The 24 hours after cut-down day are always interesting as fans. You see who’s valued through the waiver system and who isn’t. You start forming your practice squads which indicates the players who were just on the wrong side of the numbers game, and you have to settle with the realisation that outside a tweak here or there, this is largely the group you’re going into battle with.

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The Jets made a number of moves yesterday to try and improve their roster and we’re going to look at them one by one.

JETS CLAIM KICKER BLAKE GRUPE

Life comes at you fast in the NFL. Jason Sanders saw Cade York get cut, then was told he won the kicking battle. He then went on to miss an extra point and FG in the final pre-season game before making the 53 man roster. He then saw the Jets claim a kicker on waivers, before being told he was cut…only to later sign onto the practice squad.

You would presume that Blake Grupe is the starting kicker for week one in Tennessee but with Sanders on the practice squad, if Grupe struggles for form like he did in New Orleans, I don’t think the Jets will hesitate in switching.

It’s a bold move for the Jets when you look at Grupe’s career to date.

The positive side to me wants to look at the way he finished in Indianapolis going 11-11 which included 4-4 from 50+ yards.

The Jets fan side of me looks at that 18-26 mark last year in New Orleans and worries significantly, especially when he’s gone 2-4 in the pre-season so far.

He was also relatively shaky in college as well. Over five years (4 with Arkansas State) he made 78-105 attempts for a 74.3% success rate, which caused him to go undrafted in 2023.

I wasn’t sold on Sanders and that he could stay consistent. But Grupe has that one run with Indianapolis and then a lot of inconsistency. So we’ll need to keep a close eye on how he performs early in the season.

As Rich Cimini noted, he’s never attempted a FG or PAT in 40 degrees or less and his split between inside/outside is pretty minor (80.5% outside, 82.5% inside).

JETS CLAIM LINEBACKER TREVIN WALLACE

Wallace was a surprising cut in Carolina after being taken in the 3rd round of the 2024 draft out of Kentucky.

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When I woke up this morning I wondered if I should even send a newsletter today. Not just because it’s a bank holiday over here, but because the roster we see today is likely to undergo some cosmetic enhancements over the next 12 hours as waiver wire claims are awarded.

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But then I thought it would be a good exercise to see where we’re at today in the hope of identifying some of the players who the Jets could target. We also have a little trade to talk about as well, one that’s split opinion within the fanbase.

I had a quick look at some fan comments on the roster reveal and I think it’s safe to say that fans were left underwhelmed by the 52 players. So let’s break this down into four sections.

1. The trade for Jordan Meredith

2. The 52 man roster as it stands right now.

3. Players the jets could target on waivers

4. What comes next…

JETS TRADE FOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN JORDAN MEREDITH

We have been speaking about this a lot over the summer, the depth on the interior of the offensive line was a big problem.

Meredith’s team has sparked more controversy than the player himself.

It’s absolutely true that the Las Vegas Raiders had the worst offensive line in the league in 2025. They allowed a league worst 64 sacks and Geno was basically under siege on every snap.

So why did the Jets look at that and not only sign Dylan Parham to be their starting LG, but trade resources for one of their backups?

Between Parham and Meredith the Jets have inherited 10 sacks and 48 pressures from that Las Vegas offensive line, on the surface that’s not overly appealing, especially when the Jets swapped a 2027 6th round pick for a 2029 7th round pick.

JETS RECEIVE: JORDAN MEREDITH, 2029 7TH ROUND PICK
RAIDERS RECEIVE: 2027 6TH ROUND PICK

Meredith was poor last season, allowing 4 sacks and 20 pressures in just 439 pass-blocking snaps, but he was also playing centre for the first time in his career.

Meredith spent his entire four year career at Western Kentucky as a right guard and he was considered a premier pass-blocker at that position. He played sparingly for the Raiders right up to the 2024 season where he started at both LG and RG, and unsurprisingly he performed well (0 sacks in 399 pass-blocking reps).

His struggles only came when he was asked to play a position that he wasn’t familiar with. I liked Meredith coming out of Western Kentucky and I think as an interior backup he’s better than Xavier-Newman, and that’s the goal.

If something were to happen to Josh Myers and Meredith was called upon, I imagine the Jets would shift Joe Tippmann over to centre and bring Meredith in to play RG. A position that he has vast experience in, especially at the college level.

So while the optics on bringing in two players from the worst offensive line in the league aren’t great, I don’t have any problems with it. Offensive lines struggle as a unit, there can be good players on a bad line and bad players on a good line, it’s about how it all comes together.

THE FINAL 53 MAN ROSTER

As part of the Jets official roster announcement they only named 52 players, that’s based on Meredith’s trade not having been announced officially because he was yet to pass his medical. For the sake of my own sanity in terms of the numbers, I’m going to include Meredith on the list below, making it 53.

QB (2): Geno Smith, Cade Klubnik

RB (4): Breece Hall, Braelon Allen, Isaiah Davis, Kene Nwangwu.

FB (1): Andrew Beck

WR (6): Garrett Wilson, AD Mitchell, Isaiah Williams, Omar Cooper, Tim Patrick, Arian Smith

TE (4): Mason Taylor, Jeremy Ruckert, Kenyon Sadiq, Jelani Woods

OL (9): Olu Fashanu, Dylan Parham, Josh Myers, Joe Tippmann, Armand Membou, Chukwuma Okorafor, Max Mitchell, Kohl Levao, Jordan Meredith

ED (5): David Bailey, Joseph Ossai, Kingsley Enagbare, Will McDonald, Braiden McGregor

DL (5): Harrison Phillips, David Onyemata, Jowon Briggs, T’Vondre Sweat, Darrell Jackson

LB (4): Demario Davis, Jamien Sherwood, Kiko Mauigoa, Marcelino McCrary-Ball

CB (6): Brandon Stephens, AZ Thomas, Jarvis Brownlee, Qwan’tez Stiggers, Nahshon Wright, D’Angelo Ponds

S (4): Minkah Fitzpatrick, Dane Belton, Andre Cisco, Malachi Moore

SP (3): Jason Sanders, Austin McNamara, Thomas Hennessy

It’s also important to note some other designations that the Jets handed out:

Tyler Baron: Placed on reserve/PUP
Anez Cooper & VJ Payne placed on IR, eligible to return.
Mykal Walker, Chip Trayanum and Mykal Walker placed on reserved/injured.

So all of those guys are protected from waivers and as a big VJ Payne guy, I’m hoping he comes back and solidifies his spot on this roster.

Some quick thoughts on that roster.

No major shocks, but a couple of notable surprises…at least for me.

• Braiden McGregor hasn’t done a great deal to warrant being on this 53, I know that Lynn came to the party late but I saw more from him in two games than I have in McGregor since he’s been here. So I’m not sure why he made it.

• Jason Sanders is safe for now, but I fully expect that to change tonight.

• Mory Bamba got injured at the worst possible time, I’m sure the Jets would have liked to protect him but the CB list is stacked and the two available IR spots went to draft picks. He’ll be a priority to get on the PS if he makes it through waivers.

• Four TE’s and Andrew Beck show the Jets are going to be doing a lot of work from multiple TE’s set and running the football will be a priority.

• There are veteran QBs to be had. It’ll be very interesting to see if the Jets add a veteran or put a claim in on Will Levis who was cut.

• Tim Patrick making the roster will be one of those moves that is analysed a lot if one of the guys let go turns out to have NFL talent. Patrick has good leadership and is a + run blocker, but he’s shown next to nothing this off-season as an out and out receiver.

Just a reminder of those guys who were waived:

QB
Bailey Zappe, Brady Cook

RB
Dominic Richardson (injured)

WR
Quincy Skinner Jr., Junior Bergen, Cam Camper, Malik McClain, Jamaal Pritchett

TE
Chase Curtis (injured), Connor Hulstein (injured)

OL
Xavier Newman, Marquis Hayes, Courtland Ford, Liam Fornadel, Xavier Hill, Landon Young

DL
Nate Lynn, Anthony Dunn Jr., Paschal Ekeji, Payton Page, Mazi Smith, Jack Heflin, Junior Tafuna

LB
Chase Wilson, Jaden Keller

CB
Jordan Clark, Mory Bamba, Keenan Garber, Samuel Womack III

S
Dean Clark, Tanner Wall, Jarius Monroe

PLAYERS THE JETS COULD TARGET

It’s near impossible to filter through every cut yesterday to find everyone the Jets should be interested in, but there are some obvious decisions to be made.

The first one is whether to stick with Jason Sanders. The Colts released Blake Grupe and the Giants released Ben Sauls (injured). So instantly you look at Grupe as the more likely but he went 2-4 in pre-season and is coming off a year where he hit 78.4% of his kicks. I’m not sure that’s enough to warrant a waiver claim.

I’d love Ben Sauls but it does depend on what his injury is.

Then you get down to some of the players who were a little surprising:

1. Will Levis - He has NFL experience, he’s flashed some talent, he’s cheap and he still has developmental potential. He’s also been in that Tennessee system all off-season and the Jets play them in week one. This would make a lot of sense in my book.

2. Elandon Roberts - Has 121 games of starting experience in the NFL. Had a poor year last year in Vegas but has plenty of good seasons under his belt. He’s in his twilight years now and we have plenty of experience in that LB room, but he’s an interesting one.

3. Jake Browning - Back to the QB, I thought Browning would be locked in as Mayfield’s backup this year, but Tampa decided otherwise. Browning has an excellent reputation in NFL circles as the perfect backup QB. When he’s played in the NFL he’s completed nearly 70% of his passes for more TDs than INT’s. This would be a solid pickup for the Jets.

4. Evan Neal - He’s still only 25 and the former top-10 pick is coming off arguably his best pre-season. As a first-round flop he had to get away from the Giants but now that he’s moved inside to guard, a new team could unlock some serious potential here.

5. Cedric Tillman - I’m still intrigued by his size and he has youth on his side too, and considering he has 5 touchdowns in the last two years while playing with whoever the Browns trotted out, that’s notable.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

The Jets would have started making their waiver claims as soon as the final 53 man rosters were announced all around the league.

The initial waiver period ends today at 1pm.

Teams will then be advised which claims were successful and which weren’t. The Jets hold the #2 pick in waiver priority, so only the Raiders could trump them for their #1 claim.

After 1pm EST today teams can start building their practice squads.

Just a reminder that teams can name 16 players to their practice squad and add one more if they qualified through the international player pathway.

10 of those players need to have no more than 2 years of accrued service.
6 of those players have no limitations at all.

Although MetLife retired Snoopy as their corporate mascot back in 2016, meaning no football clad Snoopy trophy up for grabs for tonight’s winner, there’s still plenty up for grabs for all those players on the fringes of the 53 man roster.

