#Jets’ C.J. Mosley picks off Zach Wilson in return after year hiatus

C.J. Mosley put the punctuation mark on a strong night for the Jets’ defense with an interception of rookie Zach Wilson on fourth down to end the final drive by the starters at Saturday night’s Green & White Practice.

It was Mosley’s first time back at MetLife Stadium in two years after he opted out of last season due to COVID-19 concerns. And Mosley led a strong effort by the starting defense that made the Jets’ starting offense look bad.

“It’s all about what you put on tape,” Mosley said. “I haven’t put nothing on tape in two years. I just have to remind everybody. Today was a great start. It felt good to be out there after a long time. It was great to have fans. … There’s always more to improve on. I missed two tackles out there, two big tackles, in my opinion. That’s something I’ve just got to get back to working on in practice.”

Mosley is playing at 231 pounds, 20 pounds lighter than he has been at in his career. He was flying around the field Saturday night and made several nice plays. The interception came off a Wilson pass that was intended for Jamison Crowder. Safety Lamarcus Joyner hit Crowder as the ball got to him, sending it into the air. Mosley dove and caught the ball before it hit the ground.

Mosley said the Jets defense has made a jump this week.

“I feel like they’re getting better every day,” Mosley said. “The first week in pads it was just a little slow in the run game. Compared from Tuesday’s practice to now there has been a big difference. That’s going to come with more time and us spending more time together as a defense. … I think today everybody was feeding off each other.”

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Jets head coach Robert Saleh did not shed much light on what is going on with OG Alex Lewis, who left the team on Friday.

“He’s going through some things that are much greater than football right now,” Saleh said. “We’re just giving him a chance to kind of sort through it all. That’s about as detailed as I’ll get right now.”

Lewis had a similar absence last season when the team placed him on the non-football injury list in November to allow him to work through some issues.

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OT George Fant practiced for the first time since coming off the reserve/COVID-19 list and split time with Morgan Moses at right tackle with the first- and second-teams. … CB Isaiah Dunn did not practice with a knee injury. … TE Daniel Brown (hamstring) sat out. … DE Ronald Blair (hamstring) and OL Teton Saltes (knee) left practice and did not return.