Reporting live from New York Jets HQ in Florham Park, NJ—The New York Jets, practice, OTAs, and sunny skies in Northern New Jersey? Could this be the actual reality for Aaron Glenn and company on a Tuesday?
What in the world is going on here?
Yes, Tuesday’s OTA session open to the media will, indeed, deploy a sunny backdrop, something of a rarity this offseason. From day one of rookie minicamp forced to move indoors, to the wind and rain of previous OTA practices, the Jets’ practices featuring the onlooking media have been a bit miserable due to Mother Nature.
Not today.
Previous Jets sessions have featured a nuts-and-bolts mindset. It makes all the sense in the world considering a brand-new system is actively infecting the building and locker room.
Ensuring the entire roster immerses itself into that system should be the first priority.
However, as the practices pile up, a straightforward ramp-up process can be realized. Glenn is transparently taking the “crawl before you stand, stand before you walk, and walk before you run” approach.
Stick with Jets X-Factor all day for live updates at New York Jets OTAs.
A familiar instructional vibe
The Jets started the day featuring much of the same structure we’ve witnessed this offseason. When the media arrived at practice, the Jets’ instructional vibes were transparent.
As has been the case all spring, the Jets are helmets only again.
The following video features Alijah Vera-Tucker and the offensive line in positional drills:
Elsewhere, Arian Smith continues to showcase his electric speed. Better yet, his quickness in and out of breaks is something to behold.
If he can harness his route-running speed at certain points, that will genuinely move the needle in his route-running journey. Not every route, especially at the professional level, can be run at breakneck speed.
To set up defenders (and defenses as a whole) on specific routes, legitimate nuance and deliberateness are required.
Team session and 7v7 notes
There weren’t many offensive highlights on Tuesday, but it’s not like they were shut out, either.
Justin Fields put forth a solid day during team sessions and 7-on-7 drills. On one play, he delivered a nice ball to Garrett Wilson near the middle of the field.
It looked like Fields intentionally placed it high. Thanks to the defender’s inside-hip coverage, it was a safe throw high and with the receiver’s momentum.
Wilson’s display of strong hands in the face of tight coverage, however, is what really completed the play.
Elsewhere, third-stringer Adrian Martinez may have had the best quarterback play on the day. After looking left initially, he progressed to a secondary read to drill Xavier Gipson in stride on a backside dig.
Glenn ensured to show love to Martinez once it was done.
Maintaining the focus
After the more instructional, walkthrough-esque team sessions and the positional drills, the Jets broke into a more spirited version of team sessions.
At this point, emotions began to sprout. Units were in celebratory mode, things got a bit chaotic, and even a few skirmishes broke out.
This is nothing unusual. This is a common occurrence in football, even at voluntary OTAs, even without full pads. What happened immediately following an energy high point is noteworthy …
Aaron Glenn suddenly stopped practice. He brought his entire roster together to speak to them, seemingly calming down the pace.
If I had to guess, he reminded his team that “focus” is the name of the game, especially at this point in the year. With the new coaching staff in tow and a new scheme implemented, maintaining a focused mindset must be the utmost priority.
As previously written, Glenn likes to keep a distance at practice. His goal is to take in as much as possible. On this specific day, it felt like his guys were moving too far away from the goal, and he corrected it.
Sauce Gardner, Quinnen Williams, Will McDonald, and Micheal Clemons were the notable absences on this Tuesday.
