Content available exclusively for subscribers
Why would you plays Brady Cook first, and Adrian Martinez second in preseason games?
Martinez is in his second year, and also played in the XFL, and Cook is a rookie.
Martinez almost led the Jets back from a two score deficit in the second half.
The answer to the question is probably pretty simple.
The new regime has equity in Cook, who they signed after the draft, and they inherited Martinez from the previous regime.
That is how this often works.
It is what it is . . .
With three defensive ends inactive – the obvious ones -Jermaine Johnson and Will McDonald – and the bafflying one – Michael Clemons, second-year defensive end Braiden McGregor got a lot of action, and he certainly took advantage of it.
He had two QB pressures on the first series, and this was against a tackle who has been in the league for a decade – Kendall Lamm.
So this wasn’t against a guy who will likely be cut next week.
In the third quarter, he beat offensive tackle Myles Hinton for a sack. McGregor and Hinton were teammates at Michigan, who faced off a lot in practice in Ann Arbor, so Braiden certainly knows his weaknesses, and he beat him soundly on this play.
With the season-ending injury to Rashad Weaver, it’s possible for McGregor to grab the last defensive end spot.
He’s not going to challenge Clemons, who seems to be beyond reproach . . .
The Jets’ only starter to play today was right tackle Armand Membou, and it didn’t go that well, with Membou being called for two penalties on one drive, including on a fourth-and-one attempt, and this lead to the Jets punting instead.
Membou, who just turned 21 a few months ago, has a lot of work to do, including a need to keep his hands more inside. He’s a little grabby on the sides of the shoulder pads, and this can lead to flags. You gotta keep your hands inside if you want to avoid penalties. Outside grabbing often triggers refs to call holding . . .
Safety Jarius Monroe had to be helped off the field at one point in the game, but he came back, and then he had to be helped off the field after another play.
On the second one, I saw him grabbing the back of his right upper leg as he was walking off the field, so it could be a hamstring.
When the media was leaving the locker room, his was the only locker with his stuff still in it, so might have still been in the training room . . .
Backup tackle Samuel Jackson had some rough plays in the second half, but it’s hard to blame him for them, and I will get to that in a minute. On the same series in the third quarter, he was called for holding and then gave up a strip sack, and the Eagles recovered.
Here is the deal – he’s not an NFL left tackle. He might have been able to play the position at Central Florida, but not on this level.
He’s a right tackle/guard type prospect. He doesn’t have the athleticism to play left tackle on the NFL level.
But he could perhaps hold up at right tackle or at guard, but in the second half of a preseason game, when teams are forced to play a third string left tackle, who often isn’t a left tackle (like Hinton for the Eagles), it can throw a monkey wrench into a passing offense, and that is a big reason why you see shaky passing offenses in the last preseason game.
August 22, 2025
Premium will return by 9:30 pm (or sooner) on Monday.
