Aaron Glenn’s decision to play Justin Fields and the rest of his starters in their first preseason game of the year paid off.
Fields took ten snaps on his only drive that the quarterback capped with a 13-yard touchdown run after completing 3 of his 4 pass attempts. It was nothing fancy through the air but Fields took what the defense gave him and the offense looked efficient. Jets fans will take that all day.
Fullback Andrew Beck had two short catches over the middle but picked up some yards after the catch each time, totaling 36 yards. Wide receiver Tyler Johnson had the other catch on the drive for six yards.
The starting offensive line looked good in pass pro and in the run game, allowing Breece Hall and Braelon Allen to pick up 22 yards on the ground.
On the defensive side of the ball, it was the defensive line making all of the noise. Specifically free agent addition Jay Tufele.
After some impressive reps early on, Tufele saved his biggest plays for the second quarter. First it was a touchdown on a fumble recovery after a Leonard Taylor sack in the end zone, before picking up a sack later on.
Some other noteworthy observations:
- Aaron Glenn was animated and didn’t hold back when his players committed penalties. In what was a huge departure from the days of Robert Saleh, Glenn didn’t hold back and let his players know when he was unhappy.
- Not a single player, but a group. The offensive line, under rookie OL coach Steve Heiden. The quarterbacks were comfortable in the pocket and backs had room to run for much of the day.
- Both Brady Cook and Adrian Martinez were solid as they battle for the QB3 spot. Cook completed his first four pass attempts and finished up 6-8 for 62 yards.
- Arian Smith did what he does best and blew past a defender for what could have been a long TD but Martinez was a bit too long on the throw.
- Free agent addition Stone Smartt had an impressive 24-yard run after catch TD.
- We’ll have to wait to see the snap counts, but if we had to guess we’d say offensive lineman Kohl Levao played the most reps on offense. A guy we believe the Jets want an extended look at.
- Donovan Edwards had a 73-yard TD called back due to a holding call on Liam Fornadel but impressed regardless, picking up chunk plays on the ground and through the air. He finished with 9 carreis for 42 yards and a 21-yard reception.
- The wide receivers were mostly quiet but one highlight grab came from undrafted free agent Quentin Skinner who we discussed prior the game as a player to watch.
- Rookie punter Austin McNamara had excellent hang time when needed and averaged 49.7 yards per punt.
- Qwan’tez Siggers did a great job as a gunner with Irv Charles dinged up.
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