Jets training camp observations: Justin Fields' up-and-down practice

New York Times

5 days ago

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Aaron Glenn popped awake at 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, eager. He looked at his phone and saw a text message from his wife an hour earlier: Just be A.G.
'And that's what I'm going to be,' Glenn said after his first training camp practice as Jets head coach on Wednesday. 'Right, wrong or indifferent.'
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He couldn't go back to sleep — call it excitement, or adrenaline, or the stress to make sure everything was ready. This was a moment he's been preparing for ever since his first head coaching interview (with the Jets, coincidentally, when he was the Saints defensive backs coach after the 2020 season). That's when he started to think about how he'd conduct things, how he'd run a practice, and a training camp. He took copious notes when he went to Detroit to be Dan Campbell's defensive coordinator. And at times, Campbell would let Glenn plan out practice and stand in front of the team as head coach.
But that was only a trial run. This is the real thing.
'I'm happy to be standing here,' Glenn said. 'This is something I've been waiting on for a long time.'
On Tuesday, Glenn stood in front of the entire Jets roster and spoke about expectations — how everyone expects to win the Super Bowl, but there are the steps a team needs to take to get there. 'We break those expectations down into stages,' Glenn said. 'The only thing I want those guys to think about is what we're trying to create in training camp.'
That is: a culture of competitiveness, attention to detail and a focus on the fundamentals. Pads won't come on until later, the first few days of camp are more about getting in shape and installing the new playbook. Then, the intensity will pick up.
'He's an intense guy,' said center Joe Tippmann. 'He's somebody that wants to establish a culture and he's definitely doing that, through our meetings, through practice, through OTAs … it's been great to get the ball rolling.'
On Wednesday, the Jets got the ball rolling. Here are some observations from the first practice of training camp…
Fields looked a lot like he did during OTAs and minicamp in the spring: A mix of impressive throws and some poor decisions. His first pass of 11-on-11 drills was a dump-off to Breece Hall when he probably should have hit an open Garrett Wilson down the field instead. On the next play, Fields was under pressure from defensive end Micheal Clemons — who came close to a sack — and it led to a poorly thrown ball to Wilson for an incompletion; the throw was late and landed nowhere near his star receiver.
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Then, Fields followed it up with probably his best throw of the day: a 50-yard bomb, delivered with timing and patience, to Wilson for what would have been a touchdown in a competitive setting. Fields found a hole in the coverage and nailed it perfectly.
In the other run of 11-on-11 it was more up-and-down. Cornerback Brandon Stephens batted Fields' pass down on a blitz on the first play, then Fields tried squeezing a side-arm throw to Wilson in tight coverage that fell incomplete — in Fields' defense, nickel corner Michael Carter II had Wilson draped in coverage and made it difficult to squeeze a pass in.
Fields completed a pass to Hall on the next play, though defensive end Will McDonald — battling with rookie tackle Armand Membou — might have sacked him. He then hit Wilson again on a laser in the middle of the field, then dumped it off to running back Braelon Allen as he was being pressured by defensive end Eric Watts.
All told, Fields completed 5 of 8 passes during 11-on-11 drills — and also hit Wilson, Josh Reynolds and Arian Smith on nice throws during seven-on-seven drills.
It's Day 1 of practice; there is nothing worth celebrating nor fretting over yet. The key is simply seeing progress — Fields was never going to dominate right out of the gate.
On that seven-on-seven completion to Wilson: Wilson used some expert, patient route-running to trick Stephens into thinking the ball wasn't coming his way until the very last second, which allowed him to make an impressive catch over Stephens' head for a 30-yard gain on the sideline. Stephens had good coverage but didn't turn his head — which has been a recurring issue for him during his career, though most cornerbacks might have fallen for Wilson's trickery on this one.
would you believe us if we told you this was the first play of 7-on-7? pic.twitter.com/I4Ax2NJQUt
— New York Jets (@nyjets) July 23, 2025
Nothing notable yet. Defensive end Jermaine Johnson (Achilles) and wide receiver Irv Charles (ACL) opened training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform List. Johnson is expected to be activated and return to practice at some point before the start of the season — and he posted on X that he's healthy now but the team is just being cautious.
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Maybe Glenn or defensive coordinator Steve Wilks don't want to get into specifics about how the Jets defense is going to look. But it was easy to spot context clues — even easier now that multiple players have confirmed what was expected: This is going to be a blitz-heavy, aggressive defense that uses more man-to-man coverage. None of those things were staples of Robert Saleh's defense the last few years.
The Jets showed that throughout the spring, and again on Wednesday in moments like the Stephens play in the backfield. On Tuesday, cornerback Sauce Gardner said the things that excite him most about playing in this defense include traveling with top receivers, blitzing and even getting some reps as a nickel corner. Linebacker Jamien Sherwood alluded to there being more blitzing in this defense too, as did others in the spring.
The player who stands to benefit most from the change in defensive play style, in my mind: Linebacker Quincy Williams, an elite athlete that succeeded in blitzes under Saleh on the rare occasion the staff allowed him to do it. He should be in for a bounce-back year in this new scheme.
'I feel like for Quincy and I and all the other linebackers, we get a chance to really showcase who we are,' Sherwood said. 'We get a chance to blitz a little bit more, dropping back in coverage and just (getting) more opportunities to make plays.'
Glenn wouldn't acknowledge that Tippmann and Josh Myers were competing to start at center — Glenn went with the typical 'everyone is competing' coachspeak instead — but Tippmann confirmed it. The 2023 second-round pick was viewed as an entrenched starter heading into the offseason, but the Jets also didn't expect Myers (56 career starts with the Packers) to be available at such minimal cost.
Tippmann said he was surprised when the Jets signed Myers but that Glenn called him to let him know it was happening. Now he's taking it in stride.
'We brought Josh in so now I have that competition each and every day and it's only going to make me better,' Tippmann said. 'Pressure makes diamonds. Just being able to keep that in my mind and know that it's an open competition and that I'm going to have to keep battling every day.'
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It appears that is the only job on the starting offensive line that's open for competition; Membou appears locked in at right tackle in the early going.
• Wide receiver Malachi Corley was back practicing after missing most of the spring. During 11-on-11 drills, he bobbled and dropped a pass from undrafted rookie quarterback Brady Cook. He also couldn't out-run cornerback Jarrick Bernard-Converse on a fade from Tyrod Taylor, so the pass fell incomplete. Corley still has a long way to go to prove to this coaching staff that he belongs.
• The run-blocking looked solid in the early going, through it's difficult to evaluate the offensive line at this stage (pre-pads). Allen looked especially explosive coming out of the backfield, bursting through the hole for a big gain on one carry and making a play after the catch on another. Expect him to have a bigger role in 2025.
• Undrafted rookie Jamaal Pritchett — pushing Xavier Gipson for a role as the team's punt returner — had a nice diving catch from Adrian Martinez in 11-on-11 drills. Gipson muffed a punt during one drill. That will be a competition to watch.