Jets LG Dylan Parham knew he was going to be asked about the play, and he didn't have to wait long on Monday morning.
On the fifth snap of the Green & White's opening, scoring drive at Pittsburgh on Friday night, one of Geno Smith's passes was deflected and fell to Parham -- for one of Smith's 7 completions on 7 attempts -- for a 2-yard loss.
"I'm definitely going to see if there's something Frank can put in there for me," said Parham with a wide grin, speaking about OC Frank Reich. "I'm on the jugs today!"
On the drive that gave the Jets' a 7-0 lead en route to a 17-0 victory in their second preseason game, Smith connected with six of his receivers ... and Parham.
"Talk about obviously just trying to feed everybody the ball, give everybody opportunity," Parham said before practice, one of only two remaining before Friday's preseason finale against the Giants. "Didn't know that was gonna be me this past weekend, but I enjoyed that. That was a fun moment. Sadly I didn't do what I needed to with that opportunity. You know we don't get many of them, but it was a funny reaction."
Third-year RG Joe Tippmann, speaking the morning after the game, said he was quick to make light of Parham's grab once they returned to the huddle.
"I told him during the game I was in pitch-rotation, so next time he knows, he's got to try and get it off to me and we can make a positive play out of that," Tippmann said, with a laugh. "I said it's unfortunate, now he's going to have to get 3 yards just to get himself into positive [yardage] because I think he's 1 reception for minus-2 yards right now."
Parham, who played in Las Vegas last season with Smith, offered his response.
"We got to figure that out some way, somehow," he said. "And then he was telling me if you feel like you can't, just give me a little toss back, little pitch or something. So, but no, it was definitely a fun time. It was fun."
Parham (6-3, 311) is about to begin his fifth season in the league after having been selected by the Raiders in Round 3 (90th overall) in the 2022 NFL Draft. At the beginning of the free-agency period in mid-March, he signed a 2-year contract with the Green & White to replace veteran John Simpson, who returned to Baltimore in free agency.
Parham, 27, and Smith, 35, shared a difficult season with the Raiders in 2025 -- Smith was sacked 55 times (tied with Titans rookie QB Cam Ward for most in the league) and tossed 17 TD passes and 16 INTs. For his part, Parham took 97% of 842 of the snaps on offense, allowed 6 sacks and committed only 5 penalties.
He said the bond between them has grown over the last few months.
"We talk, honestly, a good bit more here than we did there, just because we know where we came from, and obviously it was a little bit newer in the past year," Parham said, referring to Smith's lone season in Las Vegas. "But for him coming over here, I feel like our bond has continued to grow, and we know where we came from, and we knew what we wanted to do when we got here, and that was to bring for him that veteran presence into the locker room, and then just bring some positive energy."
He added: "To see him come into this position, and then for him to be confident and comfortable and lead this team as soon as he gets here, and to be vocal, I feel like he's done a great job of that. And then to be able to do well with the opportunities that he's been given, just seeing him be able to perform in practices, especially in the earlier part, and then to go out there and have a successful week this past week, it's just good seeing him have that confidence continue to be built before we get into the regular season."
