Washington Commanders

Jets safety: You prepare for Tom Brady 'same way you prepare for Kirk Cousins'

Published Oct. 22, 2015 6:32 p.m. ET

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Marcus Gilchrist hasn’t been watching too much game film, apparently.

The New York Jets are taking on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots this Sunday, and the safety was asked Thursday how the defense prepares for one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history. And his answer probably will surprise you.

“You prepare the same way you prepare for Kirk Cousins,” Gilchrist told USA Today Sports.

Cousins, whom the Jets held to 196 yards with two interceptions in a 34-20 win last week, has led the Washington Redskins to a 2-4 record and has thrown just six touchdowns to eight interceptions. Brady, on the other hand, is the owner of four Super Bowl rings, is on just about every all-time leaderboard in the league and has led the Pats to a 5-0 record.

But that doesn’t matter to Gilchrist.

“You don’t change,” Gilchrist said. “It’s like turning the light switch on and off because it’s a different person. Kirk Cousins could have easily come out there (last week), and we could’ve not played sound football and not been where we were supposed to be, and he could’ve looked (like Brady).

“We can’t allow one game to be bigger than the other. Do we realize the type of player we’re playing against? Yes, we do. But you don’t change. We’ve got to be 1-0 this week, regardless of who it is — Brady — regardless of who we’re playing.”

While it’s easy to get the gist of what Gilchrist is saying, it still doesn’t make any sense because teams don’t prepare for all quarterbacks the same way. Some quarterbacks are mobile, some are lightning-quick with their throws, and that just skims the surface of characteristics a team would want to make sure it's specifically ready to take on.

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