The New York Jets and the New York Giants had their joint practice this week, and by all accounts, it was a one-sided affair in favor of the Jets. Aaron Rodgers and Garrett Wilson torched the Giants’ secondary, while Gang Green’s defense shut down Daniel Jones and the Giants offense. However, one Giants player has taken exception to the narrative that the Jets would have that same success against the Giants in the regular season.
Sixth-year wide receiver Darius Slayton spoke to the New York Daily News on Thursday to address the joint practice with the Jets and conversations surrounding his quarterback. In regards to the Jets, Slayton didn’t mince his words.
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“They can walk away from yesterday, beat their chests, say they held us to whatever,” started Slayton. “But in a real game, at the end of the day, if they were to play how they did, we would have ran the ball for a bazillion yards and we would’ve won the game. And if they came up they would’ve gotten beat [deep].”
According to Slayton, the Jets defense was sitting deep on routes. The New York WR equated this to the reason as to why the Jets had success against the Giants during joint practices.
“What do you want DJ [Daniel Jones] to do?” asked Slayton. “If DJ threw it up into double coverage, we’d be back on SportsCenter. But he checks down and everybody’s like, ‘Oh man, we couldn’t get anything going today!’ It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
While Slayton may have a point regarding his quarterback, that’s little explanation for why the defense was scorched by the Jets’ offense. Not only were Wilson and Rodgers taking advantage of the Giants defense, but veteran LT Tyron Smith could be seen making quick work out of Brian Burns, an elite pass rusher that signed with the Giants this offseason.
I know, the Tyron snatch-trap technique really is a thing of beauty https://t.co/dZF4Wse0w4
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) August 21, 2024
Smith also had his way with third-year edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Best part of this is having a LT who can keep his man THIS far from the QB https://t.co/7JpQU2pwo0 pic.twitter.com/ne8lu2rlIw
— Michael Nania (@Michael_Nania) August 21, 2024
Even that doesn’t tell the whole picture of how dominant the practice session was for the Jets.
Jason Brownlee, currently listed as a third-string wide receiver on the team, also made quick work of the Giants secondary. Brownlee scored on a long touchdown pass from quarterback Tyrod Taylor.
Sauce after Brownlee beats the Giants D for another long TD 😅👋 pic.twitter.com/TwvGYdA54W
— Let's Talk Jets! (@TalkJetsRadio) August 21, 2024
The play capped a strong performance by the Jets against their intra-stadium rival. The practice ended with cornerback Sauce Gardner waving and blowing kisses to the Giants sideline.
While Slayton made some decent points, it’s likely that the Jets would have had a similarly dominant performance with actual consequences on the line.
