It’s the age-old debate for teams at this time of year. The New York Jets are no different with their new coaching staff.
Just days ahead of their first preseason contest against the Green Bay Packers, New York needs to decide on whether to play its starters. The Jets have plenty of new faces on the roster, and a new coaching staff means a new approach.
A straw poll of most Jets fans will show that playing starters in the preseason needs to happen. With a new quarterback in Justin Fields openly campaigning for playing time during these three games, it makes plenty of sense.
But that doesn’t mean it is the right decision.
Jets’ Preseason Decision
Ever since the NFL altered its schedule to 17 regular season games and three preseason games, teams have had to change how they approach the exhibition part of their schedule.
Back when the preseason slate was four games, teams would not play their starters during the first preseason game. They would, instead, push for playing time during the third game of the schedule. That third game was seen as a dress rehearsal of sorts for both sides of the ball and the coaching staff.
Things have obviously changed.
Now, some teams have decided to sit their starters altogether throughout the preseason. They hope that joint practices will better determine how good their team will be once the regular season begins.
For the organization that does play its starters, the normal plan is to usually play them during the second preseason game, not the first.
That isn’t why the Jets should rest their starters on Saturday, though.
Unlike many teams around the league, Gang Green has gotten decimated with injuries throughout training camp. Aaron Glenn’s push for a physical camp has forced many of the team’s star players to suffer injuries.
Quinnen Williams, Will McDonald, Byron Cowart, Breece Hall, Justin Fields, and many other players have been nicked up in some way over the last few weeks.
It is true that many of these players, like Fields and Hall, have returned to practice, but that shouldn’t give the Jets the green light to put their stars in harm’s way during meaningless football contests.
New York is also not at the point where their depth is a calling card. If a star player goes down, the chances of being able to turn to someone competent is going to be very hard for the Jets to see. They aren’t there yet as an organization with this new front office.
The NFL season is more about a war of attrition than anything else. The healthier teams usually advance come playoff time.
Glenn should know this well. As defensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions last season, he saw a top-five unit in the league get pummeled with injuries, and then later on the field in the playoffs.
If New York wants to be competitive this year, then it needs to stay healthy.
That means it doesn’t make much sense to play starters through the preseason…at least not in the first game against the Packers.
