The Jets may have left Tennessee with a win and a 1-0 start, but their most useful edge for Week 2 might be waiting on the defensive line.
That edge is T’Vondre Sweat, who played just 15 snaps - 30% - in the opener against his former team. Sunday’s home game against the Packers gives him a chance to become a much bigger part of the plan, especially if the Meadowlands weather turns sloppy the way the forecast suggests.
If the conditions push both teams toward the ground game, Sweat fits the moment. At 6-foot-4 and 366 pounds, his best trait is exactly what the Jets need against Green Bay: stopping the run. Among 134 qualified interior defensive linemen with at least 100 snaps in the 2025 season, Sweat ranked fourth in Pro Football Focus’ run-defense grade at 79.2.
That matters because Green Bay’s rushing attack was already shaky in Week 1. Without Josh Jacobs, the Packers managed only 67 total rushing yards and averaged 3.1 yards per carry.
Up front, they also checked in 23rd in PFF’s team run-blocking grade at 58.7. The Jets, meanwhile, finished with a 69.9 team run-defending grade, good for fifth.
That’s the kind of mismatch that can tilt a game.
Sweat’s limited workload in Week 1 wasn’t a mystery. He missed a big chunk of the summer with a hamstring injury, so some easing-in was expected. And Tennessee’s game script helped keep him on the sideline, with the Titans needing to throw more than they probably wanted while the Jets were in control.
Still, he wasn’t just a one-note run stuffer. Sweat showed enough as a pass rusher in 2025 to look like more than a pure space eater.
Among 97 qualified defensive tackles with at least 200 pass-rush snaps, he ranked 16th in PFF’s pass-rush grade at 74.1, 36th in pressure rate at 9%, and 40th in pass-rush win rate at 9.4%. Those are solid numbers across the board for a player built the way he is.
He flashed that ability in the opener with a quick pressure on Cam Ward that forced a throwaway.
Against Green Bay, the snap count should climb. The Packers are likely to lean on the run more often, which means Sweat should get more chances to do what he does best. And if he keeps the middle of the line clogged on early downs, the Jets can force more second- and third-and-long situations.
That’s where the ripple effect starts. New York blitzed on 44.9% of its defensive snaps in Week 1, the third-highest rate in the league. Green Bay, meanwhile, had trouble dealing with Brian Flores’ 82.1% blitz rate in its season-opening loss.
So the path is pretty clear. If Sweat controls the interior and keeps the Packers behind schedule, Aaron Glenn can get aggressive and pressure Jordan Love in the area where he had problems last week: against the blitz.
Keep an eye on No. 99. He’s hard to miss, and even harder to move.
In Other News...
David Bailey Is Making Jets Fans Ask One Big Early Question
David Bailey has given Jets fans an immediate glimpse of why the organization spent the No. 2 overall pick on him in the 2026 NFL Draft. The rookie has managed sacks in each of his first two NFL games, something no Jets player had done since Shaun Ellis, and those early flashes have already made him one of the more watchable young pieces on the roster.
Still, the full picture is more complicated than the box score suggests. Pro Football Focus has graded Baileys pass-rush work below average so far, while his most encouraging snaps have come against the run, leaving his opening stretch as a mix of promising production and room to grow. For a player with this kind of draft status, that balance is exactly why the early questions around his development are already starting to matter. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Fans Got Caught In Foxs Most Infuriating Broadcast Mess
FOX Sports had a rough early stretch in Week 2 of the 2026 NFL season, and it reached New Yorks corner of the league window during the Packers-Jets game. Across multiple early slate broadcasts, viewers were hearing the wrong commentary for the games on their screens, a jarring mistake for anyone trying to follow along on a Sunday built around split-second updates and constant channel surfing.
The problems did not stop there, either. During overtime of Packers-Jets, FOX also briefly lost its scorebug, adding another layer to an already messy afternoon for viewers. The network fixed the audio issues before its primetime broadcast, but it still has not publicly explained what caused the earlier mix-up, leaving a frustrating broadcast snafu without much clarity for fans. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Loss May Have Overshadowed A Huge Offensive Change
Even with the Week 2 loss to Green Bay hanging over the conversation, the early shape of the Jets offense has been hard to miss. Through two games, New Yorks pass protection has looked dramatically better, and Pro Football Focus has the offensive line ranked first in its pass-blocking grade. For a team that has spent recent seasons searching for stability up front, that kind of early traction matters as much as any single result.
Geno Smith has been the clearest beneficiary. He has had more time to operate, averaging more than 3 seconds to throw while keeping his pressure rate below the league average, a sign the line is giving the offense a chance to function on schedule. The loss may have obscured it for a night, but the bigger story for the Jets is that one of their most persistent weaknesses appears to be turning into a real strength. [Read more 🡒]