Biggest takeaways from NY Jets’ first training camp practice

Reporting live from New York Jets HQ in Florham Park, NJ—The time has arrived. The New York Jets opened their first training camp practice under head coach Aaron Glenn on Wednesday morning.

From Justin Fields’ first full practice as the Jets’ starting quarterback, to a new defensive alignment altogether, New York opened practice in Florham Park with clear goals for the 2025 season.

Wednesday was the first day they could officially build toward those goals.

As with every practice, there are multiple takeaways to look over. Let’s break down some of the biggest ones here.

Takeaways from Jets Training Camp

The hour-and-a-half-long practice without pads means that many of these takeaways should be looked over with proper context. Players who excelled may be unable to do so when the pads come on, and vice versa.

However, let’s get to our thoughts from Wednesday’s practice without further ado.

Justin Fields’ Uneven Day

Let’s start with the quarterback. Justin Fields had plenty of moments where he looked like the face of the Jets organization. He threw a deep touchdown to Garrett Wilson on a broken coverage, and even fit a pass nicely to Wilson on a fade route.

Fields had some issues, though.

He looked indecisive on where to go with the football, and was late to pull the trigger on a few throws. Several throws looked to be “hospital balls” to intended receivers that put the pass catchers in compromising positions with a defender nearby.

Now, there are two trains of thought when it comes to a practice like the one Fields had.

The first is that he is a new quarterback in a new offense with new teammates. It was always going to take time for him to get up to speed at the start of camp. In that regard, there shouldn’t be anyone panicking over Fields’ performance.

The other side of that coin is far more concerning, though. Fields has been an NFL quarterback for four seasons already, and he had these same problems when he was with the Chicago Bears and Pittsburgh Steelers.

So which is it? Is Fields just learning a new offense, or is this just who he is?

We’ll need to see more of him to determine the answer.

Young Receivers Shine

While much of the day was dominated by New York’s star receiver, fourth-round rookie Arian Smith and UDFA Jamal Pritchett both stood out in their own right throughout practice.

Pritchett caught a diving ball in 11-on-11 work and continues to get open at a high clip. He remains a player continuing to prove his worth at the NFL level.

Smith, meanwhile, continues to show the kind of athleticism, speed, and route-running ability that made him Georgia’s leading receiver in 2024. The better news surrounding Smith is the fact that he caught every pass thrown his way.

There’s a very good chance that, if Smith can find consistency as a pass catcher, he may end up finding a key role on the offense this season. The comparison to DeSean Jackson is still strong.

Defensive Optics

Jamien Sherwood and Quincy Williams were flying around the ball on Wednesday. But that isn’t the main takeaway when we discuss the optics of how the Jets’ defense looked on Wednesday.

No, when we talk about defensive optics, we have to talk about Will McDonald.

The former first-round pick was taken out of Iowa State as an underweight player with the speed to be a quality pass rusher.

Now, after gaining a clear amount of muscle during the offseason, McDonald looks to be at least 250 pounds (after being listed at 236 last season) and still has his speed. He’s added a level of physicality that wasn’t in his game before.

If McDonald can keep this up, he may not just grow into an every-down edge rusher, but also a Pro Bowl-caliber star.

Garrett Wilson: Elite

Not much else needs to be said here.

Wilson was paid like a top-five receiver in football and certainly played like it on Wednesday. His back-shoulder catch over Brandon Stephens was the catch of the day, and he also had New York’s only touchdown.

New York’s $130 million receiver needs to play like an elite athlete, and he certainly looked the part on Wednesday.

Struggles

Not everything was great on Wednesday for New York. There were clearly some miscommunications on both sides of the ball, and penalty flags were thrown along the line of scrimmage multiple times.

No player seemed to struggle more than Malachi Corley, though.

The former third-round pick knew he was coming into an important training camp period under a new coaching staff, and having missed all offseason workouts with an undisclosed injury.

The fact that his two targets resulted in an overthrow and a drop did not help his chances to make the roster.

As things stand right now, I would guess Corley is on the outside looking in on the Jets 53-man roster. He didn’t help his case today.