Reporting live from Florham Park, NJ—After a miserable and rainy Tuesday, the New York Jets get back on that football horse a day later. Fortunately, for everybody involved, the Florham Park, NJ, skies shine brightly on day No. 2 of mandatory minicamp.
Day No. 1 featured much of the same. As has been the case since Aaron Glenn took over as head coach, this Jets program continues to emphasize the fundamentals.
Instead of much time dedicated to team sessions and 7-on-7 drills, Glenn’s vision focused on habitual tactics. No greater example exists than the team’s offensive line drills.
Offensive line coach Steve Heiden put his guys in a position where their hands were forced to remain in the right place during the kick-step part of pass protection. That’s just one example of the consistent intent to work on the basics of the game.
Elsewhere, Justin Fields found Garrett Wilson early and often. Well, at least that was the case when the team broke out into team sessions.
Stick with Jets X-Factor all day as we provide live updates from the Atlantic Health Jets Center in Florham Park.
Tanner Engstrand’s concepts shine brightly
No, my people: This is not a replay of Tuesday’s recap. Justin Fields and Garrett Wilson hooked up early and often at New York Jets mandatory minicamp. Perhaps the slight difference in day No. 2’s recap is how it happened.
While, yes, No. 5 found plenty of room to run on Wednesday, it was made possible by the transparently innovative concepts. Offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand’s passing concepts were on full display, and they were evident.
Time and again, Engstrand used leverage to shake Wilson loose. Better yet, it was done so the quarterback had little time to think about the situation.
Just read the defense pre-snap, snag the ball, and sling it.
Fields missed several targets that he had to have. On one play, he missed Mason Taylor high near the sideline. Although there was a bit of noise in front of him, it wasn’t enough to excuse the inaccuracy.
Another ball was severely underthrown deep, but fortunately, it was underthrown so badly that it worked out in his favor. A defensive pass interference set his offense up in the red zone.
The positives heavily involved Wilson, yet again.
One of the early reps in team sessions saw Fields hit Wilson on a route concept that put the weapon through traffic. Sauce Gardner, technically Wilson’s cover man, had no chance to get over in time—all a product of the concept.
The result was a ball that traveled about 10 yards in the air yet provided Wilson with an incredible RAC opportunity.
Context is key
At one point, facing pressure, Fields threw a beauty of a deep ball to his No. 1 target (traveling in the air around 50 yards). Though it was slightly underthrown, Wilson adjusted to make a Willie Mays-style grab.
Unfortunately, the pass rush would have likely reached Fields before he unloaded it. But hey, that’s just the nature of football practice, especially in the NFL, where these guys never practice “to the ground.”
Perhaps his best throw resulted in a Josh Reynolds red zone touchdown. Safety Andre Cisco was on the coverage, most likely due to a goal-line-type personnel scenario.
Most of Fields’ inconsistencies involve timing. Glenn clearly wants his quarterback to run the ball, but whether or not he improves in pass-only situations will significantly depend on starting from scratch.
Translation: Justin Fields must first master the consistency of accuracy and on-time performance in the three-step drop and designed concepts game.
The area he shines, however, is the off-schedule game. With the offense up against it, with just two seconds remaining in a two-minute session, Fields scampered right to make something happen.
Wilson did a tremendous job in the scramble drill, zigging in-to-out near the goal line. Fields delivered it on the run, and due to Michael Carter II’s legs colliding with Wilson’s, a DPI was called.
With no time remaining on the clock, the Jets offense had one play to score. A designed 1v1 Garrett Wilson target flew incomplete. Fields was simply inaccurate, but it felt more like a timing and confidence issue.
As opposed to a more natural feel from snap to throw, he seemed to rush it. Despite Wilson’s pretty solid route, the ball had no chance.
Overall, don’t think the offense completely destroyed the defense. In fact, an argument can be made that the defense had the better overall day (though it’s not important).
What stood out most glaringly was the offensive concepts seemingly becoming more complex. Perhaps more importantly, they’re becoming more adaptable and complementary when considering who Justin Fields is as a quarterback.
News and notes
Justin Fields, Breece Hall, and Tony Adams were the three players made available to the media after practice. Say what you want about Fields’s on-field game, but this guy is ironclad when speaking publicly.
Fields never missteps or falters when asked a question. His words reflect his head coach’s vision as perfectly as possible.
Participation was at nearly 100% (if not 100%) again. Jermaine Johnson is still doing his rehab thing, whereas rookie Arian Smith is still working off the side while seeing some reps in team sessions.
Interestingly, Quincy Williams wasn’t spotted much in team sessions, as Marcelino McCrary-Ball enjoyed a solid day while helping replace him at linebacker.
