The more things change, the more they stay the same—or something like that. Despite the new flavor that is head coach Aaron Glenn, the storyline dominating Thursday’s New York Jets training camp session featured a familiar tone.
Injury.
Thanks to the Justin Fields little toe that refused to go to the market, Jets fans were thrown into full-hysteria mode. Anything not related to the Fields injury news was immediately cast aside while simultaneously forcing the swear jar to collect more coin.
No matter though, because this regime is intent on plowing forward.
“We have an outstanding backup in Tyrod (Taylor), who’s been in this league for around 14 years,” Glenn told reporters after practice. “So, the leadership that he brings, listen, we’re all good, we’re all good. I thought today’s practice was really good, especially for the defense.”
Taking it miles further, the Jets’ sideline boss revealed what he thought about the potential dropoff from QB1 to QB2.
“I think the most important part is if anything does happen to Justin, I don’t think there is any dropoff as far as what we want to do when it comes to play call,” Glenn added. “Very similar when we talked about skill set, so that was enticing for us.”
While I understand Glenn’s perspective on this subject matter, that’s not wholly accurate. Nor should Glenn reveal the perfect truth.
It’s all about the scheme fit
Why does the New York Jets roster feature these four specific quarterbacks? It’s neither an accident nor sheer randomness that these are the four.
Whether it’s Fields, Taylor, undrafted rookie Brady Cook, or Adrian Martinez, all four can use their legs. All four signal-callers can fit into this Tanner Engstrand offense to at least an acceptable degree.
That’s no accident.
In reality, the individual dropoff from Fields to Taylor is nonexistent. An argument can be made that Taylor is the better player. The problem arises when evaluating the offense as a whole.
Glenn bet on NFL evolution this past offseason. Watching the Jalen Hurts-led Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl, coupled with the success of Jayden Daniels and Lamar Jackson, has coaches and talent evaluators believing the NFL has only scratched the surface of the running-quarterback offense.
Three or four decades ago, a coach would not dare dream of running a zone read or RPO against the likes of Lawrence Taylor. Such an irresponsible move would toss the quarterback in the hospital.
Since the Miami Dolphins were forced to pull a rabbit out of their hat with the Wildcat—an offense that features the same east-west contrasting with north-south action—college principles slowly invaded the league that plays for pay. It began with Colin Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III, and Tim Tebow, and it’s evolved to what we see today.
A bet on Justin Fields is a bet on the evolution of this sport. Having him sidelined for some time is a brutal blow to installing this incredibly foreign and specific offense tailored to his skill set.
No matter how one stacks Taylor up to Fields individually, the latter’s offense (as a whole) features an undeniably higher ceiling. The stuff Fields can do with his legs provides a bevy of offensive options and extenders only a couple of other humans can replicate.
While Taylor can still move, he’s nowhere near Fields’s class in the legs department. Though theoretically correct—that Taylor fits this scheme as a backup—serious scheme tweaks must be made.
In any event, Glenn provided sanity and calmness once practice concluded.
New regime = fresh ideas
Considering Fields exited practice relatively early in team sessions, little can be said about his day. Thus far, the most impressive constant has been the coaching staff’s idea of a football practice.
The dedication to the fundamentals that began in OTAs continues in training camp. For instance, one positional drill featured the wide receivers feeling the awareness of needing to block on the fly:
Rarely has a drill like this been seen in these parts. More optimistically, this drill isn’t the only one to point to in the attention-to-detail area.
The offensive line continues to practice muscle memory in unique ways. One such drill is to ensure that their hands aren’t dropped too quickly in pass protection, especially for offensive tackles.
Camp highlights, news, and notes
Yes, Fields hooked up with Garrett Wilson yet again on this day, but it unfortunately only happened before teams began (thanks to the injury):
One of Fields’s only team reps saw him unload a vertical to rookie Arian Smith that ultimately fell incomplete. Interestingly, Wilson probably should have been the target.
With the defense sitting in a solo-high look, Fields forced it into the burner despite the potential for double-coverage, which is precisely what happened.
Fortunately for the Jets, Tyrod Taylor and Adrian Martinez enjoyed solid days. (Brady Cook lived on the other side of the coin Thursday morning, as his overthrowing struggles continued.)
One of Tyrod’s first plays with the big boys resulted in a beauty of a pass. Needing to layer it into Wilson near the seam, he put the perfect amount of touch on the ball to get it done.
Additionally, Tyrod hit young Brandon Smith on a corner route with tremendous anticipation and placement. Smith deserves much credit for the late burst that created separation.
Adrian Martinez’s best moments came in 7v7, where he placed a perfect pass at the last moment in his progression. The coverage was perfect with the receiver sitting in what he hoped would be a soft spot against the zone.
Like a pro, Martinez returned to his left and led the receiver inside, away from the coverage, after starting to the right with his primary read.
The defensive activity continued to be noticeable, so much so that the very first play of team sessions caught the offense off guard.
Let’s just say a defender who nobody would expect to rush the passer did so, which completely screwed up the play for Fields and the offense.
Another defensive shoutout goes to linebacker Quincy Williams, whose coverage on a curl-to-flat target from the first-team offense was beyond impressive. Although Fields placed the ball in a safe spot—low and away, where it harmlessly fell incomplete—it wasn’t the best-looking play from an offensive perspective (the timing was a bit off, and perhaps the pre-snap read wasn’t phenomenal).
However, Quincy’s inside-hip blanket job was top-notch.
The New York Jets will return to work Friday morning at 8:30 from Florham Park, NJ. This will be the first public practice open to fans this summer.
The good news is obvious: If Justin Fields only injured one of his non-big toes, he shouldn’t miss much time. The bad news is that the team’s first open practice of the summer will most likely not feature the team’s new QB1.