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A report from Brian Costello late last night indicated that Geno Smith and the starters won’t play tonight, and that’s not overly surprising considering it’s standard practice for starters to sit in the pre-season finale.

Will Cade Klubnik play? Will Omar Cooper Jr play? Well today isn’t about those guys who are guaranteed a place, it’s about all the players who aren’t.

NEWS & NOTES 🗞️

• The Jets announced that they have officially waived EDGE Nathan Voorhis with an injury settlement and waived LB Kobe King from injured reserve.

• The official team reporters decided to hand out some training camp awards and here is the list of winners:

  • Most Outstanding Player: QB Geno Smith

  • Poised to Make a Jump: TE Mason Taylor

  • Top Battle: Safety

  • X Factor: WR Adonai Mitchell

  • He Is Who We Thought He Was: Edge David Bailey

  • Most Improved: CB Jordan Clark

  • Mr. Intensity: RT Armand Membou

• NFL have some projected Stats out for Jets offensive rookies:

  • Omar Cooper Jr.

    Projected stats: 42 catches for 499 yards, 2 TDs.

  • Kenyon Sadiq

    Projected stats: 58 catches for 700 yards, 4 TDs.

• Chris Banjo has told the players fighting for a roster spot to “leave no doubt” when they face the Giants tonight:

  • “At the end of the day, when I look at myself in the mirror, I want to be able to say I did everything I possibly could,” Banjo said. “We always say that the tape has no sound, but when you turn it on, you want it to speak so loud that you don’t have to say anything.”

• CBS believes that Tim Patrick’s spot on the Jets roster could be in jeopardy:

  • “Brutal injury luck disrupted Tim Patrick’s career. After he broke out with the Broncos with consecutive 700-yard, five-touchdown seasons, he missed each of the next two years with ACL and Achilles injuries. To his credit, he bounced back to play in 32 games over the past two seasons with the Lions and Jaguars. His comeback story might reach a roadblock in New York, but if it does, another team ought to grab him and see if there is anything left in the tank.”

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Fighting for a Place 🟢⚪🗽

It’s really hard to narrow down a list of players to a select few when you’re days away from 35+ getting cut.

Around 1,184 players will hear their name called for all the wrong reasons as they’re told they didn’t make it.

We already saw the Browns release former 3rd round pick Cedric Tillman last night who I’m sure will generate some buzz on the waiver wire.

The harsh reality is that despite making a team’s 53, only 45-48 players can rest easy come Sunday night, especially for a team like the Jets who maybe don’t have that strength in depth that other teams have.

You can make the initial 53 man squad on Sunday night and then be replaced in on Monday with a successful waiver claim. It’s important to remember that only the Las Vegas Raiders have a higher waiver claim than the Jets right now and through the first three weeks of the NFL season.

Here is a rough timeline for what’s going to happen:

• Friday: Jets play their final pre-season game against the Giants.

• Saturday: First cuts will start filtering through.

• Sunday: Teams have to be down to 53 players by 6pm EST

• Monday: Waiver claims announced at 1pm EST

• Monday: Practice squad is filled after the waiver period finishes

  • 16 players per practice squad

  • 17th spot available for an international pathway player ( Paschal Ekeji is currently on the Jets roster as an IPP)

  • 10 of the 16 spots need to go to rookies or second year players.

Now let’s get to the fun bit.

Here are five players who have a lot to play for tonight.

Nate Lynn

He may have arrived late to New York but in only 17 pass-rush snaps last week against the Steelers he managed 2 sacks and 4 pressures. He followed that up with a couple of very good practices as well.

Lynn has history with Aaron Glenn. He signed on with the Detroit Lions after going undrafted out of William & Mary in 2024, and only a torn shoulder ligament prevented him from making the team out of camp.

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There is something quite unsettling about a coach talking about a player who’s “won the job” 24 hours after said player went 2-5 with misses from 38, 43 and 53 yards, but that’s exactly what happened yesterday when Special Teams coordinator Chris Banjo took to the stage.

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That comment was made in the wake of confirmation coming through that the Jets had cut Cade York (who went 3-5 the day before). The former 4th round pick out of LSU with the big leg hadn’t done enough. He’d had an uneven training camp and capped it off with a miss against Pittsburgh (albeit from 59 yards).

So Jason Sanders was appointed the winner, more because he’s the last man standing. The Jets brought in Cade York, Younghoe Koo and Harrison Mevis this off-season after Nick Folk decided to take his 96.6% success rate to Atlanta. Replacing him was never going to be easy, but who knew it would be this hard.

To be fair to Sanders, while he’s sometimes struggled in camp he’s been perfect through the pre-season. Two field goals attempted, two made. Two extra points attempted, two made. But none of those have come from 50+ yards.

Sanders was originally signed this off-season by the Giants who ended up cutting him three months late. The reason given was that Sanders kicking style was not the perfect fit for the winds in the North East. Sanders had previously spent his entire career in Miami with better conditions, and while it doesn’t offer the distance boost of say kicking in Denver, the conditions tend to be more favourable than New York.

John Harbaugh who knows a think or two about football and special teams in particular made that call, the Jets decided to sign him anyway. It was a risk worth taking considering Sanders has had three seasons with a FG% above 90% and when he last kicked in 2024 he went 12-14 from 50+ yards. The problem being that he was sidelined the entire 2025 season because of a hip injury, and hip injuries are problematic for kickers.

So we find ourselves in somewhat of a conundrum. Jason Sanders is the only kicker on the roster, but I’m not sure he’ll be the man kicking in Tennessee.

But what are the current alternatives, especially after Daniel Carlson signed on with the New Orleans Saints yesterday.

There are three kickers that are currently listed as free agents…

Graham Gano (39) - Battled injuries and hasn’t played a full season since 2022. Was 9-10 on FGs for the Giants last year and a career 83.8% kicker.

Brandon McManus (35) - The long-time Denver kicker spent the last two years in Green Bay hitting 95.2% of his kicks (2024) and 80.0% (2025).

Matt Prater (42) - Kicked for the Bills in 2025 (18-20), still holds the record for the most 50+ yard FGs in NFL history, 2x Pro Bowler with questions on what’s left.

I would probably have preferred to have any of those guys competing with Sanders over Cade York but it wasn’t to be. None of them have officially retired, but how motivated they are to play in 2026 remains a big question.

So if the answer won’t come from the current crop of free agents, what about the kicking competitions that are going on around the NFL right now?

Most will be keeping an eye on the Indianapolis Colts where Blake Grupe and Spencer Shrader are battling it out. According to a report by NBC yesterday that kicking competition is still neck-and-neck

“I don’t think we could really go wrong,” Colts special teams coordinator Brian Mason said (Colts Official Website) “I think we have two really good kickers that are talented that can get the job done for us, and I think whichever one we go with is going to be really, really good for us.”

One look at the pre-season box scores and you’ll be surprised to read that. Shrader is a perfect 4-4 including 2-2 on kicks from 50+ yards. Grupe is yet to make a FG going 0-2 including a miss from 36-yards. But Grupe has reportedly been the more consistent kicker on the practice field.

If you’re a betting man you’d put your money on Shrader, with Brian Mason even admitting that kicks in game situations matter most. Which means that Blake Grupe will likely wriggle free, but as a 81.9% career kicker he presents considerable risk despite him coming off a perfect 11-11 season with the Colts in 2025 where he made all 4 kicks from 50+ yards.

You could also look to the Las Vegas Raiders where rookie Kansei Matsuzawa is battling it out with Matt Gay for their starting spot. Like Indianapolis, the story is much the same. Matt Gay has only one kick in pre-season, one that he made and he has reportedly been steady throughout camp.

For Matsuzawa there was a lot of hype because at one point in camp it looked as though he couldn’t miss, but when the lights came on the problems started. The “Tokyo Toe” (who was actually born in Chiba Prefecture) missed his only FG and also missed 2-3 XP. Reports suggest he’ll be released over the coming days, but again you wouldn’t jump at the prospect of signing a rookie who’s struggled in pre-season.

The Steelers kicking competition was completed when Laith Marjan was cut following his 44-yard miss against the Jets and he was reportedly very poor in camp as well.

The Saints currently have three kickers in camp now that they’ve signed Daniel Carlson, but that signing was necessary because neither Tanner Brown or Charlie Smyth have impressed and remember Smyth is coming off a season where he made just 75% of his kicks.

One interesting competition is happening just down the road with the Giants. Ben Sauls was a perfect 8-8 last season and finished the year with a 100% rate on extra points, he’s also 3-3 in the pre-season. The problem for him is that Dominic Zvada has been basically automatic. One beat reporter has Zvada hitting 70-74 kicks over the course of camp and he’s also gone 2-2 in the pre-season.

I was hoping that Jake Moody would beat out Drew Stevens in Washington, because as you’ll remember from the draft coverage I was big on the Iowa man. But Stevens was perfect through pre-season and was reportedly much better in practice too. Moody has struggled consistently during his second year where he made just 70.6% of his kick in San Francisco before being cut, despite being a 3rd round pick in 2023.

So I’m sorry to say campers, there is no easy fix to this kicker situation.

While I don’t feel confident about Jason Sanders entering the season, at least he has some real experience of success in this league. I would keep an eye on Ben Sauls however if Jason struggles.

NEWS & NOTES 🗞️

• There was a “report” last night that sent some ripples through the Jetsphere linking them with a move for not only Mike Tomlin, but also Lamar Jackson. The report originated on that reputable site Casino.org and was penned by Jason La Canforca, who I personally put maybe a rung above Diana Russini for credibility. Here are some of my thoughts…

  • The basis of the article is complete conjecture, stating that Woody Johnson is doing his “homework” on Mike Tomlin, and that money wouldn’t be an object and it would be a big coup and if that happens then Lamar Jackson may request a trade and the Jets would be attractive. There is absolutely nothing concrete in there.

  • Now Mike Tomlin would be a hugely attractive potential candidate considering what he did in Pittsburgh, but we’ve been down this road before. Just like with Aaron Rodgers after the Brett Favre failed experiment, I expect us to be linked to Mike Tomlin just like we were always linked to Bill Cowher. People like to write about the Jets and because Woody is who he is, he’s an easy target.

  • Mike Tomlin also signed a highly deferred contract with NBC meaning that most of the money he’s getting will be paid in years 2-3, if he had any desire to coach anytime soon, I’m not sure why he would agree to a contract that paid him a significant portion of his salary down the line. It’s also true that Tomlin has shown absolutely zero interest in coming back to the side-lines and based on every report, he’s very happy at NBC.

