New York Jets Green & White Practice
A year ago, Zach Wilson made his unofficial debut at MetLife Stadium at the Green & White practice and it wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience. Wilson, less than two weeks into his first training camp, struggled to get anything going with the offense. He threw a few interceptions. And a small but vocal group of fans actually booed that night.
Wilson was back on the field at MetLife Saturday for the first time since his rookie season ended in the winter. And while it wasn’t a perfect night for Wilson, there was no booing on this night as Wilson provided yet another clue that he appears to be slowly moving in the right direction.
Wilson led the first team offense down the field on the opening set of downs during the scrimmage period for an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown pass in which he completed all five of his passes and had two scrambles for more than 20 yards.
He struggled later in the scrimmage period when he threw a bad interception after forcing a ball into coverage — linebacker Del’Shawn Phillips picked off the ill-advised pass — but he also faced mounting pressure as the practice went on, because the Jets used the second half of the practice to get their starting tackles some rest as both Mekhi Becton and George Fant are still playing back into shape as they return from injuries.
In the end, there was still more positive than negative for Wilson on this night.
“I thought it was really good,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “He moved around in the pocket, found some open lanes to run in and bide some time. He was really good in the huddle, just standing back there listening to him. He was good with cadence because he was changing up his cadence. So, I thought he was really good.”
Wilson finished the 11-on-11 period completing 12-of-19 passes for 100 yards with a touchdown pass and an interception. And he continues to impress C.J. Uzomah who said last week that it’s a matter of if, not when Wilson makes a leap similar to the one Uzomah watched Joe Burrow take last year in Cincinnati.
Uzomah laughed when asked how quarterback Wilson makes his job easier, and explained in a few words why he clearly believes in his young quarterback.
“Bro, this dude is stupid athletic,” Uzomah said.
Here’s everything else you need to know about what happened during Saturday night’s Green & White practice.
Big-time help might be on the way?
The Jets’ roster is far deeper than it was a year ago, but there are still a notable areas of concern and the most glaring one is on the offensive line. The Jets have five solid starters, but beyond that it gets dicey quickly. And when backup tackle Conor McDermott went down with what appeared to be. a serious ankle injury early in Saturday’s practice, it drove home the point of just how fragile things were on the offensive line.
There was also a potential solution to that depth issue in the building on this night: former Seahawks left tackle Duane Brown was at MetLife Stadium as part of a free-agent visit with the Jets.
Brown was seen on the sideline during the practice and spent time talking with Saleh and owner Woody Johnson. The Jets are clearly doing everything they can to land Brown and for good reason, his experience and talent would go a long way toward solidifying the line in 2022. That’s why Saleh admitted after the practice that general manager Joe Douglas has been working to add Brown “for a little bit.”
“Any time you have a chance to add a pro-bowler like him and add to the depth of our roster, we’ll look into it,” Saleh said when asked about Brown. “We’re always going to search far and wide and there’s interest on both sides, obviously.”
At age 37 he’s not a long-term solution. But Brown made the Pro Bowl last year and would give the Jets a much-needed insurance policy if something were to happen to one of their starting tackles in the months ahead. Clearly the team knows how important his addition would be, and they’re trying to get something done. We’ll have to wait and see how it all shakes out.
“You can never have enough good o-linemen,” Saleh said. “You just can’t, especially with the type of offense that we play and all that. But, like I said, any time you have a chance to add a quality player at any position you have to listen, you have to look, you have to try to see how it fits.”
Tyler Conklin continues to impress
Free agent addition Tyler Conklin was a bit of an afterthought when the Jets signed him this spring, because they had already added a proven veteran at the position in former Bengal C.J. Uzomah. But through the first two weeks of training camp, Conklin, who had a breakout season with the Vikings in 2022, has been the tight end grabbing the attention of everyone watching Jets’ practice.
And that continued on Saturday night when Conklin hauled in several big catches, including the touchdown catch on the first-team offense’s only touchdown drive of the night.
Even Saleh admitted that Conklin has exceeded expectations with his strong start to the summer.
“Conk is awesome,” Saleh said. “He’s been fantastic for us. … The whole group really has been really good for us, but as far as he’s concerned, just his ability on third down to create separation and win those one-on-one’s and be a run blocker, he’s an all-around tight end. He’s been a pleasant surprise.”
Why we’ve seen more flags in practices
During the first week-plus of practice the Jets did a good job of eliminating the pre-snap penalties that have been a staple of recent training camps on both sides of the ball. But they seemed to take a step in the wrong direction at the end of week two, when there were several instances of a defensive lineman jumping offside or an offensive player starting a play too early for a false start. It happened several times on Saturday night and it’s an issue that Saleh noticed as well, but he’s not concerned because there’s a good reason for it: the Jets have had actual NFL refs calling their practices for the last several days.
“So they are a lot more precise in the way that they see the pre-snap stuff and it’s a good awareness [to work on], obviously,” Saleh said. “We push the envelope as far as our alignments as defensive linemen, call it credit card alignment. Usually, you get a warning, just letting it fly, obviously, in practice which is what we wanted. But, a lot of young guys just with formation, it’s a heavy load. But, overall, I’m not overly concerned with pre-snap penalties, at least not yet.”
*Fant and Becton weren’t on the field for most of the second half of team drills but it wasn’t because they’ve had a setback as they return from knee injuries. According to Saleh, both were simply on a pitch count as the Jets ease them back into the rotation. Saleh has been happy with the progress both are making, but he admitted that getting all five starting offensive linemen on the field is a major priority as training camp continues.
“Those five got to play together more, Saleh said. “With the injuries and trying to ease guys back in, we haven’t been able to get those five together at the same time as much as we like, and the sooner that happens, the more they’ll kind of mesh together and get even tighter. So, [Saturday] was a good day for those guys, and I anticipate it getting even better.”
*Rookie corner Sauce Gardner had several impressive plays in coverage on Saturday night, including tight coverage on fellow rookie Garrett Wilson that prevented him from keeping both feet in bounds on a potential highlight reel catch near the end zone. Gardner also showed off his competitive edge after forcing an incompletion from receiver Braxton Berrios and staring him down — although the logistics of the staredown provided a moment of comic relief because Gardner is a full head taller than Berrios so he had to bend at the knees to let him know why he didn’t catch the pass.
*Starting cornerback D.J. Reed did not participate in practice because of a minor hamstring issue, according to Saleh who said it’s not a long-term concern. But it bears watching because Reed wasn’t able to participate during OTAs because of a hamstring issue. Saleh didn’t have any definitive update on the injury McDermott suffered early in practice other than to say that his ankle was being evaluated. The backup offensive lineman needed help to get to the sideline and was taken back to the locker room on a cart.
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Andy Vasquez may be reached at avasquez@njadvancemedia.com.
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