A SUPER LOOK FOR JETS
Young Gang Green sees elite team in joint practice with Packers
GREEN BAY — The Jets got a taste of what an elite team looks like during the first day of joint practices with the Green Bay Packers.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh viewed the joint sessions as a “great challenge” and pointed out the Packers feature a championship roster. And that’s how it appeared for Gang Green at times during Wednesday’s practice.
There were moments when the Jets defense held up for a couple of plays.
Then boom.
Aaron Rodgers fired a heat seeking missile to Marquez Valdes-Scantling over the middle for a 30-yard touchdown. Then the three-time MVP added a 20-yard touchdown pass to Robert Tonyan with C.J Mosley in coverage.
The Jets’ firstteam offense strung a few good plays together only to have Zach Wilson get sacked by Preston Smith
If teams want to be the best, they have to see how top-tier squads operate.
“They’re definitely a Super Bowl-caliber team,” Wilson said. “So it’s awesome for us to be able to come against them and kind of stack up what we’ve got and take our best shot.”
The Packers looked like a team coming off a 13-3 season. And Gang Green looked like an improved team, but still in the early stages of a 2-14 rebuild.
Overall, the first-team offense couldn’t get the pass or run game going Wednesday.
Wilson was subpar as he went 12-of-23 with no touchdowns or interceptions.
But it wasn’t all on the rookie quarterback.
The offensive line didn’t create many holes in the ground game and more alarming was the fact that Wilson was constantly under duress. He was sacked seven times.
Packers defensive tackle Kingsley Keke had two sacks up the interior. Second-year anchor Mekhi Becton gave up a couple sacks to Smith.
One of the sacks was a well designed corner blitz that fooled the offensive line as they slid right and corner Eric Stokes ran free to Wilson from the left side.
As a result of all the pressure, Wilson couldn’t get comfortable.
Outside of a nice touch pass off his back foot as he was pressured by Smith and a couple over-the-middle darts to Corey Davis the majority of Wilson’s throws were short.
The Jets O-line battle against the Packers front was a matchup that bore watching going into these joint practices. The Packers were the clear winners on Day 1. Granted some of the sacks may not have ended up that way in a game, but nonetheless there was consistent pressure around Wilson.
So it wasn’t a good practice from a blocking standpoint, but it was a good learning experience. The Packers run an odd 3-4 front and usually have five players on the line of scrimmage with the two outside linebackers and three defensive lineman.
That’s different from what they see in practice every day since the Jets run a 4-3 attacking front.
Jets center Connor McGovern discussed that dynamic after practice.
“A lot of it is technique. Our D-lineman are more up the field, trying to disrupt stuff. This defense is more read, so they play those tight techniques,” McGovern said. “The Packers extend their hands, they’re not trying to give a whole bunch of penetration to the backfield, they’re trying to make plays. … It’s really good practice.”
Why does that matter? Because two teams within the AFC East — the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots — run a similar front.
“We’re playing a true shade on the center. Five guys on the line of scrimmage defense,”
McGovern said. “Pretty similar to Patriots or Miami so it’s nice to get that work.”
So even though the Jets struggled in practice with this front, it’s a learning point. Let’s see how the Jets offense bounces back on Day 2.
AROUND THE PRACTICE FIELD
Corey Davis had his fair share of success against Jaire Alexander. It was a tug-of-war type battle. There were moments when Alexander pulled out the handcuffs, though. But solid showing from Davis . ... Carl Lawson created a couple pressures and had a sack . ... Bless Austin was up and down. Austin was beat deep by Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a touchdown. But later recovered for a pass break up in the end zone against him . ... Tevin Coleman
and Ty Johnson were getting the majority of the first team reps at running back. Michael Carter got some reps, too . ... After having a solid preseason game against the Giants, Denzel Mims got zero reps with the first-team offense during the joint practice . ... Bryce Hall held up when Aaron Rodgers targeted Davante Adams during team drills. One play that stood out was when Adams was targeted deep down the sideline, but Hall stayed over the top and forced an incompletion . ... Josh Malone had the best day of any Jets receiver as he caught three passes, one for a touchdown and the other one was a deep shot from Mike White .... During the two-minute drill, Rodgers threw a touchdown to Valdes-Scantling over the middle. It was a busted coverage by Marcus Maye. “I got to see the over route, that’s all it is. I just gotta see it and carry it,”
Maye said.
INJURY REPORT
Rookie offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker inched closer to returning to action as he was in pads and went through individual drills. Vera-Tucker won’t do team drills this week but his work on Wednesday was encouraging to see . ... Safety Lamarcus Joyner is dealing with back spasm and was held out of practice.