Following Memorial Day Weekend, the Jets will get back to work and begin Phase 3 of their offseason program. The club will have 10 organized team activities (OTAs) over the next three weeks before a mandatory minicamp will wrap up the offseason June 16-18. While no live contact is permitted during OTAs, 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and team drills are permitted.
"You have to be around each other to win games," said former Jets DL Leger Douzable on the latest installment of "The Official Jets Podcast." "You literally have to be around each other because, at one point, you just start thinking like each other because you're around each other so much and that's how that happens throughout the offseason and training camp. So, these are pivotal moments for a team that has had a lot of change this offseason for them to start to build that culture together in this offseason."
Douzable credits Jets QB Geno Smith for taking a veteran mentality to the offseason. Acquired in March from the Raiders, Smith quickly sought out a pair of his backfield teammates and joined them for workouts in South Florida.
"All that is part of camaraderie and building a cohesive unit and I think Geno Smith started it early in the offseason by training where Breece Hall and Braelon Allen train it as well to try to build that continuity," Douzable said. "And this was before Breece had that deal, so he knew that Jets wanted to keep him around."
While the Jets are expected to have one new starter along the offensive line in G Dylan Parham, HC Aaron Glenn is installing a defensive system that will have several new starters.
"There will be a new starter on the offensive line, Dylan Parham," Douzable said. "How does he like to take his steps in zone blocking and in double teams where is his step? You have to build those things out and you do that throughout the offseason program and training camp. For the defensive line, ( [the Jets are] ) switching to a new scheme. It will be a 3-4, 4-3 hybrid and then just third down pass rushes. It's really hard to gauge on run defense when there are no pads in the offseason program. So as far as the pass rush though, this is where you begin to learn how guys like to rush and how you're going to rush with the guy next to you."
The Jets revamped their defensive front with the free agent signings of David Onyemata, Kingsley Enagbare and Joseph Ossai plus the trade acquisition of NT T'Vondre Sweat and the drafting of David Bailey No. 2 overall.
"If you're a David Bailey, if you're a Will McDonald, if you're a David Onyemata, if you're a T'Vondre Sweat, this is where you learn how the defensive tackles and the defensive ends rush and how you rush well together," Douzable said. "Based on the set of the offensive line and how they are set up personnel wise, you can kind of understand how a guy is going to rush to the left and to the right of you and this is where you begin to build that continuity and camaraderie. That way when the season hits, you're full steam ahead and you're not thinking is David Bailey going to take an inside move here, is he going to rush outside. As a defensive tackle, you've repped it, repped it and repped it and you know how a guy is going to rush."
The learning will continue during OTAs for a Jets team that has a new offensive playcaller in Frank Reich, a new starting QB in Smith and added a pair of intriguing pass-catching targets in the draft in TE Kenyon Sadiq and WR Omar Cooper Jr. While Glenn will call the defensive plays for a unit coordinated by Brian Duker, the Jets also will be boosted by a pair of talented, wise leaders in LB Demario Davis and S Minkah Fitzpatrick.
"I don't think there was a team that made more pivotal moves than the Jets as far as just infusing this roster with talent," Douzable said.