  • Woody Johnson has backed Aaron Glenn both privately and publicly. When John Harbaugh became available the Jets didn’t make a move. If Woody didn’t make a move then and Glenn has seemed to settled more into the HC role as the summer has gone on, why would he rock the boat

    now on the eve of the season start. I know Woody will always be Woody.

• ESPN went through each position group and ranked them, highlighting which team had the best unit, who had the shakiest and who had one to watch that would likely perform better than expectations. The good news is that the Jets were not ranked as having the shakiest unit in any position. They made the top-10 at WR and safety, but it was closer to the line where they were ranked highly.

  • Interior Defensive Line (unit to watch: Jets): “New York’s defense quietly improved during the offseason, and the interior defensive line is a big part of the progression. Underrated T’Vondre Sweat was acquired from Tennessee and veteran David Onyemata was signed from the Falcons. The duo joins incumbents Harrison Phillips and Jowon Briggs, as well as fourth-round rookie Darrell Jackson Jr.”

  • Off-Ball Linebacker (Best: Jets): “The 37-year-old Demario Davis is back after ranking 10th in the NFL with 143 tackles last season. He has now cleared 100 in nine consecutive seasons, totaling 36.5 sacks during that span. The future Hall of Famer will team up with Jamien Sherwood, whose 308 tackles over the past two seasons ranked second in the NFL.”

• Andre Cisco and Dane Belton are locked in a competition for the safety spot opposite Minkah Fitzpatrick, Jets DC Brian Duker had this to say:

  • “I don’t see them all that differently,” DC Brian Duker said on Tuesday. “I think both of those guys [Cisco and Belton] do a pretty good job being rangy in the deep parts of the field. I think they both have done a good job with their tackling. I don’t see them as necessarily like the old school free safety. I think both those guys have the skill set to do both. So I wouldn’t say there’s a huge skill set discrepancy between those guys.”

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AROUND THE LEAGUE 🛬🛄

• The NFL announced that it was canning the Pro Bowl Games. I used to enjoyed the Pro Bowl when the game actually meant something, but when guys like Shedeur Sanders get voted in then you know the system is broken.

• The NFL also introduced a suspension system which will see players suspended for 1 game if they commit three of any of these offenses and they will carry from one season to the next. So say Sherwood commits a hip-drop this year and then two horse collar tackles next year, he’ll be suspended.

  • Hip-drop tackle

  • Horse collar tackle

  • Launching

  • Hit on a defenceless player

  • Blindside block

• The league also announced that any player cut from an NFL team and clears waivers is considered a free agent, meaning that if that player has college eligibility remaining then he can return to college, however that would mean he was ineligible to play in the NFL this season and he would not be eligible for a future draft. Presumably at the end of the college season he would be an NFL free agent. Cleveland’s Dae’Quan Wright is heading back to college to play at LSU for Lane Kiffin.

• NFL owners officially approved today the record $9.6 billion sale of the Seattle Seahawks to the Khosla family.

• Beginning this season, all NFL rookies will wear a Debut Patch on their jersey as part of Topps returning as the league’s official trading card licensee.

Training camp is officially in the books. Even with the pre-season finale set for Friday night, the training camp portion of the off-season is done and dusted.

On Sunday a number of players on this roster will get that dreaded tap on the shoulder accompanied by some of the most chilling words known to man…

“Coach wants to see you, bring your playbook”

Many players will catch on elsewhere, some will be brought back to the practice squad and some will have to head in new directions, maybe to return next summer, maybe not.

Cade York was waived yesterday by the Jets after losing the kicking battle to Jason Sanders, and I put it like that because I think it’s more a case of Cade losing it than Sanders winning it. I’d still be surprised if Sanders is kicking for the Jets on opening day.

It’s that harsh reality of a league that only has 32 teams, a sport that really only has 32 teams at the highest level.

In world football if you can’t make it the Premier League, you can drop down to the Championship, head aboard to France, Spain, Italy, maybe head over to the USA or east to the Gulf or Japan. All of those leagues get good exposure. If you miss out on NFL cutdown day, there’s a good chance your name disappears into the ether.

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But the Jets will turn the corner quickly. They’ll be busy scouring the waiver wire, desperately searching for the one who fell through the net.

The Jets are improved this season, but there by no means in the elite category. Which means that cut-downs from other teams are prized captures for the Jets.

I’ll be filtering that cutdown coverage by “kicker” and “available” because if there is one thing I’ve come to accept over the last couple of weeks, neither Cade York or Jason Sanders are the answer.

THE BLUEPRINT 🧬

Disrupt the QB
Disrupt the receivers
Attack the ball
Limit explosive plays

That was the blueprint set out by Aaron Glenn, part of his masterplan to turn this ship around. As he mentioned last season “Big ships turn slow”, but the reality is that he needs to win games. Losing is a disease that spreads and infects every single inch of an organisation, winning cures a lot of things.

I think every single team in the NFL will have a blueprint that looks a lot like the four point plan that Glenn developed to get the Jets back on track.

Just a reminder that the Jets ranked 31st in sacks, 32nd in pressures generated, 32nd in turnovers, 32nd in passing touchdowns allowed, 29th in rushing defense yards per game, allowed 15 rushes of at least 20 yards (T4th highest) and 57 passes of at least 20 yards (T7th highest).

So while it’s easy to form the blueprint, to put it into action less than a year after putting up some truly historic numbers of ineptitude is another thing.

But…and it’s an important but, the Jets have made the changes they feel are necessary to get that defense humming.

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The Jets find themselves in a very strange situation as we count down the days to the opening game in Tennessee. They have a lot of talent at certain positions.

I mentioned this briefly in yesterday’s newsletter, but right now the Jets have four tight ends who at least warrant consideration for the 53-man roster.

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Kenyon Sadiq and Mason Taylor are definite inclusions based on draft stock alone, but their talent would also make them guarantees. Jeremy Ruckert signed a new 2-year deal worth $10M under this management team back in December 2025, and Jelani Woods has perhaps been one of the better players in camp.

So today I’m asking the question…’Can the Jets carry four TE’s on the roster?’ - Stick with me as I try and unravel that old chestnut. First, it’s news and notes.

NEWS & NOTES 🗞️

• Rich Cimini had his projected 53-man roster prediction out yesterday and he had the Jets carrying four TE’s, 9 offensive lineman, 6 cornerbacks and 5 safeties, including my boy VJ Payne. Here’s what he had to say about that positional group which is locked in a fierce battle:

  • “It’s Fitzpatrick and everybody else. Next to quarterback, this probably is the most suspect position on the team. Cisco is an incumbent, but it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he loses his starting job to Belton. You will see some three-safety looks throughout the season. They’re still waiting for Moore to make a leap.”

• According to PFF, the Jets have the 24th best receiving corp in the NFL. Better than the worst-ranked Miami Dolphins at #32 but lagging a long way behind the Detroit Lions who were ranked as #1:

  • “The Jets owned the lowest PFF receiving grade in the league last season (60.3) and were the only offense to register fewer than 50 explosive passing plays, but they’ve attempted to put things right this offseason. Garrett Wilson looks to assemble a full, healthy season after missing over half of last year’s action. Breece Hall remains one of the league’s more underrated receiving backs. Rookies Omar Cooper Jr. and Kenyon Sadiq add athletic upside to a, dare I say, promising group.”

• The official website had a really good piece on Malik McClain and his pursuit of a roster spot. Apparently the Jets UDFA made 600 flashcards to help him nail the Frank Reich offense. He transferred a lot during his college career and he thinks that’s helped him this off-season:

  • “It’s kind of like professional football, you know, get traded or go to another team,” McClain said. “I’m thankful, I’m grateful I did that because coming in here, I wasn’t scared of the playbook because I learned five new playbooks in college.”

• CBS had an article out yesterday with some overreactions to pre-season week two and one of those over-reactions was that this Jets defense is fixed, based on those two interceptions and…:

  • “Toss in a David Bailey sack, two sacks from Nate Lynn and another from Chase Wilson, and it was a banner day for New York. The starting unit played into the second quarter of a game in which the Steelers went scoreless. Remember, though, that this came against Pittsburgh’s No. 2 offense. And keep in mind that while the Jets overhauled the unit with a plethora of free agent additions, none of them are elite players. Aaron Glenn needs this group to hold its own in 2026, and it may just do that. But this shutout means very little.”

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PACKED ROOM 🟢⚪🗽

You don’t have to look too hard to find the last time the Jets carried four TE’s into their season opener.

They may have carried three last season and only two in 2024 (at least to start the year), but in 2023 they carried four.

Now the four they carried in 2023 is pretty forgettable. Tyler Conklin finished with over 600 yards but didn’t reach the end-zone, Ruckert had 151 yards (0 TDs), C.J. Uzomah (who retired yesterday) had only 58 yards receiving but had the only TD in the room and Yeboah managed just 5 games and 28 receiving yards.

All combined that 2023 TE room caught 87 passes for 858 yards and 1 TD.

To put those numbers into perspective, six different TE’s in the NFL outperformed the entire Jets room in terms of yardage and 27 individual TE’s had better TD production than the Jets managed.

Although nothing is certain. I’m pretty confident that the Jets will carry four TE’s again in 2026, finding the extra space by cutting Andrew Beck and running without a FB (a role that I think Jeremy Ruckert could fill when needed). But they’ll certainly be hoping for significantly better production in 2026.

There is plenty of reason for optimism.

The Jets drafted Sadiq to be an athletic and dynamic receiver who could be lined up all over the formation to create mismatches. Unfortunately for Sadiq he’s been sidelined thanks to some lingering issues from a hernia surgery this off-season.

It was August the 4th when we heard he’d suffered a setback and here we are three weeks later and there is still no return date set. Glenn seemed confident that Sadiq would be ready for the season but the adjustment period of TE’s in the NFL is steep. I’m sure they will design a package to try and exploit his athleticism, but it would be unrealistic to expect Sadiq to be at his best over the first month of the season.

Which opens up the opportunity for Mason Taylor, who has impressed in camp after having his rookie season sidelined due to a neck injury. It’s also worth mentioning that Taylor missed time in camp with an ankle sprain, something that limited him to 1 game and one target through the 2025 pre-season. He caught 44 passes for 369 yards and 1 TD as a rookie (13 games) despite the issues with the QB and the offense in general. By all accounts his hands have looked much better this off-season after 5 drops last year.

Then you come to the much maligned Jeremy Ruckert, a player who I felt was lucky to still be on the team towards the end of last year, and certainly a player I wasn’t expecting to be extended. But last year was actually his most productive as a Jet catching 82.1% of passes for 179 yards and 1 TD. He spent over 70% of his time in-line which was the first time that’s happened since his rookie year (2022).

