He led the Jets with 10.5 sacks and in addition had 28 tackles and 11 tackles for loss.
So, what does McDonald have deliberate for 12 months 3?
“Just continue to do better,” he stated. “I like to win at life, win at football, make sure I’m putting the right foods in my body and getting stronger, and mainly, that’s my ultimate goal is to win every day.”
If McDonald’s purpose is to win every day, he must be completely happy together with his play all through the primary week of coaching camp. Persistently, McDonald has been within the backfield whether or not on passing or run downs.
When he was drafted within the first spherical out of Iowa State in 2023, McDonald was a uncooked go rusher, however many consider he had the potential to be one of many higher edge gamers within the NFL. The Jets’ regime beneath former coach Robert Saleh introduced McDonald alongside slowly and primarily used him in situational passing downs. He performed in 14 video games and recorded simply three sacks for the Jets in 2023.
Coming into final 12 months’s coaching camp, not a lot was anticipated out of McDonald, after buying and selling for Haason Reddick and with the emergence of Jermaine Johnson. However the Reddick commerce was one of many worst in NFL historical past following a one-sack season and a contract holdout. Johnson additionally tore his Achilles in Week 2, however McDonald stepped up and have become the Jets’ most constant go rusher final season.
The Jets are hoping that with first-year coach Aaron Glenn and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, McDonald can take his recreation to a different degree. However they aren’t placing a ceiling on him.
“The player wants to be really, really good, and, to me, that was the number one thing,” Glenn stated. “Properly, the very first thing, let me say that, the very first thing that he stated when he got here to my workplace, he actually desires to be good, so now he desires to be coached how to have the ability to do this.
“And I said that statement the other day, and I’m not sure you guys really understood what I was saying when I kept saying, “It’s coaching,” and that’s what I used to be speaking about. He desires to be coached, he desires to be coached onerous, and he desires to be coached easy methods to do it the appropriate means, and our guys are going to proceed to do this with him.
This offseason, McDonald, 26, added 15 kilos of muscle after he was listed at 236 final 12 months. He ate six meals a day, eradicated carbohydrates from his weight loss plan, and lifted weights to assist him change into a extra constant go rusher.
The Jets coaches additionally needed McDonald so as to add the additional weight to assist him change into an edge setter on the line of defense. This may assist McDonald transition from a situational go rusher to a three-down participant in Wilks’ scheme, a task he struggled with as a legal responsibility towards the run throughout his first two seasons within the league.
Professional Soccer Focus gave McDonald a 39.5 run protection grade in 2024, which ranked 205th greatest out of 211 edge rushers. He has already seen a distinction that the added weight has made to his play.
“Strength, explosiveness,” McDonald stated. “You realize, simply ensuring that I’m like controlling my physique, seeing what I’m hitting, listening to every part, wanting round, that each one performs in impact.
“If you are not changing your game, then you are not being consistent with what you are doing.”
McDonald has had intense battles with proper deal with Armand Membou all through coaching camp and has gotten the perfect of the rookie at instances. On Saturday, McDonald pancaked Membou all the way down to the bottom, utterly knocking him off his toes.
Membou has been strong all through coaching camp, however he’s getting adjusted to the extent of expertise of go rushers within the NFL in comparison with enjoying within the SEC whereas he was at Missouri.
“Membou, me and him work out a lot and watch film and talk a lot about a lot of things,” McDonald stated. “Membou can positively maintain his personal on this league.
“I think he is going to be one of the best tackles in the league at some point. And this year, I know for sure he’s going to ball out.”
Initially Revealed: July 30, 2025 at 10:00 AM EDT
