Cromartie has been in his usual form through two games this season. Dez Bryant toyed with him early in the opener and the Jets had to switch Revis onto the second-year Dallas receiver. Revis shut down Bryant for much of the rest of that Jets victory, but Cromartie was outwrestled for a TD pass by Miles Austin.
Cromartie didn’t sulk, and he was dominant in Sunday’s 32-3 rout of Jacksonville. He had two of New York’s four interceptions, nearly scoring with one return, and his two long kickoff runbacks set up 10 points early on, when matters were in doubt.
“The coaches didn’t have to be on us, the players know what our standards are. We set our standards high,’’ Cromartie said of the difference between the performances by the defense (and himself) from last week to this. “We came out there flying and communicating.’’
Cromartie came flying out of the end zone on the opening kickoff, running it back 39 yards. The Jets moved 65 yards on six plays to a touchdown, their first on offense in the opening quarter in 17 games.
Later in the period, he returned a kickoff 46 yards, setting up a drive for a field goal.
In the second quarter, he had the first rushing attempt of his six-year career, although it gained just 1 yard on a reverse. Back on defense, Cromartie returned an interception 37 yards, blunting a Jacksonville drive.
And in the third period, he jumped a route, picked off Luke McCown’s throw and went 26 yards down the sideline.
Had he gone 27, Cromartie would have scored.
“I was having fun,’’ he said. “The (first) interception was changing the game in giving us a short field. We make plays when we have a chance to.’’
Cromartie seems to get involved in big plays one way or another. Coach Rex Ryan said he knew Cromartie would bounce back from the difficult opener.
