pocket and ran with the ball, would we be talking about this? Who caused the event? The person who was with the ball.
“Now he’s doing what he didn’t sign up for. He signed up to be a passing quarterback. What do I do? I stop the people with the ball. It’s just another play for me. But it’s a different play for him.”
As explained by Cimini, Lewis has avoided the spotlight since retiring. Former teammates say Lewis feels slighted because he’s remembered only for the hit on Bledsoe.
“It’s really irrelevant to me,” Lewis told Myers. “It was just another play to me. To you all, it’s a big game-changing, history-changing play. I’ve never gone back to watch the play. If people want to talk about it, I don’t hide from it. But it has no importance to me.”
Lewis is right about the play. Watch it. Bledsoe leaves the pocket. He runs along the sideline. He seems to consider going out of bounds. He decides to try to gain a first down.
Lewis didn’t go in head first. He lowered a shoulder and put it into Bledsoe’s side. It was legal and clean.
He said he didn’t check on Bledsoe because he didn’t think anything of it.
“I’m not trying to be an asshole,” Lewis said. “I’m on the field. I’m not a doctor. I do not know the severity of that hit. It was just another hit. I’m a linebacker. I make tackles. I do not gauge how hard or how soft I hit a person. What you’re trying to do is make me see the future after the hit. I’m telling you, I’m not looking down the line. I’m just trying to stop him from getting a first down. Period.”
He should have said “exclamation point.” Because he’s right. Lewis did his job. Bledsoe put himself in harm’s way. He could have gone out of bounds. He could have slid. He could have fallen down.
Bledsoe took the hit. If he’d known what the consequences would be, he surely wouldn’t have done it.
That’s the real takeaway from the episode that happened nearly 24 years ago. Quarterbacks who take hits they don’t have to take are assuming the risk that the hit could, as it did for Bledsoe, shear a blood vessel in his chest and open the door for the next man up.
And if the next man up is good enough, the quarterback who took the hit may remain out long after he has healed.
The Bears moved on from Justin Fields after 2023 and the Steelers decided not to keep him after 2024, but the Jets are confident he’s in the right place in 2025.
Jets General Manager Darren Mougey said today that Fields can be the kind of player who makes a big jump after changing teams a few times and initially looking like draft disappointments.
“I do believe Justin can be one of those guys,” Mougey said. “I’ve seen progress during this camp and look forward to seeing the progress throughout the season as they all come together. Obviously, it’s his third stop in three years, with three different coordinators, and a lot of moving parts, so it does take time, but I like where it’s at and I look forward to watching the progress.”
Highly drafted quarterbacks have turned their careers around after multiple stops in the past: Perhaps most notably for the Jets, Sam Darnold never panned out when they took him third overall, then had stints with the Panthers and 49ers before breaking out with a strong season with the Vikings last year.
Can Fields do that? The Jets are counting on it. They’ve declared him their franchise quarterback, and they’re hoping that they’ve finally found a leader who can turn their team around.
The NFL and Nike have found a new way to get fans to buy merchandise in the form of new “Rivalries Uniforms,” the first eight of which have been unveiled today.
The AFC East and NFC West teams will wear newly designed “Rivalries” uniforms once this season, always in a home game against a division rival. More “Rivalries” uniforms will be unveiled during the 2026, 2027 and 2028 season until all 32 teams have worn them, and they’ll become part of the regular uniform rotation, in addition to teams’ existing alternate uniforms.
The NFL and Nike will begin selling the “Rivalries” apparel on September 10, and they’re all being displayed by Nike here.
The schedule for the debut appearances of the eight “Rivalries” games is as follows:
Arizona Cardinals: Sept. 25 vs. Seattle Seahawks
Miami Dolphins: Sept. 29 vs. New York Jets
Buffalo Bills: Oct. 5 vs. New England Patriots
New England Patriots: Nov. 13 vs. New York Jets
Los Angeles Rams: Nov. 16 vs. Seattle Seahawks
New York Jets: Dec. 7 vs. Miami Dolphins
Seattle Seahawks: Dec. 18 vs. Los Angeles Rams
San Francisco 49ers: Jan. 4, 2026, vs. Seattle Seahawks
The Jets hope to see a lot of fruitful connections between quarterback Justin Fields and wide receiver Garrett Wilson this season and both players will be tasked with leadership roles while renewing their relationship from Ohio State.
Fields and Wilson were both named team captains for the 2025 season on Thursday. It’s the first time that Wilson has been named a Jets captain and it comes after he signed a four-year extension that sets him up to be a foundation piece for years to come.
The long-range outlook for Fields isn’t quite as clear. He signed a two-year deal with the team this offseason, which opens the door for the Jets to go in several directions should the team fail to reach the kind of success they hope to see after a disappointing 2024 season.
Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, linebacker Jamien Sherwood, and special teamer Marcelino McCrary-Ball are the team’s other captains.
The 49ers waived quarterbacks Carter Bradley and Tanner Mordecai on Tuesday when they reduced their roster to 53 players.
Both went unclaimed after being waived with an injury designation and subsequently landed on the 49ers’ injured reserve list.
That left the 49ers with Brock Purdy and Mac Jones as their only healthy quarterbacks. Rookie Kurtis Rourke is on the reserve/non-football injury list after undergoing ACL surgery in January.
General Manager John Lynch told reporters Wednesday that the 49ers will sign Adrian Martinez to the practice squad. The Jets cut the quarterback this week.
“He’s en route,” Lynch said, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com.
Martinez entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent, signing with the Lions. He had a stint in the UFL with the Birmingham Stallions.
