Tag: Jets training camp

Watch – New York Jets might have gotten a Day 3 steal in Braelon Allen

Braelon Allen is certainly an interesting running back option.

Braelon Allen is turning heads in New York Jets training camp. The rookie running back from Wisconsin is coming off an impressive collegiate career.

The Jets took Allen in the fourth round of April’s NFL draft. He was their third selection in the draft.

In his three years at Wisconsin, he rushed for 3,494 yards and 35 rushing touchdowns. Last year he had 28 catches for 131 yards – both numbers were career highs during his collegiate career.

At Wisconsin, Allen was named all-Big Ten all three of his seasons in college.

At 6-foot-1 and 235 pounds, Allen has the potential to be a nice complement to starting running back Breece Hall.

 

With his strong build and solid speed, Allen is certainly an intriguing option in the Jets’ backfield. He can be a good change-of-pace running back as well as a goal-line and shot-yardage option in the backfield.

 

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He also showed at Wisconsin that he has some wiggle and elusiveness in his hard-running style.

On Garrett Wilson, Robert Saleh believes ‘the sky is the limit for him’

Garrett Wilson can be even better according to head coach Robert Saleh.

Garrett Wilson is facing a season where he could potentially join the best wide receivers in the NFL. The New York Jets wide receiver has been a standout during his first two NFL seasons with the New York Jets.

But Jets head coach Robert Saleh believes there is still another level that Wilson can reach in his career.

Wilson, a first round pick of the Jets in the 2022 NFL draft. He has topped 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first two seasons in the league.

The former Ohio State standout has lived up to the hype coming out of the Big Ten.

Last year, he had 95 catches for 1,042 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Impressive numbers, despite the quarterback issues on the Jets last year.

With a healthy Aaron Rodgers, it is not unreasonable to think that Wilson can have his first All-Pro season in 2024.

“I’m just excited whenever he’s on the field, I’ll be honest with you. He’s an electric personality,” Saleh told reporters on Saturday.

“He gets fiery. Has the biggest smile that he has when he puts a helmet on and he gets into a competitive battle, it what makes all these guys special. He flips the switch, and he becomes something that’s completely different, but as long as he continues to come out here and do his best every day, I think the sky’s the limit for him.”

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At Ohio State, Wilson was twice an All-Big Ten selection.

With expectations high, New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh focused on each day

The New York Jets aren’t looking ahead to February.

A ‘win now’ mentality might be placed on the New York Jets this year, but head coach Robert Saleh is more focused on simply winning the day.

They may be one and the same for the Jets, but following last year’s understandably disappointing season, the focus is on daily progression and not a trip to New Orleans in February.

The Jets have one of the more talented rosters in the NFL, featuring plenty of established veterans led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers. But there is some incredible young talent on both sides of the ball, headlined by cornerback Sauce Gardner as well as wide receivers Garrett Wilson and running back Breece Hall.

All that means that the Jets, a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2010 season, have legitimate and well-founded Super Bowl expectations.

“You know, the pressure is always going to be there. We always feel pressure to win. Now (or) later, it doesn’t matter. As far as outside noise, and creating the expectations of ultimatums, it doesn’t matter,” head coach Robert Saleh told reporters on Friday.

“That’s an end result we have no control over, but we have what we have control over, and the greatest expectation is to be our best every day, and really that’s the biggest focus.”

There is no denying, however, that the Jets are a talented team. The addition of Rodgers last year was supposed to see the Jets through to a postseason appearance.

His Week 1 Achilles injury understandably changed expectations for the Jets.

But in their 7-10 season, the Jets saw players such as Gardner, Hall and Wilson grow into legitimate impact players and stars. Another year of growth and development could and should see the Jets compete for a winning record.

And if Rodgers can stay healthy, there is every reason to believe that the Jets can flip their record from a year ago.

Saleh spent four years as the defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers before becoming the Jets head coach in 2021, the feeling of turning a corner with a team is similar.

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The 49ers have won three NFC West titles since 2019. They’ve been to the Super Bowl twice during that time.

“I think we all felt last year was going to be that for us, my first year in San Fran we went 6-10, second year we went 4-12, and then our third year we went to the Super Bowl, we went 13-3 if I remember right, and then my fourth year, we went 6-10, the COVID year,” Saleh said.

“That was the year of all the injuries, and last year really felt like we were getting ready to take that third-year leap, similar to what Detroit (Lions) experienced this year. Obviously, it didn’t work out the way we wanted it to, but this year’s going to be
fun.”

Alijah Vera-Tucker’s return is a big boost for the New York Jets

Alijah Vera-Tucker returns for the New York Jets.

