HC Aaron Glenn announced on Friday that WR Adonai Mitchell will play on Sunday against the visiting Miami Dolphins. Mitchell sustained a finger injury in practice leading up to Week 3 and has missed the last four games.
"Anytime you get a player of that magnitude to get back and be a part of what we're trying to build, it's something that we look forward to," Glenn said. "Anytime we get the band back together when they're all there and they get a chance to continue to build this relationship on the field is always critical."
RB Breece Hall and LG Dylan Parham are "questionable" for Sunday's game and have been limited participants in practice throughout the week.
"We'll take it all the way to Sunday and see how he feels," Glenn said regarding Hall's and Parham's status for the game.
RB Kene Nwangwu, DT T'Vondre Sweat (Elbow) and edge Will McDonald IV who were limited on Wednesday and Thursday, will be full participants during Friday's practice and are expected to play Sunday. DT Harrison Phillips and LB Demario Davis had veteran rest days during the week.
The Jets will be without LB Kiko Mauigoa, edge Joseph Ossai and OL Max Mitchell on Sunday. Glenn said Mitchell had "an incident in practice" and is in concussion protocol.
Evolution of the Peanut Punch
The Jets have recovered 7 of their 11 forced fumbles, the most in the NFL, through six weeks. Across the league, fumbles have become increasingly more common; according to CBS Sports, there have been 175 forced fumbles, the highest number through six weeks since 2013.
The "Peanut Punch" which was made one of the game's novelties by Bears' CB Charles "Peanut" Tillman is being more widely used, but when Demario Davis started his career, that wasn't necessarily the case.
"When I first came in the league, it wasn't emphasized as much," Davis said on Thursday. "The game was much more about inflicting pain on the opponent and so it was about having violent tackles."
But over the past 4-to-5 years, Davis noticed it's been coached more and introduced to players at younger stages of their careers.
"It's almost a part of how they learn how to tackle," Davis said. "So, what they rep in tackling, they're learning punching the ball, so you see younger and younger guys coming to the game and they're really good at it and got a knack for it."
So, what is the technique? Davis provided an explanation.
"A lot of guys will call it like a top-down punchout," Davis said. "If you're coming in above the elbow and you punch down on the ball, that's the way to get it out."
DC Brian Duker said defenders are "more conscious of attacking the ball," because there are more successful examples of the tactic.
"I just think the players are doing a great job embracing it and just understanding the impact it can have on a game, and I think they're kind of feeding off of each other now," Duker said. "Like one guy gets one it's almost a challenge to the other guy to get one too."
A Special Player
S Minkah Fitzpatrick will face his former team when the Dolphins come to MetLife Stadium but to him "it's just a game."
"We got to win the game. That's it," Fitzpatrick said. "At the end of the day, we have to win the game no matter who it is."
Fitzpatrick missed two games after sustaining an injury in Week 1 but still ranks tied for fifth in total tackles on the team with 26. In his first game back in Week 4, Fitzpatrick recorded the team's first interception of the season, and last week he recovered a fumble forced by LB Jamien Sherwood.
"I think the part that most people don't know is the plays he makes on the ball aren't just happenstance and luck," LB Demario Davis said. "Man, this guy puts a ton of time and work in the building and into his craft."
Fitzpatrick said he had started watching tape on the Titans, the Jets' first opponent, months in advance, and Davis said Fitzpatrick is consistently one of the first ones in the building and one of the last to leave.
"He certainly has a process that has worked for him, which has allowed him to play at an All-Pro level and is going to continue to let him do it even later into his career," Davis said.
He's not shocked by the plays Fitzpatrick makes.
"Some guys just have that man, they're just special players," Davis said. "Minkah's certainly been that his entire career."
See photos of the Jets on the practice field ahead of their Week 7 matchup with the Dolphins.
Sanders' Next Mark
The next field-goal conversion by K Jason Sanders will mark the 200th of his career, becoming the 82nd player in NFL history to reach the 200 mark and the first since Jake Elliott in Week 4 of last season.
Sanders, the former Miami Dolphin, missed the entire 2025 season due to injury, but had made 27 consecutive field goals to end the 2024 season with Miami, starting in Week 8. This season, he has converted on 12 of /13 (92.3%) of his field-goal attempts this season, including three from 50-plus yards.
"In practice, you could just hear it. When he first got here to know, that part of it sounds different," special teams coordinator Chris Banjo said about how Sanders has been striking the ball well. "His lift, his elevation, his get-off, everything is just kind of slowly but surely from that time on, continued to tick in the right direction."