When Ruckert was first drafted I never thought he’d be a premier receiver but I hoped he’d develop into a dominant run-blocker. That’s never really happened, but he was used as a run-blocker over 200 times last year, the first time that’s happened in his career and news our of camp is that he’s looking much better and certainly more comfortable in this Frank Reich system. As mentioned earlier he got a 2-year $10M extension from Mougey, presumably signed off by Glenn, so like a Cisco I think the Jets regard him higher than the fans.

Then finally you have the absolute wild-card in Jelani Woods who’s one of only 6 TE’s in the NFL to have caught a TD through two weeks of the pre-season. It’s pre-season I get it, but it’s noticeable that he caught his TD from Geno Smith, meaning he’s running with the starters. He obviously has a history with Frank Reich who was the Colts head coach when they took Woods in the 3rd round out of Virginia back in 2002.

As a 6’7, 250+lb tight end who ran a 4.61, he’s one of the few NFL prospect TE’s to achieve a perfect 10 on the relative athletic score. People forget that in his final year at Virginia he went for over 500 yards and 8 touchdowns. Then when he got to the NFL he had a reasonable rookie year with 3 touchdowns. Unfortunately for Woods he suffered one injury after another, which largely wiped out 3-years of his NFL career. Then he got the call from Frank Reich and through camp and with that pre-season TD he’s starting to show what made him a 3rd round pick.

With all of that considered…the Jets have to carry four TE’s on this roster. Especially when you consider Sadiq has missed a huge portion of camp.

The only real way the Jets can do that is to not carry Andrew Beck, who played in all 17 games for the Jets last season. I just can’t see a way to carry four TE’s and a FB without losing true cover elsewhere.

I found myself thinking one thing. If I had to pick one player who would make the greater impact for the Jets in 2026, would it be Woods or Beck? Nothing is guaranteed but that answer was pretty simple.

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INJURY NEWS 🚑

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First of all I want to apologise that today’s newsletter is hitting your inbox slightly later than usual. Unfortunately upon returning home late Saturday night I was welcomed by the thing that remote workers fear the most, a lack of internet connection and no timetable for its return.

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Fortunately I’m back online this morning, but as many of you know I live in the remote countryside of Norfolk, so when the internet goes down I have to stand at the bottom of my garden with one leg in the air, one finger on the nose and my phone pointed at just exactly the right angle towards Jupiter to get a slight signal. Unfortunately being offline yesterday meant a significant loss of work and income, the pitfalls of remote freelance working.

Anyway, that’s quite a long explanation as to this arriving 1-2 hours later than usual. But at least we get to talk about some positives this morning, a 17-0 shutout of the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field (technically Acrisure Stadium, but I’m not sure anyone actually calls it that).

I’m sure you’ve read plenty of wrap-up on the game since Friday night, but here are 10 general thoughts that I had coming out of that win.

GAME NOTES 🗞️

• 7-7-65-1. Geno did exactly what Geno had to do. It was a clinical drive where he looked controlled, in command and with a complete understanding of where the right read was against each look he was given. He’s had a rollercoaster of a training camp, but as long as he delivers when the lights are at their brightest that’s all I really care about. Great outing for Geno.

• I said this on social media but I thought Cade was a lot better than the beat gave him credit for. He was working with the two’s against the first team Pitt defense at points, then he was working behind an offensive line that seemed incapable of preventing internal rush, yet still completed 71.4% of his passes for a team high 82 yards. He also reeled off that run. He’s a work in progress, but context is everything here.

• One final note on those QBs. Brady Cook should be getting more playing time than Bailey Zappe. His pass to Quincy Skinner Jr gave the WR the chance to make a play and while he did have to dive, it was a comfortable dive.

• Based on what he’s done in practice and now in the game on Friday night…I’m not sure how you cut Jelani Woods. The Jets have a good problem, they have a TE room where all the players are performing. Ruckert has made improvement, Taylor looks good for a breakout candidate and Sadiq is a first-round rookie who obviously isn’t going anywhere. I’m going to get into this tomorrow, but I wonder if the Jets will carry all four while cutting Beck and having Ruckert do some of the FB work in this offense.

• Point five and I haven’t spoken about the defense yet. I don’t care who’s playing and who’s not playing, when you pitch a shutout in the NFL it’s worth of admiration. 17 pressures, 4 sacks, 2 interceptions and we limited the Steelers to 30% success on third down and 0% success on 4th down. David Bailey getting his first sack around Jones had almost a cosmic satisfaction considering the draft history of Jones/Jets/Patriots, even if it was all absolute nonsense.

• Let’s talk about Nate Lynn for a moment. Signed middle of the week, gets a practice in and then goes out on Friday night and puts up 4 pressures and 2 sacks and 3 defensive stops in total. Lions fans were surprised that Lynn was waived last August and he obviously didn’t stick in Tennessee with Saleh who despite his failings knows a thing or two about defense. False dawn or have the Jets unearthed something here? Another Bryce Huff perhaps. He’ll get plenty of opportunities in the 3rd pre-season game.

• Last week I said that Jets liked Andre Cisco a lot more than the fans seem to (in terms of appreciating his game, by all accounts he’s a very nice and humble individual who I’m sure nobody has an issue with). On Friday night he showed us why he was signed in the first place with an interception. Howard threw it right at him, but it was a nice read and after going a whole season without an INT where multiple passes seemed to hit the Jets defenders in the mitts, bringing it in is notable. Samuel Womack had the other INT but his route to the roster is complicated at best.

• That’s as good as I’ve seen the Jets rushing defense in a while, especially early on. Not only in terms of the tackling but also the attitude. Everyone seemed to swarm, every time the Steelers had a gap it was closed by multiple green helmets. Over the last two years I’ve questioned whether the players loved the physical side of the game, on Friday they seemed to relish it.

• Slightly concerned about the Jets running game, even early in the game there weren’t many holes to run through. But we were playing without Breece Hall, Braelon Allen only had a couple of carries, Davis is still missing through injury, so Nwangwu, Trayanum and Scott got the majority of the carries. They didn’t have a lot to work with and they didn’t create on their own. But none of those guys will be doing much carrying during the season.

• I thought the backup tackles did a nice job when they came in, Max Mitchell in particular looked good to these untrained eyes. Most of the issues with the 2nd/3rd team OL came up the middle, the bookends did a nice job overall.

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HIGHLIGHTS 🟢⚪🗽

Getting the first one out of the way is always a good feeling. Expecting to see many more of these over the next few years.

Geno Smith capping off an efficient drive with a TD pass to Jelani Woods, and I’ve got a lot of time for how the TE finished this drive.

Andre Cisco secures the first INT in what seems like forever.

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Today is our last day away before we head home to blighty tomorrow. It's supposed to rain and thunder all day, and after not seeing much rain for around 3 months now, I'm quite excited. That's the Englishman in me talking.

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Tonight the Jets are back in action against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Aaron Rodgers won't be playing but Geno Smith will, at least according to Connor Hughes. Geno has been struggling with an ankle injury and his status was questionable, but considering he's new to the team and has experienced a number of below par performances in camp, getting some live game reps will be important for team chemistry.

For all those hoping that Woody Johnson will stay out of Mougey’s way, it was announced yesterday that the Jets owner had bought a stake in Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team and will join the team's board as Vice Chairman. I neither like nor watch F1 (or any Motorsport), but hopefully that new venture will deter him from interfering in front office decisions.

In a minor roster update, we've signed WR Junior Bergen and waived/injured WR DT Sheffield.

From the official website:

Bergen (5-9, 184), a seventh-round pick (No. 252 overall) of the San Francisco 49ers in 2025, played four seasons at Montana (2021-24) and tied for the most punt return touchdowns in FCS history with eight. He also established the Montana record for average yards per punt return at 16.71. An all-purpose player in college, Bergen had 145 receptions, 1,777 receiving yards and 13 TDs plus 139 rush attempts, 577 yards on the ground and 4 TDs. He spent time on the San Francisco's practice squad last season and signed a reserve/futures contract with the 49ers in January.

GENO SMITH

I didn't mind the acquisition of Geno Smith at the cost. 2026 was all about waiting for that QB class of 2027 anyway. I knew he'd throw interceptions but was hopeful that he'd also bring some entertainment with some deep shots. So far in camp it's been Cade Klubnik bringing the entertainment, and Geno has (recently) been struggling to put complete practices together.

You never read too much into pre-season games but it would be good for Geno, good for the Jets and good for the fans to see the QB1 put a couple of good drives together.

It'll also help control the narrative around the QB position. Geno is the starter and will remain the starter as long as he's healthy. But there is some fan momentum behind Cade right now and while I really like what Klubnik is doing, I'm not sure having certain fans call for him to start out of the gate is overly helpful for the Jets.

In an ideal world we get a couple of good drives from Geno and then Cade takes over and continues his development and puts on a show.

OMAR COOPER JR

Right now Isaiah Williams is ahead of Omar Cooper Jr on the depth chart. That's really not something to be concerned about considering how well Williams has played in camp this year. Omar Cooper has made a few plays in camp but because David Bailey has been so good, his progress gets a little lost in the shuffle.

It's probably not being helped by how good Denzel Boston is looking in Cleveland or how good Germie Bernard is looking in Pittsburgh. We'll get to see the latter tonight and with both of those guys having been selected after him, it's near impossible to avoid the comparisons.

I don't have any concerns about Omar Cooper Jr, but a good showing will go a long way tonight.

Arian Smith

On that front, after a difficult first practice Arian Smith has bounced back in a big way. He's formed a nice connection with Cade Klubnik and there is barely a practice that passes without Smith bringing in a deep ball.

Part of Smith's appeal was his deep speed, the question was whether his hands were good enough. We're starting to see real progress with those hands, but he needs to translate what happens on the practice field to a live game situation.

The good thing about tonight is that if Geno Smith plays, Cade will be running witb the two’s, meaning guys like Smith who are down on the depth chart get to work witb him instead of Bailey Zappe. That can only be a good thing for someone like Smith.

Defensive Edge Rotation

The starters should play more tonight which will give us more insight on how this is going to look, especially with Ossai coming off PUP, the hope is that he will play tonight, alongside Will McDonald and David Bailey. Kingsley Enagbare also returned to practice two days ago so he should be good to go tonight and while he's not part of the defensive edge rotation, T’Vondre Sweat will impact the space available for that pass rush.

I'm pretty excited to see this front as it was designed with Sweat and Ossai back in action.

Connor Hughes caused a little stir yesterday with his tweet asking people to read between the lines when he tweeted

“Cade Klubnik completed a pass to Garrett Wilson just now for a short gain. Thought it was good blocking from Olu Fashanu and Armand Membou to give him time.

Finished the drive with a TD to Jelani Woods.”