The return of offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker is arguably one of the most significant pieces of news for the New York Jets so far this training camp.

Vera-Tucker returned on Friday and participated in training camp. Head coach Robert Saleh saying that the fourth-year offensive lineman is on a pitch count in terms of his participation.

In October, Vera-Tucker suffered a season-ending Achilles injury.

The former first round pick is capable of being a Pro Bowl guard for the Jets. As a rookie in 2021, Vera-Tucker made the PFWA All-Rookie Team.

Getting him back on the field and healthy on Friday is a huge development for the Jets.

“It was good. It would be more of a question for him and how he felt,” Saleh told reporters.

“But he’s an elite player at that position, so it was good to have him out.”

After quarterback Aaron Rodgers, preserving the health of the offensive line for the entirety of the season is paramount for the Jets.

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The offensive line is revamped and talented, but it isn’t deep. An injury to a starter wouldn’t be devastating to the Jets, but it would have a negative impact on keeping Rodgers healthy and getting Breece Hall going in the running game.

“I believe that there is a certain detraining that’s happening with the o-line. They are different than every other position. I don’t want to get too deep on it, but there’s a balance. We’re not trying to revisit the ‘Junction Boys’ but we are also this new performance model with load management,” Saleh said.

“I think sometimes especially with the o-line, I feel like there is a detraining that’s happening, that’s leaving them susceptible to injury, but again, it’s
stuff we’ve been setting. We have a plan in place, I just don’t want to get into too many details.”

New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers talks about his recovery process

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers believes his injury recovery is progressing.

Aaron Rodgers appears to be flashing his greatness in training camp, but the New York Jets quarterback cautions that he is continuing the process of recovering from an Achilles injury suffered last year.

Following his injury just four plays into the 2023 season, Rodgers certainly has bounced back and is making highlight plays in training camp. But as the health of Rodgers goes, so too goes the direction of the Jets.

Rodgers reportedly looked good in training camp on Thursday, making plays and connections with his wide receivers (h/t Rich Cimini).

“It’s going to take a little time. I feel great, we track all the numbers out west where I’ve worked out now for a decade. My movement stuff is tracking the exact same as last year, actually a little bit stronger with some of the squatting stuff that we did,” Rodgers told reporters on Wednesday.

“I just need the reps, the last five percent of being 100 percent is just the mental part. Like (on Wednesday), the last play I had being able to move in the pocket quickly and not think about it, those are stacked reps that help you get to that last five percent of being 100 percent.”

In 2021, Rodgers threw for 4,115 yards with 37 touchdowns and four interceptions. He was named the NFL’s MVP in 2020 and again in 2021.

 

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In 17 games in 2022, Rodgers threw for 3,695 yards, completing 64.6 percent of his passes for 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

The touchdowns thrown in what was considered a down year for Rodgers, would be top-five in Jets franchise history (albeit in 17 games).

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Garrett Wilson isn’t focused on ending the New York Jets playoff drought or Super Bowl talk

Garrett Wilson isn’t focused on the New York Jets playoff drought.

The expectation that the New York Jets will end their playoff drought this season doesn’t weigh on Garrett Wilson, That those expectations are being coupled with Super Bowl talk is something that Wilson doesn’t think about.

While not shying away from the hype or rather lofty expectations around this Jets team, Wilson also didn’t add to the headlines with his own outlook on the season. Instead, the Jets wide receiver said that he and his teammates need to be focused on the task at hand.

When asked on Tuesday about trying to get this team to reach the Super Bowl expectations, Wilson said he wasn’t aware of the Jets’ playoff drought and that “I’ve never seen it that way.”

“That’s the reality of what we’re trying to do. I think we approach it with the mindset of let’s get better every day. We’re not looking at it as we haven’t been in the playoffs the last whatever it is, we haven’t done this in whatever,” Wilson told reporters on Tuesday.

“It’s just, let’s find a way to get to the best version of ourselves because we know what we can do. And at the end of the day, we got to go out and do it. But the opportunity is there… That’s really all it needs to be is an opportunity and all these guys in the facility are willing to put in the work to try and make our dreams happen.”

With a top-three defense and an offense that is expected to be much improved, the Jets are expected to not just end a playoff drought that dates back to 2010, also compete for the AFC East.

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And there is legitimate talk about this being a team that, if they can stay healthy, has Super Bowl potential.

CBS Sports’ Leger Douzable sums up the Haason Reddick situation – ‘This hold out could last awhile’

One CBS Sports analyst believes the Haason Reddick hold out might drag on.

Leger Douzable believes that the Haason Reddick hold out situation could drag on for a bit and that the New York Jets defensive end is wanting to be compensated at the level of an elite pass rusher.

