The Jets' final practice of the offseason program before the month-plus break that precedes training camp was quick. The session didn't last more than an hour whereas Tuesday's and Wednesday's practices were each nearly two hours.
"I was surprised a little bit because, like you said, [we practice] one way," nickel Michael Carter II said. "He demands us to be the best players, but also, he tells us to trust the process and in return he'll take care of us. That's kind of what happened today. I was super grateful for that. But that's how it is, man. It's going to be hard. It's going to be hard work. In return, as long as we trust the process, all the benefits and everything will come with that."
As head coach Aaron Glenn said in his introductory press conference in January, he's going to demand a lot of his team. But as an NFL player for 15 seasons, he knows which strings to pull and when.
"I think for the most part, as a coach, you always want the discipline part to be on point," Glenn said. "You're never getting away from that. But also, you have to have an eye for it. I think my ability to have played it for a long time and coach it for a long time, I know when enough is enough. I know when to push I know when to hold back.
"I do know when it's time to have a little fun. And for the guys out there, those O-linemen out there catching passes, it was time for those guys to get a chance to do that. They've worked their asses off this whole offseason and I haven't had any complaints on how we do things."
Check out the best images from the Jets final practice of mandatory minicamp and the offseason program.
After the team walkthrough to start practice, the offensive line went through gameday receiver warmups and caught deep passes from the quarterbacks.
Did the Jets potentially find themselves an option at wideout from the trenches?
"Absolutely not," Glenn said with a chuckle. "Obviously, I've been a part of a team [the Lions] that we use our linemen to catch passes, and that's going to be a work in progress."
Thursday's practice may have been the lightest of the spring, but the Jets have a physical training camp on deck. Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks mentioned Wednesday that the Green & White will have practices with live tackling and Glenn doubled down.
"It's a tackling sport," Glenn said. "In this game, you have to block, you have to tackle and the only way you get good at that craft is to do it. I'm a firm believer in it. The players understand. They know that and they want to get better.
"If we want to be one of the better tackling teams and want to be one of the better blocking teams in this league, at some point, you have to do it. Now, I'm not saying you got to sit here and do it every day and you also have to have a quick whistle, but there are times when you just have to practice it and you have to do it."
