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Early in practice, Jets rookie QB Cade Klubnik was picked off by linebacker Mykal Walker.
Look, interceptions are going to happen. Sometimes defenders make great plays reading the QB and jumping routes. As people like to say, “Hey, defensive players get paid to.”
But this wasn’t one of those picks.
The pass was thrown right to Walker.
This was perhaps a case of a rookie QB not doing a good job of reading the defense.
The media and fans need to put the anointing oil away with Klubnik.
Let me tell you what I saw the first week of camp – a QB who desperately wants to throw to his first read, and if that read is open, he often often wants to get out of the pocket, run around, and play street-yard ball.
Look, he’s had several nice throws on first-read throws over the first week of camp, but the progressions need a lot of work. There is too much one-read-and-run stuff.
And this pass picked off by Walker was a case of a QB not seeing the field well.
Where is there any evidence, as we sit here right now, that Klubnik is any better than Brady Cook?
In fact, did you know that Klubnik’s college won-loss record at Clemson was 26-14, and Cook was 26-13 at Missouri?
Missouri plays in a tougher football conference (SEC) than Clemson (ACC).
Cook had two nice throws today to TE Chase Curtis, one for a TD, and the other should have been a TD, but it was dropped.
Why is Klubnik the #2 QB now, and Cook the #4? Probably because one was a fourth-round pick and the other an undrafted free agent.
Look, I don’t think either one should be the primary backup. Neither should be one snap away from playing, especially at the start of the season.
Jets need a veteran backup, whether that is Bailey Zappe or somebody not in the building yet . . .
There were two strange plays in a row at Jets practice from Geno Smith – first he attempted a pass, and the ball slipped out of his hand as he was throwing. Then on the next play, he sailed a bubble screen in the left flat, which sailed over the head of a receiver.
My first thought was: Is there something wrong with his throwing hand? These plays seemed out of character for him. When I saw him leave this drill, he seemed to be rubbing his hand. Look, I don’t think he’s injured, but it just seemed like on these two plays, he didn’t look right. But he looked fine the rest of the practices, so if there was an issue, it was temporary.
These two plays in a row looked like football follies material, but there might have been a reason for that . . .
With Kenyon Sadiq suffering a setback in his return from sports hernia surgery, this is leading to a lot of reps for the veteran tight end Jelani Woods, who continues to take advantage of the opportunity. Not only is this guy an inviting target in the passing game at 6-7, 253 with 4.61 speed, but he’s a superb blocker, and this was on display today, when he locked up OLB Will McDonald and Breece Hall ran off left tackle behind the tight end for a nice gain . . .
As for Sadiq, hat-tip to Newsday’s Al Iannazzone for asking Aaron Glenn a couple of questions about it today.
Here is one:
Iannazzone: You had said something about normally you get both sides done, so there’s not a situation where he has to get the other side done?
Glenn: No, no. The thing is, when you get that surgery, and this is something that I’ve learned, that usually when you have one side of the groin, the Doctor usually does the other side, too, just to knock both of them out. So, I think most people have that procedure really go through that, so again, good news on him not being out for a long time, you know, just a couple of weeks.
Still not sure exactly what went on here. In retrospect, did he come back too soon from May groin surgery? Hindsight is 20-20, but it’s not unfair to wonder that.
But the Jets clearly need to be very careful here.
I will never forget something a sports medicine doctor once told me, that many of you might know, but I didn’t – once you pull a muscle, groin, hamstring, it’s never exactly the same. That doesn’t mean you can’t have a long career after one of these injuries. You can, but the muscle is never exactly the same as it was before the injury.
Look what just happened in San Francisco. WR Mike Evans, who the 49ers signed in the off-season and who had a history of hamstring issues with Tampa Bay, just suffered another hamstring injury.
So some might argue the Jets should err on the side of caution here, keep the kid on the shelf for a while, and not even focus on timelines like “a couple of weeks.”
Especially since they have a pretty deep tight end room with Woods, Mason Taylor, and Jeremy Ruckert.
Not judging anybody here, but just saying this is a very unique situation – drafting a player who played with a sports hernia in college last year, then needs surgery on it about a month after they draft him, and then he suffers a setback in his first NFL training camp.
Wouldn’t you say this is kind of an eclectic situation?
August 6, 2026
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