Florham Park, N.J. - Friday’s Jets practice wasn’t about who could win at the line of scrimmage. It was about who could process it fastest.
With the team in helmets and shorts and working without full pads, Aaron Glenn steered the session toward mental football: third-and-long situations, heavy-pressure looks, and the kind of assignment-heavy work that tests a group’s communication more than its violence. The result was a day where the pass rush didn’t exactly pop for the crowd, but that wasn’t the point.
Geno Smith was steady throughout 11-on-11 work, and Garrett Wilson kept showing up as the target. That fits the way many passing concepts are built, with Wilson often serving as the primary read.
The Jets also held out Demario Davis, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Harrison Phillips for veteran rest, which added another wrinkle to a defensive line already missing several familiar bodies. T’Vondre Sweat, Joseph Ossai, and Kingsley Enagbare were already part of a banged-up group, and without Phillips the front looked even more unfamiliar than usual.
If there was one area that stood out, it was the offensive line. Even with the defense throwing pressure at them, Steve Heiden’s unit held up well in blitz pickup, and that’s not easy in a no-pads setting where those pressures should be landing more often.
After practice, offensive coordinator Frank Reich volunteered a strong read on the group.
“On offense specifically, I’m really fired up about the progress we’ve made,” Reich started. “It all starts up front with us, and [with our] offensive line, [especially our] two tackles, Olu (Fashanu) and (Armand) Membou.
Those guys are monster players. Then inside, we’re strong, with Josh (Myers), Tipp (Joe Tippmann), and Dylan (Parham).
So, we feel really good about that front five; we feel like they’re syncing, we feel like they’re all strong leaders.”
There were a few rough edges, though. The offense was tagged with a delay of game or two, a right tackle jumped early in pass protection, and some young pass-catchers looked like they were still learning the finer points of the system.
That part is normal enough. For young receivers, handling hot-route adjustments and reacting when the quarterback changes the picture because pressure is coming can be one of the toughest things to master.
Still, the bigger issue on this day wasn’t on offense. The defense’s gap integrity and run fits are the areas that deserve more scrutiny once the pads go back on Saturday, and that’s where the sharper evaluation will come.
There were a few individual moments worth noting. Rookie Omar Cooper Jr. should have come down with one ball on a semi-vertical route drifting toward the sideline, even though Geno Smith placed it low and inside.
Cade Klubnik had a couple of rough snaps, including a throw that should have been intercepted by an attached defensive back on a flow route while he was flushing right, plus a high throw over the middle that was effectively tracked by the robber safety. Bailey Zappe was picked off by Mykal Walker on a late throw over the middle.
The Jets are scheduled to practice again Saturday morning.
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