Aaron Glenn isn’t sounding the alarm after Jason Sanders stumbled in the Jets’ preseason finale, but he isn’t pretending it went well, either.
Sanders was officially named the winner of New York’s kicking battle earlier this week, yet Friday night did little to make the job feel settled. He missed his lone extra point attempt and then came up short on a 54-yard field goal try.
After the game, Glenn was asked about the misses and made it clear the Jets aren’t ready to overreact.
“I didn’t like that we missed these field goals, but we’re not going to panic,” he responded.
Glenn also said Sanders has been good for the team all summer, while leaving the door open for the Jets to add another leg if they decide it’s needed.
That kind of caution makes sense given Sanders’ track record. He has converted 84.6% of his field goal attempts across 116 games, so one rough night doesn’t wipe out the body of work.
Still, the recent signs haven’t exactly been clean. During practice last week, Sanders had a day when he went just 2-for-5 on kicks.
The extra point miss stands out the most, and the 54-yard attempt falling short is another concern, especially after Sanders missed the entire 2025 season with a hip injury.
If New York decides to make another move at kicker on cutdown day Sunday, there should be options. The Saints, Colts and Giants all have kicking competitions of their own going on.
Whoever ends up handling the job in Week 1, the Jets’ kicker situation is another reminder of the offseason decision to let Nick Folk leave in free agency. And with a position this fragile, the margin for error is tiny - something Jets fans know all too well.
In Other News...
Jets Just Moved On From A Former First-Round Bet
Roster cutdown day brought another notable change to the Jets defensive front, with the team releasing defensive tackle Mazi Smith as it trimmed down to the 53-player limit. Smith, acquired in a trade from the Dallas Cowboys, had been a low-risk swing for New York after he saw action in three games last season, but the fit never fully developed as the roster and scheme evolved.
Smiths exit fits the broader direction of the Jets personnel moves, which have included a push to reshape the front seven around a new 3-4 look. New York also parted ways with quarterback Bailey Zappe as part of the final roster decisions, and the emphasis now is clearly on getting the right bodies in place up front before the regular season opens. [Read more 🡒]
Will McDonald Just Flipped An Old Jets Draft Joke
Broderick Jones once looked like one of those draft-night what-ifs that can linger for years, the kind of pick Jets fans know all too well. He was taken by the Steelers and later moved on to the Cowboys after failing to crack Pittsburghs 53-man roster, a reminder of how quickly a first-round story can turn once the league starts sorting out who can actually stick.
Will McDonald has helped flip that familiar Jets joke in the opposite direction. Drafted by New York, he has turned into a real part of the pass rush with 18.5 sacks over his first two seasons, giving the Jets a player who is not just surviving the draft conversation but changing it. It also adds another layer to an already curious draft comparison, since both teams passed on other notable names while their own choices headed very different directions. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Make Another Quinnen Williams Trade Ripple On Defensive Line
The Quinnen Williams trade keeps sending little shocks through the Jets defensive front, and the latest came with the release of Mazi Smith. Smith was part of the package that went to New York in the deal with Dallas, and his short run with the Jets never really got much traction. He played in eight games last season, including three in green and white, and finished with three combined tackles.
His exit leaves the depth chart looking a little clearer for now. Harrison Phillips is expected to settle in as the starting defensive tackle, with TVondre Sweat in line at nose tackle and rookie Darrell Jackson Jr. behind them as a backup. It is the kind of reshuffling that comes with a major trade, and for the Jets it is another reminder that the ripple effects on the defensive line are still being felt. [Read more 🡒]