Harrison Phillips isn't one to give a vague answer, and he provided a lot of clarity about the Jets defense after Saturday's practice.
There's a lot of questions about if the Green & White will run a 3-4 defense or a 4-3, but Phillips said defenses commonly use elements of both.
"As a D-lineman, almost in every scheme I've played, there is a little bit of an attack-react or a react-attack, there's like two different buckets the D-line play can be played in," Phillps explained. "And this defense has both of those versions, just like other defenses I've played in."
So, what's going to be the difference for the Jets defense in 2026? After the Green & White added size up front in free agency and the draft, Phillips thinks they "won't be gapped up as much."
"We're hoping that we can have players who can dominate their one-on-one matchup and do a little bit more to maybe gap-and-a-half, not necessarily straight up two-gap," Phillips said. "In other defenses, sometimes everything is gapped out, so every single gap is accounted for, if it hits in that gap, you know exactly what player's responsible for that.
"Here, we want to play with enough violence, physicality, build walls and set edges that you can eliminate multiple gaps with singular players and I think we have the right people that can do that and play off each other."
Phillips said HC Aaron Glenn's defense is "implemented to stop the run," and the communication between the defensive tackles and ends is strong because they aren't meeting separately.
"We're in the whole room there together and you can see that ownership and you're playing alongside the guys in the meeting with them," Phillips said. "You want to do great for your brother and that creates a whole other ownership of like, 'I love the guy next to me so much, I'm willing to just do my job for him to get his glory.' And those are the teams that are really powerful: you don't care who gets the credit, we just want to make the big play."
And it makes sense why Phillips and the rest of the Jets are excited for padded practices to start on Monday.
"That's my game. I want pads, I want contact, I want to feel doubles," Phillips said. "All this offseason has been just working, patiently working really for these moments. This is the time where your identity of a team is built, this is the time that your body is calloused and everything's been so positive up to this point, I hope we just continue on the trajectory that we are."