Which many took as an indication that Cade Klubnik is now getting more reps with the starters, and that a QB competition had materialised. He later confirmed that wasn't the intent and that Geno Smith is unquestionably the starter for this franchise, despite Geno having another poor practice and Cade being 5-5 with multiple touchdowns in the session.

Aaron Glenn later confirmed that he plans to play the starters against Pittsburgh on Friday night, but he wouldn't commit to Geno playing because of the ongoing ankle injury.

So logically this all makes sense. Geno may not play to protect his injury, which means Cade will get game time witb the 1s which is why he's getting some practice reps with Membou, Fashanu and Wilson.

Makes sense.

Sorry, there is no QB controversy at 1JD. At least not at the moment anyway.

Cade is a popular guy right now and has shown that he has developmental potential, but like any rookie QB he still has a lot to learn. At some point this season the Jets will want to get a look at Cade in a game environment, but that won't be to start the season.

Positional Battles

QB2

Call this battle done and dusted.

It was pitched at the start of camp as a three-way battle between Cade Klubnik, Bailey Zappe and Brady Cook, but that battle never materialised.

Klubnik showed from the start that he was a cut above the rest and now he's closer to QB1 than he is QB3. Cade has outperformed both QBs in camp and looked significantly more comfortable in the game against the Bucs.

Cade has the arm, the processing and the athleticism to do some damage in the NFL, and that puts him head and shoulders above the other two.

I don't think either Zappe or Cook have a chance to make the opening day roster so they're likely battling it out to be the priority QB3 on the practice squad.

CB2

Where Ponds plays when he's healthy will be an interesting development. Most see him inside in that slot CB role but that's pretty crowded with Jarvis Brownlee Jr and Stiggers. On the outside Thomas has quickly staked a claim to that starting spot opposite Brandon Stephens.

It's been a relatively quiet camp for Nahshon Wright so far and while he does bring turnover potential, he's liable to give up some big plays. Thomas doesn't have the same turnover potential but he's far stickier in coverage and won't be beaten as often.

It looks to me as though Thomas has the foot-up in the competition right now and I'm fully expecting him to be the one come opening day, but this is one worth watching when Ponds gets into action and apparently that's any day now.

S2

The right to start at safety opposite Minkah Fitzpatrick has been a hotly contested battle in camp and it continues to rage on.

At the start it was a three-way battle between Dane Belton, Malachi Moore and Andre Cisco, it seems as though it's now a two-way battle between Belton and Cisco.

The Jets seem to like Cisco more than the fans realise and he helped his case this week with an INT. His ability to create turnovers is what attracted the Jets last off-season. 2025 was a big disappointment even before the injury, but by most accounts he's looked good in camp.

Dane Belton has been one of the standout performers so far and the former Giant probably has the advantage right now. If we had to call it today then I'd say it's Belton's job to lose.

Kicker

Just when you think this competition is done and dusted, it gets flipped on its head.

On Tuesday Cade York missed multiple kicks, but yesterday he was absolutely perfect (5-5), including a kick from 60 yards. Sanders went 4-5 on the day.

The issue for York is that while he has the stronger leg, his consistency is non-existent. So he can go 5-5 and make it look easy and the next day miss 3 kicks. Sanders seems to miss one every single day, which is usually from around 50 yards.

So do you take the guy who's looking automatic up to 45 yards but struggles for consistency beyond that? Or do you take the stronger leg who can make every kick but will probably have a game or two where he's completely off?

It's going to be a tricky decision for Banjo and Glenn. Right now I have Sanders slightly ahead in this battle.

The Jets made a couple of signings yesterday as the injuries start to pile up. The good news is that nearly all the injuries are short-term, including Breece Hall who should be back in 2-3 weeks with little threat to his availability for week one in Tennessee.

Glenn alao confirmed that Kenyon Sadiq and D’Angelo Ponds are getting close to returning, but the priority is and always has been getting them ready for week one, which means they won't push them too much.

The issue here is that they're both rookies and as such if they want to be “ready” to play and contribute in week one, they'll need to get some reps in soon. Sadiq has at least already been on the field, but the adaption for a TE is a little steeper.

While we wait for Ponds, Bamba, Wright and Stiggers to return, we'll need some help in the secondary, and we got that by signing CB Keenan Garber, who has bounced around the Vikings, Colts and Lions practice squads after going undrafted out of Kansas Stats in 2025.

Garber was a converted wide receiver who enjoyed two good years to end his Wildcats career which included 2 interceptions and 9 PBU’s. Unfortunately for Garber, when healthy the Jets have a lot of talent in front of him at corner, but who knows what can happen.

The Jets also signed OLB Nate Lynn who was with Glenn in Detroit in 2024 before spending 2025 with the Tennessee Titans before being cut in late April.

In corresponding moves they waived DE Kingsley Jonathan (injured) and DL Ben Barten. That defensive line is pretty packed, especially with Sweat returning, so it makes sense to cut some numbers there and add to the secondary where the Jets are struggling.

Can Bamba Make The 53 Man Roster?

Nobody made a bigger impact in pre-season week one than Mory Bamba, who walked away with 4 pass defenses on 10 targets. The Bucs targeted him early and often and Bamba rose to the occasion.

Bamba is the kind of player where QBs look his way and believe their man is open, but that window closes quickly due to Bamba's 4.29 speed and 1.46 10-yard split showing his acceleration. Both of those numbers would be considered elite markers especially that 10-yard split. And while his arm length is considered average (31”) he seems to position them well to cause issues at the catch point. He does this so well, I just presumed that he had long arms (32”+).

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It's just a quick hello this morning as I'm scrambling to get everything together as we move from Lugano to Florence 🇮🇹 today (with a one hour stop in Milan).

Fortunately the Jets had a very light practice yesterday with veterans like Demario Davis and Minkah Fitzpatrick getting rest days to help mange their load as we head towards the season.

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There were plenty of nerves yesterday when Breece Hall crumpled to the ground in a non-contact incident which led to him heading to the medical tent. Aaron Glenn stated they didn't believe it was serious, and Connor Hughes delivered positive news late last night with his sources confirming that after the imaging, Hall will be sidelined for weeks and not months. So while there is no definitive timeline, it sounds like he could be back for week one in Tennessee. Until they Braelon Allen will be getting a lot of work considering Isaiah Davis is also out injured at the moment. It will also offer more exposure for Chip and Sam Scott, which is never a bad thing in pre-season.

INJURIES 🚑

• Breece Hall - groin injury - expected to miss a few weeks.

• Mory Bamba - knee injury - expected to miss 1-2 weeks.

• Garrett Wilson - missed practice through illness, not injury related

• Geno Smith - practised but had a noticeable limp.

• Joseph Ossai - practiced for the first time.

• T’Vondre Sweat - practiced for the first time.

• Nahshon Wright (undisclosed), Qwan'tez Stiggers (concussion) and rookie D'Angelo Ponds (calf) didn't practice.

• Isaiah Davis and Kingsley Enagbare also did not practice.

Practice Notes 📰

• Not much to go on yesterday considering it was a light practice and I don't think all the beat writers attended.

• Geno Smith was picked off my Andre Cisco.

• Really sloppy practice for the defense who had numerous penalties.

• Cade Klubnik had a TD strike to Skinner with the clock expiring to end the session.

• Isaiah Williams and Omar Cooper Jr both stayed after practice to catch 100 balls from the JUG machines. Plenty of commitment from both of those guys.

• Jason Sanders went 7-for-8 on FGs (missed from 54). Cade York went 5-for-8 (missed from 48, 51 and 54). Advantage Sanders.

• David Bailey had a good run-stop on Braelon Allen, not easy to do.

• Malachi Moore had a sack on Cade Klubnik.

HIGHLIGHT 📼

Only one highlight for today. Geno Smith connecting with Mason Taylor.

CATCH THE QUOTE 💬

• "The one good thing about our players, man, they are honest with their injuries and if they can go, they can go. But we'll try to be cautionary with a lot of those to make sure that we got the right things." - Aaron Glenn.

• "We have to do a really good job of making sure we don't push the limit so far that we end up going backwards," Glenn said. "Today was a day where it was a lighter practice and I want to see exactly how he feels coming out of this practice to see how we're going to continue moving forward." Glenn on Smith.

• "He's a competitor, but we want to make sure we do everything we can to manage him the right way to get him up to speed going into Week 1," Glenn said on Sweat.

• "I don't want to sit here and just look at him as this big run stopper, because he has the ability to push the pocket in the passing game also, and I think he's shown that over his career," Glenn said. "So, I want to utilize that player and take advantage of everything that he has and that's the plan." Glenn on Sweat.

• "I think everybody in the league has this blitz, it's just a safety blitz off the edge and I think it's a pretty good pressure to have in the preseason," he said. "Our menu was limited. The thing is you just want guys to go out there and execute the concepts that we have and they did. Just to get Minkah going early in the game because I knew those guys weren't going to get a lot of plays and I thought he did a good job." - Glenn on sending Fitzpatrick on a safety blitz to start the game.

• “Yeah, I was very encouraged by the way he played in the game. And listen, he's a 6-1, 200-pound man with long arms [32⅜]. And the one thing I wanted to see him do was really disrupt the routes. And he did a really good job of that in man coverage. We had a very limited menu, and man, he went out there and executed exactly how I thought he should. Now, is he where he needs to be? Not at all. But man, that improvement speaks a ton about how he's gone about training camp." Glenn on Az Thomas.

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I’d certainly rather win games than lose them, but the scoreline was completely irrelevant on Friday night. The Bucs have a deeper team than the Jets and that was evident as we moved through the 3rd and 4th quarter, but there was plenty to like if you’re a fan of the Jets.

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The good news is that we didn’t suffer any major injuries, which is the main positive you want to take away. Not every team was so lucky. Jamal Adams was carted off the field in Minnesota and the early prognosis on his knee injury is “not good”. The Titans lost TE Jaren Kanak and DE Jaylen Harrell to season ending injuries.

The Jets on the other hand are getting healthier. Last week Joseph Ossai was elevated from the practice squad and over the weekend it was revealed that T’Vondre Sweat had passed his physical, meaning he's also been elevated from the PUP and will start ramping up to join team activities.

I was a little surprised to see Aaron Glenn pull Cade so early in that game considering the importance of game reps for a rookie who may not see the field this year. But then again, it’s only week one and there are a couple more games where hopefully Cade can get a good half+ of football under his belt. That was dipping his toe in.

So let’s focus on a few positives to start things off.

Cade Klubnik

With Geno Smith nursing an ankle injury, Cade Klubnik was given the start and he really didn’t disappoint.

He had two drives and led the Jets to 10 points, and while he didn’t put the ball in the end-zone himself he made two good throws on 3rd down to extend drives and while the pass to Garrett was a little high and wide, you give your receivers a chance to make a play on the ball, and the fact he had the confidence to let that go says a lot about his makeup. He also showed an ability to extend plays with his feet.

