Ten Jets — including two rookies — who stood out at Tuesday's practice: OTA observations

New York Times

2 days ago

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — This part of the Jets' offseason is almost over. OTAs will end after this week, the team will conduct mandatory minicamp next week, and then everyone will break for the summer.
'How quick this thing goes by,' head coach Aaron Glenn said after Tuesday's practice.
This portion of the calendar has been about Glenn attempting to build up the team's fitness and physicality while trying to establish a new culture — and teaching all three phases a new scheme. The real physical work will come in training camp; this time of the year is more mental, though the competitiveness has grown with each passing practice.
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'Each day we go out, we go out with a purpose, we don't waste a day and the guys are on point. I appreciate that as a coach,' Glenn said. 'We still have a ways to go, we understand that, but we're working our asses off to get where we need to be.'
Things got testy at a couple different points on Tuesday, with offensive and defensive players getting into some light shoving matches. It led Glenn to stop practice briefly to get back on track. Those type of skirmishes are usually more reserved for training camp, when the sun is beating down and hitting really starts. Still, it's not necessarily a bad thing.
'It started to get — I don't want to say physical, but there was pushing and you want to stop that because, listen, we're all in underwear,' Glenn said. 'Those things happen. It's football. You correct it, you move on.'
For this edition of practice observations, I decided to focus on 10 specific players who stood out for various reasons — their performance, things that were said about them, or their absence from practice (attendance was not 100 percent):
As always, we must start at quarterback. On Tuesday, Fields looked pretty much like he has for all the sessions open to the media: not bad, not amazing. His athleticism shined, particularly on a 20-yard scramble during the first set of 11-on-11 drills when all of his receivers were covered. That should be a weapon in Tanner Engstrand's offense. Fields is still holding onto the ball a little too long and needs to throw downfield with more confidence, but he also had some nice throws in the intermediate areas — including when he hit tight end Jeremy Ruckert during seven-on-seven drills. One early pass he completed to Garrett Wilson would have been blown up by a big Quincy Williams hit if there was tackling allowed. All told, I had Fields completing all six of his pass attempts during 11-on-11, though one or two would've ended in sacks. He had a pass intended for Wilson broken up by cornerback Brandon Stephens in 11-on-11 too.
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Glenn did have a funny moment when a reporter asked him about how Fields was looking.
'I think I answer that question every time I'm up here,' Glenn said. The reporter responded: 'This is my first time here.' Glenn's response: 'That's your fault.'
Coach then proceeded to speak glowingly of quarterback: 'Listen, there's things about that player I think every coach wants them to have. He has this confidence about himself — and he leads the way that he wants to lead. His influence with the guys out there, you can see it. He can galvanize a group of men. He's a talented player and I'm happy to have him as my quarterback. I think the sky's the limit. I'm not going to say he's the next Joe Namath, but he's going to be a good player for us. I'm excited for what he's going to do this season.'
The star receiver continues to turn some ill-timed Fields throws into amazing plays. On a poorly placed ball from Fields during 11-on-11 drills, Wilson went up, contorted his body and caught it on top of cornerback Michael Carter II's head. Fields throws it in Wilson's direction with more confidence than he does anyone else's — probably because the quarterback knows you don't need pinpoint accuracy for Wilson to go up and get it.
The Jets' second-round pick — still unsigned — is starting to make waves. He looks like the Jets tight end most ready to make an impact in the passing game. He made a couple nice catches on throws from both Fields and Tyrod Taylor during seven-on-seven drills; the one from Taylor was into double coverage and Taylor hauled it in. If he's going to be on the field more often than other Jets tight ends, though, he'll need to show something as a blocker. Early reviews, Glenn said, have been positive.
'I think he's been doing an outstanding job,' Glenn said. 'It's not just the pass-catching — that's what you guys see. But it's the blocking that really gets me going. Because I know he can do it in the passing game. For him to come out do the things he's doing in the run game, even though you can't do a lot of running because it's not a physical part of the season, but him understanding exactly what he's supposed to do. The positioning, the body language, the leverage, all those things, I really love it.'
The Jets signed Weaver to add some depth this offseason. He's a player who has flashed potential in the past (5.5 sacks in 2022) but he hasn't recorded a sack in an NFL game since Nov. 13, 2022. Still, early returns have been promising — he's had some dominant reps in practice and I counted at least two sacks on Tuesday, one against Fields, one against Taylor. He received some valuable reps on Tuesday with Micheal Clemons not attending practice (for unknown reasons).
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Speaking of tight ends, Ruckert has a lot to prove coming off three disappointing seasons to start his career. It's obvious the Jets plan on relying on him as a blocker — though he did take a step back in that area last year — but he's shown some progress as a pass-catcher. Fields and Ruckert were teammates at Ohio State, so it's no surprise he's been getting a heavy workload during OTAs, including two targets on Tuesday.
Glenn said after getting hired, Ruckert was one of the first players he had a long conversation with about what he needs to improve. Glenn feels there's 'a lot of meat on the bone' when it comes to Ruckert's potential. 'I think he can help us in the passing game, he'll be a really good blocker,' Glenn said. 'There's some technical things he can improve on.'
Both Glenn and Williams spoke about a long talk the two had — Williams said it lasted an hour-and-a-half — after Glenn was hired. The conversation was built around ways Williams can and needs to improve coming off three seasons under Robert Saleh, during which Williams was viewed as one of the best at his position in the NFL. Neither would delve into specifics, though Williams did say he's trying to be a better leader and went to former Jets captain C.J. Mosley for advice on that.
Both rookie defensive backs — Moore and cornerback Azareye'h Thomas — have shown flashes of potential so far. Thomas was a standout last week. Moore stepped up on Tuesday when he picked off undrafted rookie quarterback Brady Cook and the whole defense celebrated. Moore has a legitimate chance to push Tony Adams for a starting job next to Andre Cisco.
The star cornerback didn't attend Tuesday's practice — neither did defensive tackle Quinnen Williams or Clemons. Gardner, though, did re-post a tweet in which Pro Football Focus ranked him as the best cornerback in the NFL. It's unclear why Gardner wasn't at practice — to be clear, it was voluntary — though the Jets corner does want a new contract (and deserves it based on his stellar play through three NFL seasons). Gardner hasn't met with the media since OTAs started.
If Fields is still finding his confidence in a new offense, Taylor does not lack it, especially when throwing deep. Taylor had a few nice throws on Tuesday, especially on a floater to wide receiver Ontaria Wilson during 11-on-11 drills. He had another deep ball broken up down the field, but that didn't deter him from trying. For my money, Taylor is one of the best backup quarterbacks in the NFL and can start if the Jets need him at any point.
The second-year wideout has been banged up and spent Tuesday's practice with a trainer. The coaching staff has a vision for what role Corley can play in this offense, Glenn said, but it will be hard to enact it until he gets on the field. The previous coaching staff had high hopes for Corley as a third-round pick, but he wound up barely playing as a rookie.
(Photo of Malachi Moore: Thomas Salus / Imagn Images)