If Tuesday was any indication, the Jets‘ offense has a long way to go one week into training camp.
On a hot, humid, and sticky day in Florham Park, Gang Green’s defense controlled the offense in just about every aspect.
“You have to look at this thing from a wide lens for the most part,” Jets coach Aaron Glenn said. “And make sure you correct the things that need to be corrected when you don’t do things the right way, and celebrate the things that need to be celebrated when they are done the right way. The thing that I like more than anything, like I said before, is, man, this is a jockeying for position on who’s going to come out on top every day, and I like that about our players.
“They want to win every rep, but you know what, that’s just not realistic. So, as a head coach, I just make sure that when I talk to the staffs, I mean this is what we got to do better when we do lose, and when we win, man, let’s continue to do these things and let’s improve on doing these things.”
Before the final period of practice, Jets quarterback Justin Fields completed just one pass during 11-on-11 drills. He only attempted four passes during that stretch and Fields was also sacked by Micheal Clemons and Jamien Sherwood.
The Jets emphasized trying to be physical and get the rushing attack going. However, not only did Fields struggle early, but so did the entire offense. The offensive line failed to generate a lot of push and the ground game couldn’t gain a ton of yards past the line of scrimmage.
“I think we started off very slow at the start,” Fields said. “At the end of practice, the last period, I think we ramped it up a bit. Definitely want to come out with a stronger start. We can’t warm up to things, we can’t have a few bad reps and then bring it all up and talk with each other then decide to, ‘Alright, let’s go.’ It’s got to be right out the gate.
“The heat, that’s not an excuse, it’s hot everywhere. It’s hot here, hot in New England, hot in Miami, hot everywhere. Like I said, it’s not an excuse. It’s our second day in pads, but like I said, we always want to come out the gate hot.”
But the Jets’ final offensive drive was their best of the day. During their two-minute offense, Fields completed a short pass to Breece Hall. He also had a 10-yard quarterback scramble and a 20-yard pass to Allen Lazard, which helped set up a 15-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Mason Taylor.
Tuesday marked the second day the Jets were in pads during training camp. During Monday’s practice, Fields completed 6 of 7 passes in his return to 11-on-11 drills.
The Jets have high hopes for Fields and their offense this season. Glenn and Jets general manager Darren Mougey are hoping he can revitalize his career in a different location, much like Sam Darnold, Geno Smith, and Baker Mayfield did later in their careers.
Not only are there questions about whether Fields can be the latest quarterback to turn his career around, but there are also questions about the Jets’ offense in general. Outside of Garrett Wilson, there are questions about whether the Jets have a legitimate No. 2 receiver on their roster.
Offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand will likely feature a run-heavy scheme with Hall, Braelon Allen, and Isaiah Davis after investing a ton of draft capital on the offensive line. While he was the passing game coordinator of the Lions from 2022-24, they used both Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, which took pressure off Jared Goff and their passing game.
Time will tell if the Jets’ offense can turn into Lions East with Fields under center. However, Wilson is banking on the Jets’ offense clicking on all cylinders before their Week 1 matchup against the Steelers.
“Ideally, yeah, we are rolling by Week 1, Wilson said. “We’ve been at it since April, and we got a week head start on this thing, and we did that for a reason. We gotta find a way to be playing good football and executing by Week 1.
“You know, the beautiful thing about that is that we still have five, six weeks to figure that out and make that happen. But yeah, that’s the goal, that’s the goal. If we go into it trying to give ourselves that leeway in week 1 and all of a sudden it might be Week 8, you know what I’m saying? So, nah, Week 1 is the deadline.”
FIELDS WEARING TOE PROTECTION
Fields is back fully practicing with the Jets after dislocating his toe nearly a week ago. But that doesn’t mean he and the team aren’t being cautious.
Fields told reporters on Tuesday that he is wearing a protective plastic cover over his right toe.
“My man Zuff [Jets head athletic trainer Dave Zuffelato] came with it, so almost like a little steel toe, but it’s a plastic toe. Yeah, we kind of came up with that idea just to try to protect it for these next couple of weeks.”
Fields suffered the injury during the early part of last Thursday’s practice after an incomplete pass to tight end Jeremy Ruckert. He said the toe felt normal at first, right after he had it stepped on by an offensive lineman. Fields tried to walk it off, but his toe felt like it was something stuck in it.
After he sat on the ground for a few minutes, Fields was looked at by trainers before he was carted off to the Jets facility for further evaluation. Shortly after, the Jets announced he would be day-to-day.
Fields returned to the practice field the following day, but did not participate in positional or team drills. He took part in just positional and 7-on-7 drills on Saturday before returning to 11-on-11 drills on Monday.
“I was very relieved, you know,” Wilson said about Fields. “After knowing him for the past, like, decade, damn near now it’s it’s always like, when’s he going to be back out there?
“He’s just a tough cat, he’s never out too long. You know, he broke his ribs against Clemson in college and I don’t know if he missed a play. He’s just that type of guy.
“So for me, it’s always like if Justin go down, I know it’s it’s likely serious if he leads the field.”
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