Multiple reports on Tuesday said that Reddick, whom the Jets traded for this offseason, will hold out from training camp.

Douzable, who played three seasons for the Jets beginning in 2015, is now an analyst for CBS Sports.

In talking on CBS Sports Network along with Charles Davis, Douzable said on Monday that that the offseason trade for Reddick started promising. But now, things have turned and this situation is one where the player holds significant bargaining chips.

“This is very complicated. This is an interesting scenario with Haason Reddick because there were rumors when he got traded for, that he was going to show up for the offseason program. That the Jets talked to him and said we’ll revisit the contract after this year,” Douzable said on CBS.

“Supposedly, again these are rumors, supposedly he was OK with that. Well he ended up getting a little bit of leverage when the Jets traded away John Franklin-Myers. So he knows Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich defense is based off the defensive line creating havoc.

“Haason Reddick has been one of the best in the NFL doing it. When you look at what he has done over the last four years – four straight seasons of at least 11 sacks.

“He is one of the best guys, CD (Charles Davis), in getting the ball off the quarterback – game-changing plays.”

Reddick is a due a base salary of $14.25 million this season and will become a free agent next year.

 

Douzable went on to highlight that Reddick does hold considerable clout in how this all could and will shake out, along with an ominous prediction that this dispute might not end quickly.

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“They don’t really have much depth there so I’m going to use my leverage right now because I’m only slated to make $15 million with the top ends in the league making $30 million plus,” Douzable said.

“He is severely underpaid. I think this holdout could last a while. Would not be surprised…if they work on something this year, to get him more money this year, maybe incentive based.”

These 38 players are locks for the Jets 53-man roster

These players should probably feel pretty good about sticking around the Jets this season.

The Jets got an early start to camp due to playing in the Hall of Fame Game. So the team is about two weeks into camp and have one preseason game under their belts. At this point, we can start to get a sense of which players are in good shape to make the 53-man roster and how the team will look from top to bottom. So with a handful of practices in the books, let’s run through the players that seem like locks at this point to make the 53-man roster for the Jets.

Some players may feel like they have a good chance to make the roster, like some of the running backs, but competition and numbers at various positions will give the Jets plenty of decisions to make for the final few open spots.

Jets get early break, not holding mandatory minicamp, Saleh pleased with work

Early summer break for the Jets

The Jets will start their summer break a week earlier than expected. The team decided not to hold mandatory minicamp next week, head coach Robert Saleh confirmed Wednesday and reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Part of the reason for the early break is the Jets will be reporting for training camp earlier than other teams since they are playing in the Hall of Fame Game on August 3. Saleh wants to give his players extra time off and they will not be required to be at team facilities next week, which was when the minicamp was supposed to take place.

Saleh also said he is happy with the work the team has put in this spring.

The Jets will wrap up OTAs this week and then be off until training camp. Per the CBA, teams can report to training camp 15 days before their first preseason game. For the Jets, that would be July 19.

Jets remain a work in progress with regular season on horizon

The Jets are working towards bettering themselves on a daily basis under Robert Saleh’s watch.

The Jets have kicked off the Robert Saleh era with two straight preseason wins, but their head coach is not fully satisfied with the product he is seeing on a daily basis.

Not even close.

With its preseason finale against the Eagles just two days away, New York is closing in on the beginning of the regular season. Saleh and his team will board a plane and travel to Carolina to take on the Panthers in just 18 days. Will they be ready to go when that time comes? The way Saleh sees it, there is still plenty of work to be done to get to that point.

“I’ll speak for the entire team, offense, defense, special teams. Nothing is where we want it to be,” Saleh said Tuesday after wrapping up the first of two joint practices with Philadelphia. “I know that’s what’s going to catch the headline, but that’s part of training camp. We’re building. We’re trying to get ourselves better. We’re working every single day and the reality is we’ll never be where we want to be. We’re always going to try and improve.”

Saleh’s sentiment might seem like typical preseason coach speak, but it aligns with what he has been preaching since taking over as Jets head coach in January. Saleh’s “all gas, no brake” mentality is centered on players giving their all every day and leaving the practice field better than they were before they laced up their cleats that day.

When the Jets take the field at MetLife Stadium, their focus will be on working out the kinks before kicking off the regular season. It goes without saying that Saleh would likely prefer to end the preseason with a perfect 3-0 record, but as long as his team gets better against the Eagles, they will be a step closer to where he and everyone else at One Jets Drive want to be.

“It’s a hard, blanket statement in terms of not being where we want to be. You can ask me on a 16-0 team and I’ll tell you we’re still not where we want to be. We’re trying to improve things, we want things to get better. We want to find a way to challenge ourselves and go to bed better than when we woke up.”

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