On a cool and rainy spring Wednesday in Florham Park, NJ, the Jets participated in their second OTA session and first in front of the media. Head coach Aaron Glenn has been encouraged by the early player turnout in Phase 3, which will end with a mandatory minicamp in June.
"It's always good to get on the grass," Glenn said. "I give a lot of credit to the players and I'm not just talking about today or yesterday but just all throughout the whole phases. The number of guys have been here, the work they've put in, yesterday I think we had 100 percent participation. I have to look at it, but today I wouldn't be shocked if it was a for 100 percent again. Listen, these men want to win. These men want to work and this coaching staff will do everything it they can to give them the tools that they need to be successful. So again, this was Day 2 of OTAs and tomorrow we have another day, and we're looking forward to that. So anytime we can get reps on the grass, we're going to take advantage of that."
Moving into Phase 3, the Jets' practice included 7-on-7 and team drills in addition to individual periods. Glenn's message has shifted from focusing on strength and conditioning in Phases 1 and 2 to trying to establish an identity.
"I'm a firm believer that in six weeks, which is our first two phases, you don't totally develop a culture," Glenn said. "I mean, that's always ongoing. And to me, the real sign of where your culture is really starting to get to is when adversity hits, and we haven't hit any adversity. The only thing I do know is, man, we have a lot of guys here. That tells me one thing -- the guys are buying in. They believe. Because they don't have to be here because it's not mandatory, so when I look at culture right now, at this point, I'll look at how many guys are showing up and how they're working now. Right now tells me these guys want to work, so that's what I'm looking at. And I think that's a really good thing right now."
See Garrett Wilson, Justin Fields, Saucer Gardner and the rest of the Jets on the field during the beginning of Phase 3 of the voluntary offseason program.
The Jets will likely field one of the NFL's youngest rosters in the 2025 season with only three players on the roster who are at least 30 years old – backup QB Tyrod Taylor, 35; LS Thomas Hennessy, 30;, and WR Josh Reynolds, 30.
"I learned this maybe 10 years ago that you can't be afraid of the young player," Glenn said. "I think our main purpose as far as building this roster is more or less get the players we feel like that can help us play and that can help us win and be successful. Listen, do we want younger players? Absolutely, it's a young man's game. But we want players that can help us win, so if those players happen to be 30 years old, we get those players. It just so happened that we got younger while we got players that can help us win."
Quarterback Justin Fields, who turned 26 in March, was signed in free agency to lead the offense. Despite a quiet demeanor, Glenn said the team's new signal-caller commands respect.
"Listen, I take to him because he's authentic and he's himself," he said. "There's one thing that players can pick out is someone that's fake and there's nothing about him that's fake. I love everything about the player. I love everything about the way he carries himself and I'm looking forward to him as he goes through this process of OTAs."
Jetcetera
Will McDonald IV, who changed his number from 99 to 9 and added 15 pounds to his frame, looked to have a couple of would-be sacks including one of QB Justin Fields in a late-game situation. … WR Quentin Skinner, an undrafted rookie from Kansas, had the catch of the day and he dove toward the sideline on a pass from QB Adrian Martinez that caused the sideline to erupt. … WR Garrett Wilson was active throughout practice and Allen Lazard had a pair of nice catches including one over-the-middle in traffic … Kickers Anders Carlson and Caden Davis each had four field-goal attempts and each made three.
