The Jets open their 2026 season on Sunday at Nissan Stadium against the Titans, and the first week of the year already has a few big hooks.
The loudest one is obvious. Robert Saleh is back on the sideline in Tennessee, and that alone gives Jets at Titans its biggest storyline.
Saleh coached the Jets from 2021 to 2024 before Aaron Glenn took over in New York. He then spent one season as the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator in 2025 - the same role he held before joining the Jets - before the Titans hired him earlier this offseason.
That reunion is set to be the main talking point all week.
There’s also the Geno Smith angle. Jets fans got a preseason glimpse, but Week 1 is the real return. Smith, who the Jets selected in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft, was traded to New York by the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason, and Sunday will be the first time he suits up in Green and White since 2016.
On the offensive side, the intrigue doesn’t stop there. Smith is stepping into a group that includes Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall and two first-round rookies, Kenyon Sadiq and Omar Cooper Jr. The preseason only showed so much, though, which is why Frank Reich’s full playbook will be worth watching once the games count.
The same goes for the defense. Glenn is now the one calling the shots on that side of the ball, so the natural question is how different the unit will look when the Titans come to town. There may be some clues from Glenn and Reich during the week, but the real answers won’t come until Sunday.
And then there’s Hall. The Jets’ bell-cow back is dealing with a groin injury and has been handled carefully because of it. He’s the team’s top injury concern heading into the opener and is supposed to be back for Week 1, but his status will be one of the key things to monitor leading up to kickoff.
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Will McDonald Just Got A Jets Chance He Desperately Needed
Will McDonalds path back into the Jets rotation has gotten a little clearer just as the season opener arrives. After a disappointing 2025 campaign pushed him down the depth chart, the edge rusher suddenly has a Week 1 opening because Joseph Ossai is dealing with a foot injury, and Aaron Glenn said Ossai is week-to-week. That puts McDonald in line for more snaps against the Tennessee Titans, a chance he has been waiting for as the Jets sort through their pass-rush options.
For McDonald, the timing matters as much as the opportunity. He enters the opener needing a strong start to change the conversation around his place on the roster, especially with other pass rushers also competing for playing time and his future in New York far from settled. A good first impression would not solve everything, but it would give the Jets reason to keep investing in him after a season that left more questions than answers. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Have A Clear Week 1 Mismatch Tennessee Wont Like
The first week of the season brings a familiar face or two back into the picture, and the Titans defense has plenty of them from Robert Salehs Jets tenure. Tennessees roster features five defenders who previously played for Saleh in New York, including edge rushers Jermaine Johnson and Jacob Martin, both of whom spent time with the Jets before landing in Tennessee.
For the Jets, the matchup points toward a ground-game approach designed to stress the edges early and often. Johnson arrived in Tennessee after an injury-affected season in New York, while Martins stop with the Jets was brief, and their presence gives the opener a little extra intrigue for a team looking to turn a potentially familiar defensive front into an advantage on the outside. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Fans Can Already See The Next Franchise QB Dream
The Jets already have Geno Smith lined up at quarterback for the 2026 season, but the long-term conversation in Florham Park is never far from the future of the position. Bleacher Report stirred that up with a mock draft projecting New York to take Arch Manning in the 2027 NFL Draft, a nod to both the teams ongoing search for a franchise quarterback and the buzz surrounding one of the most closely watched prospects in the sport.
For Jets fans, it is the kind of projection that instantly invites daydreaming, even if it is still firmly in the speculative stage. Mannings potential gives the idea real juice, and New Yorks need for a centerpiece at quarterback keeps the fit easy to imagine, but for now it remains just one more early look at a future that is still a long way from being decided. [Read more 🡒]