It’s worth mentioning that Cade has had 0 reps with the starters in camp, so this was completely new for him and while the playbook doesn’t change, each player has a certain way of doing things and getting to know the small tendencies really helps a QB find his rhythm.

“Just being able to maybe be in a really unique situation, a unique game, and put some drives together,” Klubnik said about being the starter. “That was fun, and you know I still made some mistakes out there. And being able to learn from those and respond from those quickly, and have my teammates kind of have my back whenever those did happen.

“That was good to see, and you know Josh Myers and Joe Tippmann and Garrett Wilson, Adonai Mitchell and Breece Hall, like just the way that they kind of encouraged me pregame, in between drives, during the game, during drives, that that filled with me with a lot of confidence.”

Glenn was impressed with what he saw:

"I went right to Cade and told him that he would be the starter, which he was champing at the bit to be able to do, getting a chance to go with the ones [starters]. So, I thought he did a hell of a job, not getting a lot of rep with the ones. So, I give him a lot of credit for going out there and operating the way that he did."

"I mean, when we watched him in college, he was the same way," Glenn said. "Nothing changes. He has some moxie to him. He's very confident. He's confident in his arm. He's confident in his ability to elude and make plays with his feet, and his ability to be able to come out and operate with the first group the way he did, to me I thought was outstanding. So still some things that he has to learn, some mistakes that he made in the game. But listen, he's going to be quick to correct those."

Mory Bamba

I don’t think anyone helped his case more than Bamba on Friday night. The former BYU man had 3 pass defenses, got a knock to the head, left the game and then returned to get another pass defense. He was targeted 10 times and allowed only 4 catches into his coverage. It wasn’t perfect but he showcased his recovery speed and his length to impact the ball at the point of catch.

I still don’t know if there is room for Bamba on this roster, but I think he certainly made a good case to stick in the NFL, whether that’s on the 53, the practice squad or somewhere else.

"I think some of the younger DBs actually showed up, and he's the one that really stands out," Glenn said of Bamba, the undrafted free agent out of BYU. "He had some good plays on special teams, too. There were a couple of mistakes that he had, and I've got to make sure I say that. But for the most part, I thought he showed out tonight."

Special Teams

Austin McNamara and the punt coverage team did exactly what we expect them to do on Friday ans fortunately the kickers were perfect too.

"I've added some weight," McNamara said. "I feel explosive and I feel good. Dialed in the technique a little bit, so feeling ready for this year."

Isaiah Williams spoke about the difficulty in fielding McNamara’s punts:

“It’s literally one of the hardest things to do to be able to catch his punts consistently because it’s literally like a moon ball and it just hangs up there,” Williams said. “He has this one punt where it hangs up there, but then it comes down hard and you would think it’s going to fall one way and then at the last minute, it falls the opposite way.

“It’s some trickery.”

Cade York hit from 27 and 38 yards, Jason Sanders hit from 47 yards and converted the extra point.

Chris Banjo is a name to watch ahead of the HC cycle next year and the Jets kicking situation is muddled. It was a good start all around.

The Rookie Class

I wanted to highlight Cade Klubnik separately but the entire draft class looked good. Cade had two scoring drives, Omar Cooper got himself a 31 yard reception.

"It was just like a slow 5-yard out roll out pass, and I was the first read and just seeing that the corner bailed and went with the other receiver, I knew I had the leverage on the guy that was guarding me, so I knew I was going to get the ball," Cooper said. "But just making sure that I look the ball in and catch it, because you know, didn't want the nerves to get in or anything, so I just had to make sure I was ready for the opportunity."

Anez Cooper received the highest run-block grade of any offensive lineman and allowed 0 pressures in 20 pass blocking snaps. Darrell Jackson Jr was given a bad rin block grade but I'd need to go back and look at it again. When you add in some positive UDFA performances like Bamba and Sam Scott who while modest had pretty much all his production come after contact. David Bailey may not have had a sack but i thought he played well, he was doubled on nearly 50% of his pass rush snaps and still impacted the pocket.

Braelon Allen

“I love the fact that Braelon came back and he had the explosive run. Man, he is fully back,” Aaron Glenn said after his RB secured the only TD of the game for the Jets.

There has been plenty of talk this off-season around Davis potentially passing Allen on the depth chart, and there have even been rumours of potential trades, all fan and media driven of course.

“I guess the same thing we all saw. [Allen’s] ability to press the hole, put his foot in the ground, get vertical, and run away from people. So the speed that he has always had, now that’s really showed up, and it’s really good to see. I’m happy for him, I’m proud of him, and listen, we have all been looking for that player,” Glenn added.

Some Statistical Bits & Pieces

• Anez Cooper, Garrett Wilson, Chukwuma Okorafor, Marquis Hayes and Joe Tippmann were graded as the five best offensive players.

• Marcelino McCrary-Ball, Mory Bamba, Mykal Walker, Azareye'h Thomas and Jordan Clark were graded as the five best defensive players.

• The Jets generated 10 pressures with Payton Page (2), Jack Heflin (2) leading the way. Mory Bamba added a pressure to his 4 pass defenses. Will McDonald generated the only sack of the game for the Jets.

• Courtland Ford was responsible for 2 of the sacks allowed with Kohl Levao tagged for the other. That's bad for them but good that the majority of pressures and sacks allowed came from people who are unlikely to see the 53 man roster.

• Bailey Zappe hurt his chances of sticking with 2 interceptions against just 6 pass completions. Cade Klubnik is very safe as the QB2 based on the performance of both Zappe and Cook.

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Finally we get to see the Jets in live action. It's been 222 days since the Jets walked off the field against Buffalo, putting a wrap on yet another disappointing season.

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Since then we've seen a lot of roster turnover, a lot of staff turnover and an influx of talent through the draft that promises to add some excitement to the 2026-27 season.

I don't think anyone has any illusions of grandeur. This isn't a Super Bowl winning roster but the potential to play meaningful football into December is certainly a possibility. Tonight we get to see some live game action for the first time and we can start to micro analyse every little detail.

Aaron Glenn has said that the starters will play, but for how long remains a mystery. Maybe seeing Joe Burrow get sacked ln his first dropback last night may change the plans slightly, but i doubt it.

So here are five things I'm looking for from tonight's game.

David Bailey

Seems a rather obvious one but also an important one. Bailey has had an outstanding camp to date but being good in a practice environment and translating it to a game environment are very different. But I'd rather he was dominating in practice than not. I remember covering Vernon Gholston and he struggled throughout his rookie camp, mainly because he had no finesse or pass-rush plan.

Bailey has won with power, speed, secondary moves and a veru attractive spin move. He's also won off the left, won off the right and dominated inside against guards who simply can't handle the explosive first-step. What i would love to see is Bailey get himself an early sack and then enjoy the show from the sidelines. Getting your first one is always the challenge, pre-season or not it'll take some pressure off. Not that being the #2 overall pick seems to have bothered him at all. Like the beat have been saying, his reps are must-watch entertainment right now.

Passing Game

We've heard a lot from Frank Reich about the make-up up Geno Smith. We've heard about the experience, the work ethic, the mechanics, the growth. But in camp we've seen the best and worst of the Jets QB.

Geno Smith is always going to throw interceptions, but it's the ratio of those interceptions compared to the touchdowns that matter. The Jets finally have some complements to Garrett Wilson, so how they operate and get everyone involved is the key.

The passing game has flashed its potential but against the Bucs in joint sessions it floundered. Errors, penalties, drops, innacuracy. If the Jets want to play meaningful football into December the passing game will need to click.

I want to see Geno, but I also want to see if Isaiah Williams can continue his fine camp performance into game action. I want to see how AD Mitchell performs, i want yo see what Omar Cooper Jr can do. I also want to see the TE group, Taylor, Ruckert and Woods have all flashed potential in different sessions. Now it's about seeing how it all comes together.

Cade Klubnik

If you're not excited to see how Cade performs then I don't know what to say.

Everyone loves a backup but It’s been a long time that we had a backup that was worth getting excited about. There have been some pre-season QB heroes before, who remembers Brett Ratliff back in 2008. But there is a difference between a QB who performs well and a QB who performs well while possessing NFL talent.

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I’m going to need to keep it short and sweet today as I don’t have a huge amount of time, we move on from Zurich tomorrow so today is packed. If you’ve never been to Zurich I’d highly recommend it, beautiful scenery and the suburbs are beautiful, situated right on the lake.

ESPN continue to make cuts and the latest to go is former Jets tackle Damien Woody who was an outstanding analyst in my opinion. Woody was honest, logical and extremely accurate in most of his assessment. Which is probably why ESPN decided to let him go. Unfortunately that network continues to pander to the Pat McAfee crowd and good analysts are being let go so they can offer up a ridiculous salary to Pat and others like him.

Joint sessions are designed to provide a test and Tampa are a very good team. The Jets had some wins over the last two days but you would be hard pressed to find anyone who believed the Jets “won” those sessions.

There were a few more fights yesterday with different culprits, Tim Patrick, Dylan Parham (who I’d completely forgotten about), Jelani Woods all in the mix.

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Geno in particular has looked exactly like the Geno of the past two years, some outstanding throws coupled with interceptions and accuracy issues in move the ball periods. Cade Klubnik has looked exactly as you’d expect a talented rookie to look. He uncorked a beautiful 50 yard strike to Arian Smith for a TD and then threw a poor interception.

Armand Membou won more reps than he lost, and the same can be said for David Bailey who had multiple sacks on Baker Mayfield, the last of which caused some verbal diarrhoea from the Tampa QB, apparently he wasn’t happy about how hard Bailey slapped him on the back, or some other Prima Donna reaction reserved for quarterbacks and receivers.

I never get overly concerned about the offense struggling, as Ron mentioned yesterday it’s not uncommon for the defense to be ahead of the offense at this stage. Especially when said offense has a new play-caller and new QB. We also can’t be shocked that Geno seems to throw an INT in pretty much every session. He’s thrown 32 of them over the last two years, being surprised he’s throwing INT’s is like touching water and being surprised it’s wet.

It’s certainly OK to question some things however.

I’ve found myself wondering a few things over the last couple of days, namely where has AD Mitchell gone during these sessions? He’s barely had a single mention. For all the praise being heaped on David Bailey, Omar Cooper Jr seems to be having a quiet summer. Not a bad one by most accounts, but he’s certainly being outplayed by Isaiah Williams. Each rookie develops at their own pace, and again it’s not a concern, it’s more a passing thought.

