Jets’ Olu Fashanu wants to get ‘mojo back’ after rough two weeks

CHICAGO — Jets left tackle Olu Fashanu played 66 snaps against the Lions last week, but three of them are what fans are going to remember. 

Fashanu gave up 2.5 sacks in the 31-24 loss in Detroit and ended up as one of the goats of the game. He has taken criticism this week, but the 23-year-old said he is unfazed. 

“That’s the reality of being an O-lineman,” Fashanu said. “At the end of the day, every player strives to be perfect. In the NFL, you’re going against guys on the other side that are pretty good, too. Games like that are going to happen. I feel like it’s really on yourself to remember who you are, fall back on your training, fall back to the guys in your room and just keep going.” 

Fashanu is a big part of an offensive line that was projected to be a strength of this team. It was in Week 1 against the Titans, but the line’s play has slipped the past two weeks, both in the run game and in pass protection. 

Fashanu said he has spent this week trying to clean up his mistakes from Detroit to have a better game against the Bears on Sunday. 

“For myself, it’s just bouncing back,” Fashanu said. “Last week, I didn’t have a good game, obviously. I know that my job in pass protection is to keep Geno [Smith] clean and healthy. I didn’t do that last week. For myself, it’s just remembering who I am, just focusing on my technique, being dialed in to the snap count and all that and just doing everything possible to keep Geno clean.” 

Fashanu said the offensive line as a whole spent time this week trying to diagnose what has gone wrong for them in the last two weeks. 

“Getting our mojo back, getting back to that same mentality we had in the Tennessee game,” Fashanu said of the focus this week in the O-line room. “At the end of the day, we know our ability and we know that these last two weeks haven’t been the best for our O-line. This week was all about getting prepared for Chicago and focusing on ourselves.” 

The Jets elevated WR Sterling Shepard from the practice squad for the second straight week. They also elevated LB Jaden Keller.