The pads aren't on and nobody's getting tackled, but Braelon Allen has a football back in his arms — finally.

"Man, a breath of fresh air for sure," the running back said during the Jets' final week of OTAs. "That first day was just kind of a weight taken off my shoulders."

It was a heavy load carrying the memory of his final two snaps of 2025: a fumble on the goal line and the kickoff return where he sprained his MCL in a 27-21 Week 4 loss to the Dolphins in Miami.

"It definitely left a pretty bitter taste in my mouth, for sure, this whole offseason," Allen said. "Never want to leave the field those two ways again."

But he attacked the rehab process with "hunger and a whole lot of motivation." Now, the running back retaking the field looks more like a tank. At 250 pounds, Allen said he's the biggest, strongest and fastest he's ever been.

"I played 238-240 [pounds] last year," Allen said. "The most recent [DEXA scan] I did was by far my best. The most lean muscle mass I've ever had, the lowest percentage of body fat, perfect symmetry in both my legs and my arms; everything looked exactly how we wanted it to."

Getting to 250 pounds wasn't necessarily intentional — Allen said it was accidental, but it's just how he trains.

"This is the same type of routine that gained all my weight going from high school to college," Allen said. "Just the hypertrophy training and just adding muscle mass and my body just responds to that type of training in a way that I'm just going to keep growing and growing and growing."

Allen never left Florham Park during the offseason to work with Jets team trainers. In February, he was medically cleared and by the middle of March, he felt more like himself again.

"Ever since then everything's been uphill and I feel incredible," Allen said.

The 'Vision'
According to head coach Aaron Glenn, the Jets have "a three-headed monster" at running back. It's the vision that didn't come to fruition in 2025 but is back on track ahead of the Green & White's mandatory minicamp.

"To see him out there and to see him running around, to see a big man that's as agile, obviously, you know you can use him in the run game, but to be able to use him in the passing game, that was the vision with him, Breece Hall and Isaiah Davis last year," Glenn said. "Obviously, we hated to see him go down with the injury, but, man, it's good to see him out there with us."

The backfield will feature Hall, fresh off his first season with over 1,000 rushing yards, and has versatile depth options with Davis, who averaged 5.6 yards per carry his first two seasons, and Allen.

"I think this offense can be special," Allen said. "I know our room has shown plenty of flashes to be special and we've just got to put it all together. My work on the practice field just needs to transfer to the game and I'm ready and I know I'm capable of being the player that I want to be, so I'm just excited to get out there and show it."

Allen is a physical downhill runner and he had a strong rookie season with 93 carries rushing for 344 yards and 2 TDs. But he can do more than just aggressively run up the middle.

"I feel like I am versatile, a versatile player and can do a lot of things," Allen said. "That just happens to be my superpower. I think when we get to those late season games and it's cold, and there's a lot riding on the line, I want to be the guy they can lean on and just play my brand of ball and embrace that."

Returning to action, Allen doesn't have any lingering mental blocks. He can still make the same cuts and twitchy reactions, and after a lot of reflection through rehabbing, Allen knows he's ready.

"That rehab takes a toll and you have to tell yourself, 'What do you want to get out of this and who do you want to be when you come out of this?'" Allen said. "I put a lot of thought into that and the time is now for me, I can't sit around and wait anymore once I get that opportunity, I can't look back."