New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner came out of Thursday’s joint practice against the Washington Commanders very impressed with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.
“He is going to be nice,” Gardner said. “I was just talking to him down there, and he was like, ‘I would have been able to throw that over anybody but you.'” Gardner was referring to a pass breakup he recorded against Daniels during the situational period that ended practice.
Check out our complete New York Jets training camp report of Thursday's joint practice with the Washington Commanders.
Even though Gardner was impressed with Daniels’ talent, the Jets’ defense gave Daniels a hard time as the rookie reportedly went 7-of-15 with all of his completions being around the line of scrimmage.
Speaking further about his conversation with Daniels, Gardner said, “We were just joking. You know, those LSU guys, they talk a lot. When we first lined up I was saying, ‘He young, he young.’ I was just trolling him out there. I just told him, ‘Man, you’re going to be real good,’ It was great to just be able to line up against him. As a corner you want to go against a rookie quarterback, but he’s one of those guys, he’s developed. He was drafted that high. He had some great throws out there.”
When Jets head coach Robert Saleh was asked what Gardner could do to improve in 2024, Saleh said, “Catch the ball. He had a lot of opportunities last year, and I think he’s up for the challenge.” Gardner was unable to record an interception last season after recording two during his rookie campaign.
Gardner acknowledged Saleh’s challenge, saying, “I feel I could have had three or four easily [last season].” The two-time All-Pro added, “Like I said, it don’t make it easier facing Aaron in practice. I’m not getting those easy opportunities to pick him off in practice. I have to do extra work outside of that. Aaron is not going to make it easier, he’s not going to give me 50/50 balls, he’s going to make it like, ‘I want the receiver to catch the ball and if he can’t catch the ball nobody’s going to catch the ball.’
“I don’t really use the ball not coming my way that much as an excuse because, at the end of the day, if I was to have four picks last year, none of that would matter. If I had four picks that would have been a pretty good year. As a cornerback, that’s pretty decent. No excuses because they don’t throw the ball my way and that’s why I had no picks, I could have had a few of them.”
Gardner looks to earn a spot on the All-Pro roster for the third consecutive season.