So while the offense as a whole hasn’t clicked in these sessions, especially in the move the ball periods yesterday where Sanders was forced into a 60+ yard FG attempt ( he missed badly) because the offense couldn’t well…move the ball. This was caused by drops, accuracy issues, penalties…basically everything we’ve become accustomed to from the Jets offense.

Practice is one thing, game situations are another.

I’m very much looking forward to tomorrow nights pre-season opener, especially seeing David Bailey in action for the first time in a live action situation.

Who will grab the starting safety role opposite Minkah? Will Cade put the seal on the QB2 conversation? How will Cooper Jr look in this offense? How well do the backup lineman play? Who’s going to be the pre-season superstar. Lots of questions that need answering.

INJURIES 🚑

• Aaron Glenn confirmed that Qwan’Tez Stiggers is at home resting after being taken to hospital. The Jets CB passed out on the sidelines earlier this week but is believed to be absolutely fine. The Jets will give him time and Glenn confirmed he’s in the concussion protocol.

• Glenn also confirmed that the expectation is that D’Angelo Ponds will be able to start doing some work next week. He did say they weren’t going to push him, but if he starts ramping up next week he should be good for the start of the season.

• Joseph Ossai was moved to the active roster and will now start working towards getting back on the field in team drills. He’ll need to work his conditioning up first.

• Kenyon Sadiq was out running on a side field yesterday, which is good news as he recovers from his setback following hernia surgery. All in all it was a good day for injury news.

HIGHLIGHTS 📼

Breece with that pretty spin move to avoid a TFL.

AZ Thomas with the PBU in the back of the end-zone to prevent a TD.

Jeremy Ruckert plucking one out of the air from Geno Smith

Cade Klubnik to Arian Smith

Tampa came to town and things got physical. At least three fights broke out as both teams were finally free to hit someone other than a teammate.

The main two protagonists were Jets rookie David Bailey and Tampa tackle Luke Goedeke. According to Luke, Bailey challenged him to a one vs one rep which was won by the Bucs man, and then Enagbare cheap-shotted him which caused the ruckus. Who knows if that's true but in the heat, fights happen when testosterone runs high.

In another incident Armand Membou had his helmet ripped off his head, which he didn't take too kindly to, that one caused some punches to be thrown, which is always idiotic.

I'm always a little cautious about joint practices. On one hand I feel as though getting reps against different opponents who show you different things is a positive. On the other it feels as though these joint practices lead to more injuries, although I have zero data to back up that theory. It's more just a feeling.

The Jets will host Tampa for another practice before they face off in week one of the pre-season on Friday night, a game that may have a few fireworks.

PRACTICE NOTES ✍🏻

• Some would call it competitive, some would call it physical and some would call it chippy. There were three fights which involved a lot of players Goedeke, Bailey and Membou were three names that came up frequently. I'm not sure I'd want to mess with Membou, as Breece Hall later said…he won't start the fight but he'll sure as hell finish it.

• Geno Smith got off to a rough start with 2 INTs but finished the session strong with multiple TDs in Red-Zone drills.

• Garrett Wilson had one of those TDs where he completely duked out most of the Tampa defense.

• Worth noting that Mason Taylor had the other TD from Geno, and overall it was a good showing from the TEs.

• Jarius Monroe picked off Baker Mayfield, which caused one of the brawls. Some sour grapes from that Bucs offense that turned the ball over.

• Dane Belton was reportedly the best safety on the field yesterday making plays in the backfield.

• At the same time Cisco was beaten by Egbuka for a TD. That safety position may start to have some clarity in the next 7-10 days.

• Goedeke may have won that rep that caused the fight, but Bailey was blowing past him regularly during the scrimmage.

• Bailey also beat Ben Chukwuma for a sack.

• It was a really positive day for Cade Klubnik who was delivering with his arms and his legs. Good timing, anticipation on a lot of throws. He's solidifying that hold on the #2 spot.

CATCH THAT QUOTE 💬

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With the Jets having a rest day yesterday i was going to skip today's newsletter. But late last night the Jets released their first first depth chart which is labelled as unofficial…but considering it comes from the team it's about as official as you get in early August.

How much should you read into the depth chart? Not a lot in my humble opinion. But we may as well take a look at it anyway.

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE

QB - Geno Smith
RB - Breece Hall
FB - Andrew Beck
WR - Garrett Wilson, AD Mitchell
TE - Mason Taylor, Jeremy Ruckert
LT - Olu Fashanu
LG - Dylan Parham
C - Josh Myers
RG - Joe Tippmann
RT - Armand Membou

No real surprises in the first team lineup and I'm not expecting a lot to change.

The only position where I see some change is in that TE room with Kenyon Sadiq. But with the rookie sidelined for a few weeks, there's a possibility that Ruckert or even Jelani Woods makes that jump ahead to start the season.

I actually think that starting offense has a ton of potential if put in the right positions. I trust Frank Reich to do that.

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE

QB - Cade Klubnik
RB - Braelon Allen
WR - Omar Cooper Jr, Isaiah Williams
TE - Kenyon Sadiq, Jelani Woods
LT - Max Mitchell
LG - Anez Cooper
C - Xavier Newman
RG - Marquis Hayes
RT - Chukwuma Okorafor

Couple of notable inclusions here starting with the QB. As expected Klubnik is listed ahead of Bailey Zappe and Brady Cook for the QB2 position. Unless the Jets sign a veteran QB, I really can't see that changing. Klubnik has made too many throws and the coaching likes him too much.

There was some talk about Isaiah Davis leaping Allen on the depth chart to be RB2 but early indications are that Breece will be the feature back as expected and Allen will be a power back. How much work Davis gets will depend in my opinion on how much work Breece Hall gets on 3rd down. I think he could be in for a career high in receptions which will limit Davis’s potential touches.

Otherwise it's as expected with Isaiah Williams beating out Arian Smith and Tim Patrick for that WR4 position.

If you don’t see the players name above that's because they're listed on either the 3rd team (Smith, Patrick, Zappe, Cook) or 4th team (Pritchett, Skinner). Nwangwu is listed as 4th team RB, but he's listed as the starting Kick Returner, so he's obviously safe.

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE

EDGE - Kingsley Enagbare
EDGE - Will McDonald
DT - Harrison Phillips,
DT - Jowon Briggs
DT - David Onyemata.
LB - Jamien Sherwood, Demario Davis
NB - Jarvis Brownlee Jr
CB - Brandon Stephens
CB - Azareye’h Thomas/Nahshon Wright
S - Minkah Fitzpatrick
S - Andre Cisco/Dane Belton/Malachi Moore

Jets are cheating a little bit here but also confirming the position battles currently taking place at camp.

First it's important to state that David Bailey is a starter on this team. But there will be so much rotation on that line it really doesn't matter where he's listed.

Thomas and Wright are both listed as the CB2 on this first depth chart but by all accounts it's Thomas's job to lose. Wright will get plenty of opportunities but Thomas is having a good camp.

Then at the safety position it's anyone's guess. Fitzpatrick is the definite starter but who plays alongside him is a huge question mark, which is why all three players are listed as S2.

We need to remember that Ossai will in the main rotation but as he's on PUP he's listed on 4th team, alongside T’Vondre Sweat. Ponds however is listed below.

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE

Edge - David Bailey
Edge - Braiden McGregor
DT - Payton Page
DT - Mazi Smith
DT - Darrell Jackson Jr
LB - Marcelino McCrary- Ball
LB - Kiko Mauigoa
NB - D’Angelo Ponds
CB - Qwan’tez Stiggers
CB - Samuel Womack III
S - Andre Cisco, Dane Belton, Malachi Mopre
S - Jarius Monroe

Unfortunately for VJ Payne he picked up an injury at the worst time, which is why Monroe has leapfrogged him into the second team.

Right now the Jets have Marcelino and Kiko as the reserve LBs but amongst that group Mykal Walker has made the most plays in camp, he'd be a difficult cut.

Other than that it's as expected and a lot of the listing is based on seniority. It's also hard to really judge because once Ossai is back that pushes McGregor down and when Sweat returns that's the writing on the wall for Smith.

Some other guys not listed. Nathan Voorhis is behind McGregor on third team and Dean Clark is 4th team.

SPECIAL TEAMS

K - Jason Sanders/Cade York
P - Austin McNamara
H - Austin McNamara
PR - Isaiah Williams
KR - Kene Nwangwu
LS - Thomas Hennessy

The only thing left to be decided is the kicker and the Jets aren't tipping their hand just yet. Based on reports I have Jason Sanders just ahead but both have had excellent practices and both have had concerning sessions. Inconsistency is a killer for a kicker. I'm still thinking the Jets opening day kicker is on another roster

NEWS AND NOTES 📰

• Quinnen Williams got himself paid. Three years $105.9 million, $101 million guaranteed with $63.35M due at signing. That's a lot of money for a team who wouldn't pay Micah Parsons.

I'm pleased to say that our travels to La Ville Lumière were nice, efficient and stress free. But today we're back on the tracks on our way to Zurich 🇨🇭. Let's hope for more of the same.

I'm writing today's TJW from my phone because for some reason my laptop doesn't seem to want to turn on, which is an unwanted problem I'll need to solve pretty quickly on returning home in a couple of weeks.

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The Jets have been busy on the field and as we move towards that first pre-season game the defense is starting to flex their collective muscles, dominating for large periods in the team scrimmage.

Geno struggled throughout with drive after drive scuppered by penalties and inaccuracy. Many of the drives started in plus territory but ran out of steam long before hitting the red-zone. Cade Klubnik got off to the worst start with a pass being intercepted by Dane Belton (having a great camp) but the Jets rookie rebounded nicely with two TDs, one of which was hauled in by Isaiah Williams who is having one hell of a camp.

Based on everything that's happened so far, I think it's very safe to say that Williams has secured the WR4 spot and although Cooper Jr is a first rounder, it wouldn't shock me if Williams got a little more run as the WR3 to start the season.

On one hand you could look at that controlled scrimmage and worry about the offense. The penalties (5) which backed up drives and the two sacks which put the unit behind the sticks. Geno Smith completing just 12-20 passed for one TD in 9 series (6 starting past the halfway line).

Or you could look at this Aaron Glenn defense and see a side that clamped down after allowing an opening series TD. They went 8 consecutive drives against the #1 offense without allowing a score. Dane Belton got a lot of positive praise and Darrell Jackson Jr continues to make plays in the absence of T’Vondre Sweat. Jackson was in on a key sack.

INJURIES

• VJ Payne unfortunately will miss 3-4 weeks with a bone bruise. That's a huge knock for a 7th round pick trying to make the roster.

• David Bailey had a knock to the ankle but Aaron Glenn said he'll be fine. He did jog off to the sideline which is usually a positive sign.

• Garrett Wilson was missing from an early potion of the session which sent some alarm bells ⏰⏰ ringing on social media. But he returned not long after.

