The Jets wrapped up necessary minicamp on Thursday afternoon, virtually 5 months after Aaron Glenn grew to become the crew’s new coach.
Glenn had a message for the gamers throughout his crew assembly earlier than their six-week sabbatical.
“What I want to stress to the players, throughout this whole deal from Phase 1 all the way to Phase 3, they started creating some habits,” Glenn stated. “And as you permit the constructing, I don’t need these habits to go away. I would like them to proceed to consider these habits.
“I’m looking forward to training camp. I hate that things are ending now and we gotta take this month off, but I understand it. But guns blazing once we get back here and go to training camp.”
Since Jets proprietor Woody Johnson employed him in January, Glenn has stated all the precise issues. He has mentioned his plan a number of occasions to alter the tradition of a corporation that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2010.
Throughout practices, Glenn has created a distinct vibe across the Jets. He doesn’t simply watch one place group or one aspect of the ball, not like some coaches. Glenn is the true CEO of the Jets group. He observes each place group and retains an in depth eye on all points of the crew.
All through the Jets’ offseason program, gamers have stated all the precise issues and have purchased into Glenn’s tradition. That they had round 91% of gamers attend the Jets’ whole offseason program, in response to Glenn.
“It is all about just buying in,” Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood stated. “Simply assembly Coach Glenn this offseason, the primary time we bought an opportunity to talk to one another, I felt like we hit it off. The connection was there.
“Same thing with our new linebackers coach [Aaron Curry], our new defensive coordinator [Steve Wilks] and all the other coaches. It is just about buying in and you can’t do that unless you get everyone around you to change a culture and to create a standard everybody has to agree with.”
Now, it’s time to show the web page to coaching camp, the place we are going to start to find out how properly the Jets might doubtlessly carry out on the sector.
The Jets’ roster has undergone important modifications for the reason that finish of final season. The common age of the free brokers they signed in the course of the offseason is 26.6 years outdated.
With the youth motion at Florham Park, it’s truthful to marvel if the Jets might be a greater crew than final season, once they went 5-12. However that may possible be decided by the way in which quarterback Justin Fields performs.
Gang Inexperienced signed Fields, 26, to a two-year, $40 million contract as a result of they consider his trajectory is headed upwards. He was 4-2 throughout six begins with the Steelers final season and accomplished a career-high 65.8% of his passes.
Fields hasn’t lived as much as expectations after being chosen eleventh total by the Chicago Bears within the 2021 NFL Draft. Nevertheless, he has proven indicators that Fields might be poised for his greatest season but.
All through organized crew actions, Fields’ confidence in offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand’s system continued to develop. He probably had his greatest apply of the spring on Tuesday.
Fields led the offense down the sector earlier than they needed to accept two discipline objectives. He additionally threw a 50-yard cross to Garrett Wilson, which helped arrange his six-yard landing cross to Josh Reynolds.
Glenn beforehand stated he needs Fields to play quarterback, quite than simply being identified for his dynamic working capacity. Nevertheless, Fields additionally has accuracy points at occasions, notably when holding onto the ball too lengthy and overthrowing his receivers.
“The biggest thing is for us, we’re just taking it day-by-day, trying to get better each and every day,” Fields stated. “I undoubtedly really feel just like the offense has been doing that, particularly these previous couple of weeks.
“Really getting better, like I said, it’s a new offense, everybody is trying to get a hold of it, but these past couple weeks, like I said earlier, I think the guys have really gotten a grasp on that and we’ve really been improving for sure.”
Along with Fields and their offense, the Jets’ protection will even play an integral position of their success. The Jets return eight starters from a protection that completed within the high 5 in yards allowed every of the final three seasons. Nevertheless, final 12 months, the unit suffered a setback following the firing of Robert Saleh.
Throughout the closing 12 weeks of the 2024 season, the Jets ranked twenty eighth in factors (26.6) and 18th in yards allowed per recreation (337.9). Earlier than Saleh’s firing, the Jets have been fifth in factors (17) and second in yards allowed per recreation (255.8).
A good portion of the Jets’ defensive success might rely upon the play of cornerback Brandon Stephens and the secondary. He signed a three-year, $36 million contract in March. Stephens will substitute D.J. Reed, who signed a three-year, $48 million contract with the Detroit Lions in the course of the offseason.
Final season, Stephens allowed the fifth-most receptions (65) within the NFL, and opposing quarterbacks had a passer score of 107.4 when he was in protection. He additionally allowed essentially the most targets (96) within the league and the second-most yards (806).
Professional Soccer Focus gave Stephens a 55.8 grade, and he was ranked one hundred and fifty fifth out of 223 cornerbacks after he completed with 70 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and 10 cross deflections in 2024.
“B-Steve [Stephens] has played at a high level,” Jets cornerback Michael Carter II stated. “He is aware of what it takes to win, clearly they did yearly in Baltimore.
“He’s bringing that to us, just that mindset, the work ethic. He’s a great corner [who] can play man, can play zone, can do all those things. There’s nothing stopping us from being the best in the league.”
The subsequent take a look at for the Jets might be coaching camp, which is able to start on July 22 when gamers report. They may maintain their first apply the next day to start preparations for the preseason, their Week 1 matchup in opposition to the Steelers and former quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Throughout an look on “The Pat McAfee Show” in April, Rodgers was essential of how the Jets dealt with his launch. Some Jets followers needed Glenn to run it again with Rodgers and the veteran crew they already had in place. However like every new regime, Glenn and common supervisor Darren Mougey needed to herald the gamers they greatest noticed match inside their group.
The Jets have a demanding schedule to start the season. They may play 4 groups that made the playoffs final season of their first six video games.
Glenn and Jets have stated all the precise issues in the course of the offseason about their tradition change and gamers shopping for in. Nevertheless, the NFL is a results-driven enterprise, and Glenn and the Jets want a Week 1 victory to keep up the constructive momentum they’ve constructed within the spring.
“We have 17 really good games that we have to play, and I’m looking forward to playing every one of them,” Glenn stated when requested about dealing with Rodgers. “That is the NFL, and to me, each recreation there may be a number of noise as a result of they’re so essential so far as wins and losses.
“We want to try to accumulate as many wins as we can, and I don’t care who that opponent is. If it’s a high school team, we want to beat them. If it’s a college team, we want to beat them. It just so happened to be Pittsburgh, and listen, they have a lot of good players on that team. They have a f–king good coach, who I’m fond of, but our players are going to be ready to play every game, and I know that for a fact.”
