Fans weren't at practice on Monday but there was a loud roar of excitement during the first team period at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. After QB Geno Smith pitched a perfect effort Saturday, S Minkah Fitzpatrick set the tone for the defensive unit with an interception. Fitzpatrick might not be the most "boisterous guy, but the rest of the unit celebrated.
"He's a pro's pro, first and foremost," head coach Aaron Glenn said of Fitzpatrick. "He understands how to lead and he understands how to pull a guy to the side and talk with him. He's extremely smart, he loves football, and as a safety that's what you're looking for.
"Listen, I've had some good safeties in my career, and early on I like exactly where he's at."
Fitzpatrick's interception was just the start of the defense's strong performance. With the pads on for the first time this training camp, the intensity picked up with battles in the secondary and physical play in the trenches.
"I thought our competitive nature was right where we wanted it to be," Glenn said after practice. "We have three tempos when we practice, we have a jog tempo, which is really a walk-through, we have a clean-competitive tempo, we're in jerseys and just shells where I don't want anybody on the ground and today was the competitive tempo and I thought our guys did a really good job with that."
The Jets secondary had several pass breakups under gray skies as the offense battled to get an edge.
"Today was a little more slippery, so there was less room for error," CB Brandon Stephens said. "We've been competing at a high level, just going against AD [Adonai Mitchell] and Garrett [Wilson] every day. Iron sharpens iron. I'm enjoying those matchups."
Smith looked to Wilson up the middle and he initially made the catch, but Stephens broke up the pass as they fell to the ground. Later, against Mitchell, he prevented a large gain when Smith targeted him down the sideline.
"He made a couple plays today," Glenn said, referring to Stephens. "The thing is we want that to be consistent, and he knows that. Every day, if he can just continue to have that focus, I think he'll continue to improve in that aspect."
See the Jets players on the field in pads for the first time during the second week of practice during 2026 training camp.
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
New York Jets 2026 Training Camp on August 3, 2026 at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, NJ (New York Jets Photo).
Some Offensive Sparks
The offense did have some bright spots Monday with RB Breece Hall bouncing to the outside on several rushes for large gains. RB Braelon Allen also broke free for a large gain down the left sideline in the second team period.
Rookie WR Omar Cooper Jr. made the best catch of the day with a sideline-tapping grab during 7-on-7 drills.
Tight ends are expected to have a large role in Frank Reich's offense and Jelani Woods was targeted the most between Geno Smith and rookie QB Cade Klubnik and made 3 receptions.
"There's a number of things that you can envision him doing for us," Glenn said . "You can split him out and let him go one-on-one with a safety, a linebacker and I'm expecting him to win that matchup."
Jetcetera
For the first time in camp, the offensive line and defensive line faced off against each other in one-on-ones. RT Armand Membou and LG Joe Tippmann each had a pair of impressive reps. … Geno Smith technically went 2-of-5 passing in team drills but it appeared edges Will McDonald IV and rookie David Bailey may have gotten to the quarterback before a completion to WR Garrett Wilson. … Rookie TE Kenyon Sadiq is on a maintenance program and received a rest day. Sadiq, who practiced the first three days of training camp, had minor offseason hernia surgery this offseason and did not participate in OTAs … HC Aaron Glenn told reporters that DT T'Vondre Sweat, who is on the active non-football injury list; edge Joseph Ossai, who started camp on the active/PUP list; and rookie CB D'Angelo Ponds (calf strain) likely will not practice this week. "We want to be very careful with all three of those guys," Glenn said. "Listen, we have a role for all three of them. They all have to make sure of, they're in charge of that role for the most part. Listen, I'm going to be very patient with those guys." … DT Mazi Smith (hamstring) and edge Tyler Baron (knee, PUP list) did not practice. … With Sadiq out, TE Jelani Woods had his busiest day in camp, hauling in a few passes. … Although RB Breece Hall got a nice gainer up the right side on the first rep of practice, the Jets team rush defense stood out throughout. ... QB Cade Klubnik was 4 of 6 in Monday's team periods.
