EXCLUSIVE: Jamien Sherwood spoke to The Mirror ahead of the new NFL season, explaining how chess has helped him star as a linebacker and offering his hopes for the Jets in 2026
Jamien Sherwood is one of the loudest figures on the Jets defense, which represents an impressive turnaround from his introverted youth
Jamien Sherwood is one of the loudest figures on the Jets defense, which represents an impressive turnaround from his introverted youth(Image: Getty Images)
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Jamien Sherwood is a productive, high-volume, hard-hitting linebacker for the New York Jets. But he credits a more low-octane game with driving how he understands the chaos on the football field.
Sherwood — who excels against the run and has tallied 308 tackles over the past two seasons ranking him second in the NFL — has taken him out of Jenson Beach, Florida to Auburn and the bright lights of the Big Apple. Yet on an overcast, misty day at the Jets ' facility in Florham Park, with the calm truly in bloom ahead of the storm that is the new NFL season, the 26-year-old outlined how football and chess share a profound conceptual link.
“In chess, you're still telling a story. You're trending in some direction. The move that you make right now is to set up moves down the road. In football, the moves made on a play is to set up the game down the stretch. They go hand in hand.
“It's about anticipating, trying to figure out your opponent's next move or what they're trying to get to.”
Sherwood started playing football in Pop Warner, starring on the youth fields of Martin County. His affinity with chess started shortly later, taking up the game in the third grade as his friends joined a club. “I knew nothing about it, but because my friends were doing it, I joined in.
“They taught me a lot, and eventually, years later, when I was on a college visit, I got to play one of the head coaches in a chess match: Jim Harbaugh, at the Univerity of Michigan. As the time was ticking, I started rushing my last moves, so he beat me. It is what it is. He got a run for his money.”
While the defeat to Harbaugh might sting, Sherwood still plays chess, when time allows for it. If an NFL field is the board, and Sherwood is a piece, what does the linebacker think he is?
“I would just say the queen, only because they can move wherever they want all around the board. I do like a rook, but... actually I take all that back: I’m the knight. It’s cool that they can move in an L shape, and one of my best setups is with the knight.”
Jamien Sherwood is entering the second season of his three-year deal worth $45 million with the Jets
Jamien Sherwood is entering the second season of his three-year deal worth $45 million with the Jets(Image: Getty Images)
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Under head coach Aaron Glenn, the Jets struggled to a 3-14 record in 2025. But after some key moves across the offseason, Sherwood is adamant Year 2 under Glenn will reap better results.
“There's so many words that I could use to describe the way that Coach Glenn is running the show, how he wants the defense to look - and every word that I would describe him as is bleeding into our defense, is bleeding to each player,” Sherwood said. “We come here ready to work every day. Not to say that that wasn't the case in the past, but you can see that there's a fine line for greatness and everybody's trying to chase that.
“I appreciate the way that he coaches us day in and day out. Because one thing he likes to say is: ‘Don't get tired of repeating the same things.’ Every day, we're gonna come to work. We're gonna sit in meetings for a long time. We're gonna go to walkthroughs, eat lunch. You're gonna see the same people every day. But the way that he goes about his job and how he has to prepare us, it feeds us.
“It makes us even more hungry because if our coach can do it and he's not even stepping in between those white lines anymore, we can do it as well. So again, all in all, everybody that's a part of this organization is blessed to have him as a coach. We're blessed to play for this team and we're excited for this year.”