New York Jets practice notes: A walkthrough reset to catch up a little

Adam Gase took a lighter approach for Tuesday’s practice, sort of resetting things for his wounded New York Jets.

New York Jets head coach Adam Gase flipped the script Tuesday morning. Instead of building on Monday’s 90-minute session, he allowed his team to take on a pregame feel.

Tuesday’s practice featured a walkthrough. It was relaxed and laid back with the express purpose to feature the mind and help get the team to the point where injuries are not the foremost concern.

“It’s been week-to-week with all these guys,” Gase told reporters after practice.

The date in which things will ramp up will eventually happen. Gase just isn’t ready to reveal it yet.

“The date I had in mind originally for our first type of scrimmage, or really to simulate our first game situation (type stuff)… I’m pushing that back because we had all these injuries and we wanted to stop for a second and figure out, ‘OK, how do we get these guys back healthy and make sure we’re headed in the right direction?’ We’ll push that back a little. We will get to a point where we’re gonna do that stuff. Hopefully, it’s sooner than later. We have a date in pencil.”

The personnel look right now simply does not match what was on paper heading into August. For instance, the Vyncint Smith and Denzel Mims injuries have created a huge hole at wideout. Unknown Jeff Smith is taking reps outside while others are looking to help out in uncomfortable spots for the team.

“When you see Marcus Maye back there returning punts, guys are going, ‘hey, I can contribute in this area. I can help here, I can do this,'” Gase said.

Matthias Farley: the special team cog

Brant Boyer seems to have an early special-teams leader in the form of safety Matthias Farley. Since Friday, Farley has led the way for Boyer in drills and has been a leader in a variety of ways.

He currently mans down the personal-protector role on the punt team, which means his roster spot (at this moment) seems to be secure. He, of course, is also one of the backup safeties, more in the mold of a strong safety (behind Maye).

In 2017 with the Indianapolis Colts, Farley started 15 games at safety. He finished the season with two interceptions, seven passes defended and 98 combined tackles.

Rotating D-line

Gregg Williams continues to shuffle his defensive line. The walkthrough featured more of a base personnel look Tuesday morning, meaning all of the big defensive heavies got a chance to run with the ones.

Quinnen Williams would, at times, man down the nose tackle spot, while at other times, it would be Steve McLendon. Henry Anderson and Kyle Phillips were the other two defensive linemen in the mix.

Foley Fatukasi, the UConn product who made a strong impression on the Jets in 2019, spoke to the media after practice and shed light on the elder statesman of the group.

“Steve is the big brother to everybody on this team,” Fatukasi said.

The UConn product also said he got some work in with McLendon in Atlanta this past offseason. He also wasn’t shy about praising the big brother’s new gym.

“I think it’s dope,” Fatukasi said. “His gym is a place like… if you go to, if you wanna get better or not, you’re gonna get better. So, I think it’s a great area to be in. Great environment. Great people. Everybody’s likeminded.”

Adam Gase said Bryce Hall is still recovering from an injury sustained in college (ankle). Overcoming the Reserve/COVID-19 list is not his only hurdle right now. #Jets

— Robby Sabo (@RobbySabo) August 18, 2020

Injuries

• Vyncint Smith (core muscle, underwent surgery, out 5-8 weeks)
• Braxton Berrios (excused personal absence)
• Denzel Mims (hamstring)
• Brian Poole (dehydration)
• James Burgess Jr. (back)
• Jabari Zuniga (quad)
• Bryce Hall (Reserve/COVID-19 list)

Interestingly, Gase revealed that Hall is still dealing with an ankle injury sustained in college, which means he probably would not be ready even if he was activated from the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

The Jets get back after it Wednesday morning at 9:20 a.m. ET.