The Jets offense hit its stride on Friday in the first of two joint practices with the Falcons.
On the first drive in team periods, Breece Hall took a handoff 75 yards for a TD down the sideline, juking former Jets CB Corey Ballentine. Braxton Berrios found the end zone on third-and-goal in the first-team offense's only possession in the move-the-ball period. QB Joe Flacco ended practice leading the unit down the field in a two-minute situation tied ,14-14. The offense didn't score a touchdown, but Flacco put the Green & White in field-goal position.
"I thought it did a really nice job," HC Robert Saleh said of the offense. "I thought the two-minute drive there, at the end-of-half situation, thought he did a really nice job, got us into a scoring range and it was set back by holding penalty. So a good lesson to be learned there for the offensive line to hold up, keep it clean. Still got points out of it, which was good."
Elijah Moore was productive throughout practice including a 50-plus-yard reception that put the Jets near the red zone. Flacco, who compared Moore to Steve Smith after practice, turned to the second-year wideout in crunch time on a third-and-long pass on the sideline to move the chains.
"Steve didn't necessarily run routes like everyone else did, but he was always in the right spot," Flacco said. "I think Elijah has some of that in him. … You know with a guy like that, a guy with his physical abilities, he's going to be a little different than everybody else. You have to let him use those super powers to his advantage."
Defense Gets Chippy
It wasn't all peaches and cream during Friday's practice with Atlanta.
The Jets defense and Falcons offense had multiple skirmishes. Once the groups settled down, the defense put on the clamps. Sauce Gardner nearly had his first interception of camp as he picked off rookie QB Desmond Ridder, his former teammate at Cincinnati. Gardner, however, was called for pass interference.
Fellow rookie Jermaine Johnson stopped the Falcons' 2-minute drive at the end of practice with a sack. On the play before, Michael Carter II dove to break up a pass intended for second-year TE Kyle Pitts.
"He's been coming along, he is getting a lot better," Saleh said of Johnson. "Still, the power game has to be a big part of what he does because his hand-eye coordination and his movement, ability to win one on ones is pretty good. He's just got to learn how to bring all that power and make it make it a guessing game."
See the Green & White on the practice field with the Atlanta Falcons.
Jetcetera
CBs D.J. Reed and Isaiah Dunn each broke up passes from QB Marcus Mariota on out routes. … S Elijah Riley lunged to break up a pass from QB Desmond Ridder in the end zone. … WR Irvin Charles made multiple catches including one where he then ran over a Falcons defender. … WR Garrett Wilson made a sliding grab by the sideline after QB Joe Flacco scrambled out of the pocket. … WR Denzel Mims climbed the ladder near the sideline. … DT Quinnen Williams (ankle), LT Duane Brown(conditioning), S Lamarcus Joyner(illness) did not practice. … CB Brandin Echols(hamstring) returned to practice. ... DL Vinny Curry sustained an injury in practice and did not return.
