Jacksonville Jaguars: Week 9 stock up
By Luke Sims
Nov 8, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets running back Chris Ivory (33) runs against Jacksonville Jaguars strong safety Johnathan Cyprien (37) during the first quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Johnathan Cyprien, strong safety, Jacksonville Jaguars
Making an appearance on Pro Football Focus’s best players of the week is a step forward for Johnathan Cyprien. He has been mostly underwhelming through the season for the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he has begun to step up.
Fox Sports has Cyprien coming in on 13 tackles through the day including two for a loss as he played the run exceptionally well all day. Cyprien’s play was a major contributing factor in stopping Chris Ivory (26 yards on 23 attempts) from getting going and making this game a lot tougher for the defense.
He wasn’t exceptional in coverage (though he allowed just 20 yards) but Cyprien’s role in the defense is to be used frequently in run support. He’s developing nicely in that role and I think we’ll see Gus Bradley come away happy with his big safety.
Cyprien’s play isn’t perfect and he’s had some bad penalties through the year but this week was an example of what he can do when it’s all controlled fury for the safety. We got a taste of how Cyprien should be performing and, frankly, I liked it.
Next: Winning battles against one of the best in the business