Details. It's always about the details. The coach knows it. The players know it. Nothing earth-shattering. But plenty to see here.
In last Friday night's preseason opener against Tampa Bay at MetLife Stadium, the initial defense that HC Aaron Glenn ran out turned in a strong performance in its limited time on the field. After practice on Monday ahead of this coming Friday's game at Pittsburgh, Glenn complimented second-year CB Azareye'h Thomas.
"Yeah, I was very encouraged by the way he played in the game," Glenn said after the day's morning session at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. "And listen, he's a 6-1, 200-pound man with long arms [32⅜]. And the one thing I wanted to see him do was really disrupt the routes. And he did a really good job of that in man coverage. We had a very limited menu, and man, he went out there and executed exactly how I thought he should. Now, is he where he needs to be? Not at all. But man, that improvement speaks a ton about how he's gone about training camp."
After missing the final 5 games last season after sustaining a shoulder injury in the Week 14 game against Miami, the Florida State product who was selected by the Jets in the Round 3 (No. 73 overall) in the 2025 NFL Draft, Thomas had returned to the field with renewed intent and dedication. Though he played a limited number of snaps (8, 13%; plus 3, 11% on special teams) against the Bucs, he liked what he saw and how it felt.
"I feel like we played pretty solid," Thomas said on Monday. "Feel like we, of course, had some mistakes out there, which is expected to be the way to be in the first preseason game. But overall, I feel like we did pretty good."
With veteran CB Nahshon Wright, who signed in free agency after a productive season with the Bears, sidelined with a hip injury, Thomas was out there with the ones.
"I mean, as a corner ... disrupt routes," he said. It's about spacing and timing. And so, if I can do that, I can help the D-line get there. And just that split second could help one of our D-linemen or a linebacker or whoever is on the blitz get the sack. So that's something that I really take pride in for sure."
As Glenn pointed out, in the first half the Jets' defense limited the Bucs to 85 total yards on 27 plays, with 72 yards coming through the air. In addition, the Bucs were held to 5 first downs and a 28.6% third-down conversion rate (2 of 7).
Looking back on his rookie season, Thomas said he experienced highs (taking over at CB across from Brandon Stephens after Sauce Gardner was traded to Indianapolis) and lows (the first significant injury of his football career).
See the Jets players on the field during Monday's practice ahead of the Green & White's second preseason game against the Steelers Friday.
"'I'd say lessons .... I got hurt, I got injured," he said. "I never had to get surgery in my life, and I also had an injury during training camp last year, my AC joint and I missed the whole preseason. So it was tough, but I wouldn't take it back because I learned so much about myself, about this game and just how fragile this game truly is. And it's a revolving door.
"You just never know what happens, so you all got to stay ready. And so it was definitely challenging, but I'm thankful and I'm blessed for it. The number one thing I learned is just to respond. In this game you just never know what happens, and injuries come and go, and so I think that's one thing I learned, and I'm going to take with me."
He added: "Just doing your job. That's it. You do your job and a little bit more."
