If Tuesday’s joint practice in Florham Park was considered a near-draw between the New York Jets and the cross-town rival New York Giants, Wednesday produced no such results.
Both teams responded differently to the previous day’s physical practice. With the setting shifting to the Giants’ facility in East Rutherford, plenty of players stood out during practice.
With their next preseason contest on the docket Saturday night, it’s time to break down the biggest takeaways from Wednesday’s slate of work.
Jets joint practice takeaways
As always, it is essential to remember that while these are takeaways from a single practice, things can certainly change during preseason action or in the next few weeks before cutdown day.
Still, there were plenty of takeaways from Wednesday’s work for the Jets to look back on.
Offensive line struggles
It didn’t matter who was on the field for the Jets’ offensive line; Wednesday’s practice was ugly. The Giants’ defensive line seemed to beat each player, resulting in multiple sacks of Justin Fields.
On many occasions, the pressure was in Fields’ face so quickly that he was forced to throw an errant pass.
While unacceptable at the NFL level, this kind of day could be a good thing for the Jets’ young offensive line. They won’t play against as tough a defensive line as they have done this week in the Giants.
Big Blue has four players who are either Pro Bowl or All-Pro caliber when evaluating the pure talent. That cannot be mistaken.
Making these mistakes now could allow the Jets to position themselves to be even better once the regular season begins.
Arian Smith shines … again
While New York’s entire offense struggled mightily against their cross-town rivals, they did make one play that impressed fans.
Arian Smith, the fourth-round pick out of Georgia, caught a 30-yard deep pass from Adrian Martinez. The speedster leaped over a Giant defender to haul in an impressive completion.
He looked confident and attacked the high point aggressively while battling through over-the-top contact. It was the play of the day for the Jets, and one of their few positive offensive plays.
We have gotten to a point in camp where Smith is making plays at a consistent rate, far more than any other receiver outside of Garrett Wilson. He should be in the running for WR2 snaps.
What center battle?
We’re getting to a point where the Jets’ battle at center seems like a foregone conclusion, yet we’re all confused about why it is still happening.
While the entire Jets offensive line struggled, free agent pickup Josh Myers was easily the worst of the entire group. The former Green Bay Packer was dressed down in several one-on-one drills and missed plenty of blocks in team as well.
Joe Tippmann, meanwhile, more than held his own in individual workouts and looked better in team drills. While his snaps were high on Wednesday (a common problem of his early in his career), he looked the part as New York’s starting center.
It felt like the Jets’ center position battle ended on Saturday when Myers struggled in Green Bay, and Tippmann flourished. That hasn’t been the case, though.
And everyone is left wondering what exactly New York is seeking.
Injury update
According to head coach Aaron Glenn, there was only one significant injury: All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner missed practice today due to calf soreness. While the injury didn’t sound serious, the Jets will wait for more information on their star defensive back.
Other players, such as Quinnen Williams, John Simpson, and Mason Taylor—who returned to practice on Wednesday—did participate in practice.
Jermaine Johnson, the former first-round edge rusher, did not take part in practice after working in some drills on Tuesday. He’s coming off the PUP list and will be brought back slowly.
Practice verdict: Giants win
After fighting to a draw during Tuesday’s slate of work, Wednesday really felt like a Giants win. The Giants’ defensive line crushed the Jets’ young OL, whereas Glenn’s elite defense relented a few plays without Gardner.
Time will tell if Gang Green’s starters will see action on Saturday, but their joint practice “loss” could set the stage for some of the Jets’ starters to get some live-action reps.
