The Jets held their rookie minicamp (RMC) last weekend, the first camp at 1 Jets Drive under the team's new head coach Aaron Glenn. The session brought together the Jets' seven draft picks, 15 undrafted free agents and 12 tryout players. You can watch the video of Glenn's press conference here, plus listen to complete comments from several players, including No. 1 draft pick Armand Membou, second-rounder Mason Taylor and others.
Here are some brief excerpts:
HC Aaron Glenn spoke about earning his players' trust: "I give those guys a lot of credit for understanding what we're trying to create and just buying into what we're selling. When you get a new regime, that's the one thing you want is to make sure to just get the trust of the players. And I do believe with every part of me that these guys know exactly what we're trying to do."
AG on his time with Detroit and HC Dan Campbell: "I just talked about that before from being DB coach to a coordinator, to a [defensive] coordinator, to the head coach I give a lot of credit, man, to Dan Campbell for putting me in positions to be head coach for the Lions on certain situations and for him putting me in the front of the room for him asking my advice on how practice should go, so it was a really a seamless transition for me to script practice. It was a seamless transition for me to be in front of the team, so all those things he's done may actually prepped me to be in this position, so I'll give him a lot of credit for that."
Rd. 1 (No. 7 overall) T Armand Membou on his chat with second-year LT Olu Fashanu: "I just asked him about how it was like for him last year. He was just telling me what it was like for him and the life of a rookie."
Rd. 2 (No. 42) TE Mason Taylor on his family's NFL pedigree -- dad Jason Taylor and uncle Zach Thomas: "There's high expectations, for sure, just because of the last name. But I mean, when people say, like, 'Oh, let him have his shine,' you know, 'Stop saying his dad's name,' I mean, I love it. We're family.
"I mean, I'm wanting to be like them. So, you can call it 'in their shadows,' but I love modeling my game after theirs, their hard work. I know they were on the defense, but just their hard work and how they weren't highly recruited coming into the NFL ... their consistency every single day. I look up to those guys, for sure."
Rd. 3 (No. 73) CB Azareye'h Thomas on AG: "I love him. He's serious about business and he loves defense, so it's good."
Rd. 4a (No. 110) WR Arian Smith on AG: "He's going to coach you hard and that's what I want. I want to be coached hard. I want to be demanded. I want them to pull out nothing but the best. I want them to push me to be the best I can be, not just a one-trick pony. Everything that they want me to do, I want to be able to do it."
Rd. 4b (No. 130) Pick S Malachi Moore compared former Alabama HC Nick Saban and AG: "Coach Saban is more outgoing, more of a yeller. Right now, Coach Glenn, he's just been kind of observing and encouraging us to keep working and keep pushing forward. But he's got that [fiery] side to him, for sure. I'm pretty sure I'll see that later down the road."
Rd. 5 (No. 162) LB Francisco Mauigoa on AG: "I love the energy he brings. He's very straightforward, and I love the way he moves people around and creates opportunities for people to learn and grow in this game, so everything's been smooth."
Rd. 6 (No. 186) DE Tyler Baron: "I think when people say players' coach, they kind of throw it around loosely, but I feel like it really applies to AG, he's real personable with the people in the building. I feel like everybody has their own individual relationship with him, I think that's what makes him special as a coach."
Tryout LB Giovanni Williams, the younger brother of Quincy Williams and Quinnen Williams: "I'm in the middle -- I've got Quincy's speed, but I've got Quinnen's build. So, it's like I'm in the middle of both of them. So, everybody compares me as the hybrid of both."
Earlier in the week a couple of current players offered comments on their new coach:
Backup QB Tyrod Taylor: "Coach Glenn has done a good job of consistently pushing his message throughout the locker room. The guys are fired up, week in and week out, day in and day out, to put the best foot forward. ... It's about the work that you put in day in and day out and we've been intentional about that."
C Joe Tippmann: "[Glenn] is a great dude. As a coach, he's someone that you can go sit down and actually have a conversation with. So that's one of the great things about him."
