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The Jets practiced in the rain today in the last open practice to the fans.
But it was awesome for the fans that the stands were covered, so they didn’t get wet.
But my notebook is soaked, so I will do my best to give you all the notes I can that weren’t ruined by bleeding ink . . .
One of the better plays in practice was a pass down the deep left side from Justin Fields to tight end Mason Taylor.
It was a terrific throw, an impressive catch, and it was actually pretty good coverage by linebacker Marcelino McCrary-Ball, but Taylor showed strong hands to come down with the pass on a wet ball in the rain.
This showed that Taylor is good at hauling in contested passes, something we mentioned yesterday about Brandon Smith . . .
Justin Fields had a keeper to the left sideline and was able to turn the corner because the end on that side, Michael Clemons, could not get over there fast enough.
Not Clemons’ fault. He’s not blessed with great speed. He has great hustle, but not great speed. It’s not the same.
This isn’t a new issue. We have seen this quite a bit over the last few years, where runners take the edge on Clemons’ side due to his limited mobility.
Can’t blame him for this one iota. He is who he is. A brawler in limited spaces who is tough as bootleather . . .
Speaking of runs to the left edge, on a Breece Hall sweep to that side, cornerback Brandon Stephens did a nice job getting over there to shut down the rushing lane.
There has been a lot of talk this summer about Stephen’s terrific play in coverage during camp (he had a pick today), but something else to consider about him is his ability to be a force against the run as a huge corner, who is built more like a safety, at 6-1, 215 . . .
Speaking of stopping the run, saw three plays today where rookie linebacker Kiko Mauigoa did a nice job of stacking and shedding to stop running play, one left, one right and one up the middle.
He might be the Jets’ best linebacker at stacking and shedding blockers.
Sometimes, some of their smaller linebackers try to run around blocks, or run to get blocked – this guy takes on blockers in a violent fashion and often can shed them and make the play.
They need somebody like this . . .
On every play in practice, there is often a good aspect of it for one side of the ball, and a bad side for other side of the ball.
Fields threw a touchdown to a wide-open Garrett Wilson in the end zone.
Nice play for Fields and Wilson, but how does a receiver of Wilson’s magnitude go uncovered in the end zone?
I have no idea whose fault this was because I have no access to the playbook, but the two guys in the general vicinity were Quan’tez Stiggers and Tony Adams.
It might not have been either one of their faults, but they were the closest player I saw to Wilson.
Obviously, it’s never ideal for a team to be without their best cornerback in the secondary. Sauce Gardner was out today with an undisclosed injury. He limped off the practice field on Tuesday after a collision in the end zone.
But while I don’t know for sure it was his fault, it might not be the best idea for the Jets for Stiggers to be the first man at cornerback if somebody gets hurt.
Even though he’s in his second NFL season, he’s still very raw after not playing college football, and now he’s in his second playbook in two years, not good for any young player.
Jared Bernard-Converse clearly should be ahead of him in the cornerback pecking order . . .
Wilson was also wide open on a crossing route later in practice. Once again, how is a player of his stature go uncovered? Weird . . .
Jermaine Johnson, in his second day back in practice, had a nice strip sack of Fields. To be clear, he either had a strip sack, or the ball slipped out of Fields’ hands, in the rain, as Johnson was bearing down on him, after getting by Armand Membou. But anyway you slice it, it was a QB pressure.
August 20, 2025
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