Friday night was the final opportunity for young hopefuls to put plays on tape before Sunday's roster cutdown to 53-men for the regular season. With most of their starters on the sideline, the Jets dropped a 23-6 contest to the Giants at MetLife Stadium.

"When it comes to this game, a lot of things that we have to clean up," head coach Aaron Glenn said postgame. "So, look forward to next week, obviously that's going to be a shift in mentality getting ready to play Tennessee but there's a lot of things that we have to work on for ourselves. We're going to make sure we do that."

The Jets got off to a strong start with two first quarter takeaways and the offense also contributed with a bruising 10-play drive — all runs — that culminated on RB Chip Trayanum's 1-yard run. But the Jets wouldn't score again in a game that featured reserves and roster hopefuls.

DT T'Vondre Sweat battled against two offensive linemen on the Giants' opening drive and was still able to tip QB Jameis Winston's pass on its way to Odell Beckham Jr. Qwan'tez Stiggers was in coverage down field and popped the ball out -- LB Marcelino McCrary-Ball was in position to intercept it and ran back to the Giants' 36-yard line.

The Giants got further down the field on their next drive, but McCrary-Ball and Stiggers prevented them from putting points on the board. WR Braxton Berrios caught Winston's pass at the 4-yard line, but McCrary-Ball punched it free and Stiggers recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touchback.

"I love the fact we had two takeaways on defense," Glenn said. "That's been a trend for us which we like."

Offensively, it was the Trayanum show on the Jets' opening drive. He had the ball in his hands for all but one play on the 36-yard scoring possession where he had the rushing TD. K Jason Sanders missed the extra point.

Rookie QB Cade Klubnik started for the second time this preseason. He played the entire first half, going 6-of-13 passing for 59 yards with an interception. Klubnik was sacked once inside the final two minutes of the half, and the Jets were forced to punt.

"I thought Cade was up and down," Glenn said. "There's some little bitty things that we have to fix as far as like two-minute, you know, we can't take sacks in a two-minute. We can't lose yards in a two-minute and those are things that as a young quarterback he'll learn those things."

Klubnik's longest play was to Trayanum for a 22-yard gain when the RB made a low, fingertip grab on the right sideline and picked up all the yardage after the catch. Trayanum, however, left the game with a neck injury and was taken to the hospital after taking a hit on the final play before halftime. He was awake, alert and had movement in his extremities, the team said.

At the end of the first quarter, the Giants took a 7-6 lead when RB Tyrone Tracy Jr scored a 6-yard rushing TD. Beckham Jr. was the Giants' most explosive option – he had 3 receptions for 53 yards.

The Giants extended their lead to 10-6 right before the two-minute warning on a 13-play, 69-yard scoring drive which ended in a 23-yard field goal.

QB Bailey Zappe played the third quarter, going 2-of-5 passing for 12 yards and was sacked twice. QB Brady Cook (3-of-6 passing, 26 yards) entered in the fourth quarter and brought the Jets up the field, but Sanders' attempt from 54 yards was short.

"I didn't like the fact that we missed these field goals, but the thing is we're not going to panic," Glenn said. "He's been good in practice so I'm going to evaluate that and see exactly what direction we're going."

The Jets held the Giants to field goals on their first two possessions in the second half. But on the visitors' third and fourth drives, they found the end zone: QB Jake Haener connected with Xavier Gipson for a 37-yard TD with 10:30 left in the game.

Jetcetera

The Jets will have to trim the roster to 53 players by Sunday at 6 p.m. "This is always the toughest part of the year for any coach," said HC Aaron Glenn. "And I don't care how long I've been in this league, it's always tough. This league goes on and you have to make these cuts and try to build your team to where it needs to be." ... Several Jets sustained injuries during the game. RB Chip Trayanum, who went to the hospital, sustained a neck injury. Edge Joseph Ossai made his preseason debut and exited with a foot injury. Cornerback Tre Brown injured a finger and also was taken to the hospital right now. Rookie G Omar Cooper Jr. left in the fist half with a shoulder injury. RB Dominic Richardson (elbow) and WR Cam Camper (head/neck) were also nicked up in the physical game.