FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Day 2 in pads looked a lot like Day 1 in pads for the New York Jets offense.
That is, bad.
Aaron Rodgers continues to express his frustration in practice, though it is obviously far too early to sound any alarms. Jets coach Robert Saleh did give everyone permission to do that as of a certain date: Aug. 25, the day after the preseason finale against the Giants.
“We’re very early. It’s July 30,” Saleh said. “There’s plenty of time to evaluate the one on one aspect. There’s a lot of install going on. There’s still a lot of (overthinking) going on with regard to the playbook. We’re installing, we’re teaching techniques, we’re fine-tuning, I’ll start worrying after the Giants preseason game.”
throwing the 4s up for a @D7_Reed PBU pic.twitter.com/XCXrqyaFnc
— New York Jets (@nyjets) July 30, 2024
Here are observations from Tuesday’s practice, including a highlight-reel catch from a rookie wide receiver:
More snap judgments on Tippmann
Tuesday morning before practice, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said he’s not worried about center Joe Tippmann’s snapping issues. However, the struggles have not only persisted throughout training camp, they’ve gotten worse.
“He’s working through it,” Hackett said. “He snapped all last year and never had an issue, so I think that’s it just kind of happened that way (Monday). Sometimes that’s how those days go.”
Well, it went that way again on Tuesday. Tippmann had a few bad snaps during 11-on-11 drills, which all led to would-be sacks or throwaways. Before practice, the quarterbacks and centers (including Tippmann and Wes Schweitzer) were working on snap exchanges. The extra work hasn’t paid off yet.
That wasn’t the only offensive issue. Rodgers lost the ball on an attempted pitch to running back Breece Hall — though it’s unclear if there was a miscommunication or what exactly led to the ball landing on the ground. Wide receiver Allen Lazard opened seven-on-seven drills with a drop — though he followed that up with a nice catch on a 50/50 ball against D.J. Reed on his next rep.
Wide receiver Malik Taylor dropped a Rodgers pass in 11-on-11 drills too. On the second-to-last run of 11-on-11 late in practice, Rodgers missed Garrett Wilson badly in what appeared to be a miscommunication of some sort between quarterback and wide receiver — Wilson wasn’t where Rodgers was expecting him to be — which led to a discussion between the two off to the side after the play.
The discussion didn’t lead to much success. The Jets ended practice with a “move the ball” period of 11-on-11 drills — a late game, drive-the-field situation — and Rodgers only completed two of seven passes. His first pass attempt was thrown behind Wilson and batted down by Reed. The next pass was a pretty one down the field to Wilson for a big gain, but then he missed Wilson again on the next pass after a rollout.
Rodgers was sacked, then completed a pass to Lazard, who had to leave the field briefly after getting the wind knocked out of him. Jason Brownlee subbed in and promptly dropped Rodgers’ next pass. Rodgers tried airing it out for Lazard (covered by Sauce Gardner) on the next play but overthrew Lazard — who isn’t exactly known for his deep speed — by a few clicks. Rodgers’ last pass of the day was behind Wilson.
Rodgers and Wilson opened camp firing on all cylinders but it seems over the last few days they’ve hit a bit of a rough patch. All told, I had Rodgers completing 10 of 20 passes in 11-on-11 drills and 2 of 4 in seven-on-seven.
Hackett admitted before practice that the offense has been “inconsistent.”
“There are a lot of new players here, so they’re just kind of still working their way into it, so it’s kind of getting those guys up to speed,” Hackett said.
Saleh was a little more positive in his outlook after practice, pointing out that there were plenty of “blowouts” last year in training camp with the defense dominating the offense but “this year has been back and forth throughout camp,” he said. “I like the direction it’s going.”
Play of the day
As for the positive end of the first-team offense spectrum: Rodgers’ first pass to rookie Malachi Corley resulted in one of the best catches of training camp. In seven-on-seven drills, Rodgers hit Corley toward the sideline, and Corley reeled the pass in with one hand while dragging his feet to stay in bounds. Corley is getting more opportunities with Rodgers because Xavier Gipson (leg) is still out with an injury.
“For him, it’s about (getting him) as many reps as he can get,” Hackett said. “Every one matters for him, and not just running a line on a paper, but understand the intricacies of attacking a defense and what we’re asking him to do. So, I think those are things that with time, he’ll just continually develop.”
Quote of the day
“I let myself get fat, but I feel like it got real easy once I saw a picture of myself and then I really just turned it on without even the intention of coming back to the NFL … I got to like 207, 208 (pounds), I saw little rolls on the side. I was in the pool and my friend took a picture and I almost threw my phone against the wall.” — Jets running back Tarik Cohen on his struggles to stay in shape while he was recovering from various injuries and was out of the NFL. He hasn’t played in an NFL game since 2020. He says he now weighs around 190 pounds.
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Injuries and other absences
Tackle Morgan Moses (pectoral) remains sidelined from team drills, though Saleh said he should be back within the “next couple of days.” The Jets practice on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday with days off on Thursday and Sunday this week … undrafted rookie wide receiver Tyler Harrell left practice with trainers during team drills.
Returner shuffle
With Gipson, the Jets’ primary returner, still out, special teams coordinator Brant Boyer has been giving more players opportunities at earning a role as a returner (though he might’ve been doing that anyway with the new kickoff rules being implemented in 2024).
Notably, Braelon Allen, Isaiah Davis and Corley all received reps as kick returners on Tuesday. The three rookies seek out contact — stylistically, they bring a different flavor than traditional return specialists. None were returners in college.
Cohen is the most experienced returner on the Jets roster, named an All-Pro and Pro Bowler with the Bears in 2018.
“I mean there’s an army of guys back there,” Boyer said. “I think we’ve got six to eight guys back there right now, to take some take some reps off, but they’re doing a nice job, punt return-wise, there’s a handful of guys back there working every day and we don’t even have Garrett (Wilson) back there or (D.J.) Reed back there. We’re trying to get everybody reps that haven’t done it in the game before. Once we get into the preseason, we’ll see how it shakes out.”
Miscellaneous notes
• Saleh said he hasn’t decided if Rodgers will play in the preseason, though that’s likely more up to Rodgers anyway. Saleh said his instinct is that Rodgers wouldn’t participate, but that can change.
• Andrew Peasley underthrew Brownlee down the field during seven-on-seven drills but Brownlee still did a good job of going up and making the catch anyway. Brownlee has been behind Taylor in the pecking order at receiver during camp.
• Cornerback Jarrick Bernard-Converse ended practice with an interception of Tyrod Taylor, his second pick of camp. He also broke up an Adrian Martinez pass earlier in practice. Linebacker Zaire Barnes also broke up a Taylor pass during 11-on-11 drills.
• Tyrod Taylor hit Malik Taylor on a nice deep pass during 11-on-11 drills.
• Undrafted rookie defensive end Eric Watts continues to perform well against backup offensive tackles, getting a would-be sack on Peasley during team drills.
• Linebacker Chazz Surratt had a tackle for loss on a running play to Cohen.
(Top photo: Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA Today)