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Tomorrow morning the Wyatt-Huptons are off on their travels taking in four stops, three countries and plenty of train journeys. First stop…Paris.

That means a trip on the Eurostar. The last time I got the Eurostar my train was cancelled, I had to wait around Kings Cross station for 5-6 hours and missed my connecting train to Cologne…so it can’t be worse, can it?

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I am also going to the FIFA museum in Zurich and for anyone who follows me on social media, let’s hope there are no portraits of Infantino anywhere.

I’ll try to stay on top of things as best I can while I’m away, the good (and bad) part about modern society is that we’re always connected.

Last night we had some real football…well about as close to real football as you get in the first week of August, but it’s at this point I can say…NFL is back!

The Jets will start their pre-season schedule a week today by hosting Todd Bowles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It was announced earlier this year that the Jets and Tampa will hold two joint practices so I imagine those will take place in the lead-up to the game on Friday.

Aaron Glenn has yet to confirm the plan for pre-season, but I’m always hopeful of seeing the starters for a series or two. Injuries can happen anywhere and at anytime. If you agree with your opponent that the starters will play 1-2 series it reduces the risk.

What you don’t want is your starters facing 3rd and 4th string talent who are fighting for their lives to make the roster. That’s when half pace meets desperate tackles and results in issues.

We have a few updates that came out of yesterday’s session with the spoils being shared between the offense and defense.

Let’s dive into all the details and I hope everyone has a great weekend ahead of them.

ROSTER TRANSACTIONS ➡️

• Jets Sign TE Connor Hulstein (Official Site)

Hulstein (6-6, 247), who played collegiately at Princeton and Marist, participated in the Jets’ rookie minicamp. An AP Second Team All-American at Marist last season, he had 42 catches and set single-season school records for a tight end with 599 yards receiving, 7 TDs and a 14.3 yards/reception average. Appearing in 12 games, Hulstein led FCS tight ends in receiving yards and ranked second in TD receptions and fourth in receptions.

• Jets claim DL Junior Tafuna and waived DL Patrick Jenkins (Official Site)

Tafuna (6-3, 308) went undrafted in 2025 and signed with the Houston Texans. He spent time on the Texans' practice squad and signed a reserves/future contract with Houston in January. At Utah, Tafuna had 108 tackles, 15 TFL, 7.5 sacks, 3 FR, 2 INT and 1 FF.

PRACTICE NOTES 🗞️

• Geno Smith had a good day overall hitting both AD Mitchell and Garrett Wilson for touchdowns.

• Not so good for Cade Klubnik who struggled throughout and threw an interception to Mykal Walker, his second pick of camp.

• Cade did have a TD pass to who else…Isaiah Williams. Those two have a great bit of chemistry developing.

• I cursed the kickers! A day after me waxing poetic about both Sanders and York, Jason went 6-9 missing from 47+ on all three kicks. Cade York went 6-8 with his misses coming from 50+. 5 missed kicks from the kickers.

• Some good PBUs on defense from Brandon Stephens and AZ Thomas. Seems that both players are having a great camp. Saying that, they both got beat on CB vs WR reps, but that’s not a bad thing as it looks good for the receivers.

• David Bailey got himself a sack against Josh Myers and he almost got a second against Olu Fashanu, with Geno throwing the ball away in time.

• Braelon Allen showed up and had a good gain on a hole opened up by Josh Myers and Joe Tippmann.

INJURIES 🤕

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We got a break from practice yesterday with a schedules off-day which gave us an opportunity to pause and reflect on the first week.

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It’s important to remember that it’s still early, we’ve only had a couple of padded practices, we’re still around 10 days away from the first pre-season game and there’s a lot of time left for players to play their way on and off the roster.

But It’s a good chance to sit and take stock of some of the developing storylines around the Jets as look forward to that first pre-season game.

ROSTER TRANSACTIONS ➡️

• Jets have waived Eric Watts due to injury.

• Jets have waived DB Keidron Smith

• Jets have signed DT Patrick Jenkins

NEWS & NOTES 🗞️

• Demario Davis talked to Bart Scott about what it was like coming into the league with the Jets while he was still a player:

  • “My first couple of practices, you were like, ‘Hey, when they run iso, you got to blow that guy up.’ I was like OK, I saw what it’s like, and so you showed me how to play the game as an inside linebacker and to be that enforcer. I learned that and I took a little bit from everybody — D’Brickashaw Ferguson, too — about being a pro. And I was able to put that into my game and build a career. And now I’m able to come back to a locker room that’s very familiar to me and do the same thing for other guys.”

• Talking of Demario Davis (#96), he’s still the only Jets player to make it onto the NFL’s Top 100 list. They’re currently on number 36 so I don’t expect to see too many Jets in that range the rest of the way:

  • “After five straight years on the NFL Top 100, the venerable Davis was absent in 2025. His final season with the Saints led to a return to the all-star squad on his way back to the Jets, who signed the 14-year NFL veteran whom they drafted in the third round back in 2012. The two-time Pro Bowler set a career high in tackles during his age-36 season, helping to rally a young New Orleans squad down the stretch. He’ll be looking to lend his wisdom -- and tackling prowess -- to New York this fall.”

• The Athletic had their QB power rankings out based on the opinions of 8 GMs, 5 assistant GMs, 5 former GMs, 3 executives, 9 HCs, 10 DCs, 5 OCs and plenty more, and Geno came in all the way down to tier 4, sandwiched in-between Malik Willis at #29 and Deshaun Watson at #31:

  • `Smith suffered the largest year-over-year decline of any quarterback, falling from a career-best 2.90 average to 3.70. His 11-spot drop in the rankings tied Stroud’s for the largest.

  • “He looked terrible on the film we saw,” a defensive coordinator said.

• Khalil Herbert who spent a lot of the 2025 season with the New York Jets has signed a deal in San Francisco with the 49ers.

• Tight end Connor Hulstein, from Marist University, reached agreement today with the N.Y. Jets.

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CAMP STORYLINES 🟢⚪🗽

1. Injuries

We spoke about it yesterday but it’s hard to ignore the injuries as we move towards that first pre-season game. Sweat, Ossai and Ponds have all failed to practice at all, Sadiq has been limited and we lose/cut some depth receivers due to injuries. Touch wood we haven’t had any major injuries like the Carolina Panthers, but this is a storyline the more it festers.

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After Monday’s practice we were told that Jets first round rookie TE Kenyon Sadiq was on a maintenance plan following off-season hernia surgery.

After the former Oregon man missed his second straight practice, we were told that Sadiq had suffered a setback and would miss “some time”.

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It’s important to note that the powers that be at 1JD believe that Sadiq will be fine for the regular season, but it’s a huge concern that only a handful of practices into camp, Sadiq is being shut-down for the time being.

Glenn can say that he’s “very confident” that Sadiq will be ready for week one in Tennessee, but there has to be come concerns behind the scenes.

He will join starting NT T’Vondre Sweat, key edge signing Joseph Ossai and fellow rookie D’Angelo Ponds on the sideline, that’s four presumed starters currently shelved and missing valuable time, especially the rookies.

Here’s the thing that is making me jittery. All of those guys missing time are new to the team. So while Sweat and Ossai are veterans in the league, this is year one with the Jets.

That means new routines, new scheme, new teammates, new coaches, new city and everything that comes with that. I know the Jets do their best to help as much as they can with relocation and the impact it’ll have on players and their families. They got a B+ on their NFLPA report card for “Treatment of Families”. But it still has an impact, it’s a bit of a hidden impact as people often talk about players having to learn new schemes, but rarely is the relocation and adapting to a new city and lifestyle mentioned.

Then you add another layer of complexity on top for the likes of Kenyon Sadiq and D’Angelo Ponds who are entering the league for the first time. Not only do they have everything listed above, but they have to learn how to be a pro. While some will thrive, a lot of rookies go through a ton of self-doubt. Do they really belong at the highest level? Will they sink or swim? Where do they go if they have certain questions? They need to learn a NFL playbook while also attending meetings on financial security, some are buying their first property, living alone for the first time, there are a whole bunch of questions they have to resolve off the field while trying to show they belong on the field.

It would be unfair to expect Sadiq or Ponds to instantly hit their top performance after missing time, but sometimes these lost reps can have a huge impact once the season starts.

Saying that, their absence is opening the door for others to step up.

Sadiq missing time means more reps for Mason Taylor who Aaron Glenn singled out as a breakout candidate ahead of the new season. Jeremy Ruckert has had some good sessions and Chase Curtis is getting more reps than he probably would.

On the defensive line you have Darrell Jackson Jr getting more reps through Sweat’s absence and you can say the same about guys like Payton Page and Jack Heflin too.

Ponds missing time has opened the door for guys like Qwan’tez Stiggers who is having a good camp so far and while I had Azareye’h Thomas leading that battle for the #2 outside corner spot heading into camp, he’s really tightened his hold on it with his performances.

So while I’d rather everyone was healthy and practising, if you want to look on the bright side then that’s it.

Practice Notes 🗞️

I’m going to run through some quick one liners from the media who were in attendance yesterday. All numbers are based on their own calculations and should be taken with a small pinch of salt as they sometimes differ depending on the reporter and publication.

• Geno Smith was 9-15 with one INT but had a number of notable passes

• Cade Klubnik was 9-13 and he avoided any turnovers.

• Cade York was 7-8, missing a 58-60 yarder.

• Jason Sanders was a perfect 8-8, including a 60 yarder.

• Jeremy Ruckert was the star receiver with four catches.

• Breece Hall got a mention for ripping off a couple of big runs.

• Brandon Stephens came up with the INT, Sherwood in on the deflection.

• Armand Membou dominated his one v one reps.

• David Bailey got the better of Olu Fashanu, who I’m worrying about slightly.

• David Bailey also made some plays in the run game according to reports.

• Anez Cooper had some wins in 1v1’s, albeit against the bottom of the roster D.

• Darrell Jackson also got a mention for winning 1v1’s, first time I’ve seen him.

• Isaiah Williams caught two good deeps balls, one from Geno, one from Cade.

• Kiko Mauigoa forced a fumble from Omar Cooper Jr (unrecoverable as OOB).

• Garrett Wilson had a couple of good catches, including a 15 yarder from Geno.

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INJURIES 🤕

• Kenyon Sadiq suffered a setback and will be out a “little bit”.

• Enagbare got stepped on during Monday’s practice so was “held out”.

• T’Vondre Sweat, Joseph Ossai and D’Angelo Ponds remain out.

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HIGHLIGHTS 📼

Cade Klubnik delivering a strike to Arian Smith with Nashon Wright in coverage

Cade connecting with Isaiah Williams on a long one, Jordan Clark in coverage

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