Almost a year ago, Brandon Stephens became a new Jet. The fifth-year cornerback signed on as an unrestricted free agent and joined a new secondary filled with experienced veterans, led by Sauce Gardner and including Michael Carter, Tony Adams and fellow free agent Andre Cisco.

By Week 18, trades and injuries had churned the depth chart to the point where Stephens was nearly the last man standing. No other Jet came close to his 16 games and starts and 1,048 defensive snaps. And then for the season finale at Buffalo, even Stevens had to sit out with an injury.

But he wasn't about to let the changing secondary scenery faze him.

"Anybody that steps on the field, it doesn't matter who it is, we have a standard that is set and as a group, as a team, we haven't lived up to that standard," Stevens said late in the season. "It's not about who's on the back end or how much experience they have. It really doesn't matter. We have a game plan going into each week and we have to execute that."

Still, it's not easy generating momentum when you're the one constant in your 16 games that were played with seven starting back ends.

Yet Stephens came through the recently concluded trial by fire relatively unscathed. It's just the way he's built.

"I think this has been my first time being part of a season that didn't go quite as planned," he told NYJets.com reporter Caroline Hendershot. "It's easy to love the game of football when you're winning, when you're bound to make the playoffs. I learned that going through this experience that I still had that same joy coming to work every day, even with how the season was going. I still enjoyed being around the guys."

And the returning players along with new corners and safeties arriving via free agency and the draft will enjoy working with him. Stevens led the team with 9 pass defenses, and he showed as he did during his Baltimore seasons that he's not a shy corner, recording 73 tackles that was fourth on the defense and second in the secondary behind only rookie S Malachi Moore's 95.

He even teamed up with rookie CB Azareye'h Thomas to show some decent pass defense while the two started on the corners after the Gardner trade, perhaps providing a preview of who the starters will be on 2026 opening day. From Weeks 8-13, the strongest part of their '25 season, the Jets were 10th in the NFL in net passing yards allowed per game and 11th in gross passing yards allowed (not including sacks). And Moore showed veteran savvy and production as a fourth-round rookie in making 14 starts.

"Pieces left through trades or injuries and young guys had to step up," he said. "I saw a lot of fight in them. And they had to grow up quickly, being put in the fire. There are still improvements that can be made, and they know that. But I'm super proud of how they showed up to work every day."

Stephens will return for another season in green and white and he remains "committed to the process" that head coach Aaron Glenn and his staff have laid out.

"We still did a lot of good things," he said of his secondary mates as he headed for some time away from 1 Jets Drive. "We've just got to see a lot of growth from players, from coaches. Just take that growth that we will develop in the offseason, take it into the season on Sundays."

Which is when the players who love the game of football do their best work.