The preseason has officially come to an end, and the regular season is on the horizon.  But before we fully turn the page, we spotlight three defenders who contributed to two of the biggest defensive moments of the game.

The Jets lost 23-6 to the Giants, but forced two turnovers, one of which resulted in an offensive scoring drive, in the first half.

"I loved the fact that we had two takeaways on defense," head coach Aaron Glenn said postgame. "That's been a trend for us which we like."

Here are the three players that made it happen.

DT T'Vondre Sweat 
It all started in the trenches.

The Giants faced third-and-long on their opening drive and T'Vondre Sweat battled against two offensive linemen, yet when QB Jameis Winston threw the ball, Sweat found a free hand and tipped the trajectory.

The pass still arrived at WR Odell Beckham Jr., but Qwan'tez Stiggers broke it up, knocking the ball into the air and into the hands of LB Marcelino McCrary-Ball.

"When you're able to [take up two gaps] as a big man, that allows the linebackers to get a chance to run," Glenn said. "He's going to take up two blockers which means they're missing a blocker when you're on someone. That's the reason he's here."

Sweat played eight snaps in his first preseason action. He started training camp on the Non-Football Injury (NFI) List before returning to practice mid-August.

On the Giants' second drive, Sweat made a run stop at the line of scrimmage with a tackle from behind. While his size (366 pounds) will be an asset against the run, Glenn sees him doing much more than that for his defense.

"He has the ability to push the pocket in the passing game also, and I think he's shown that over his career," Glenn said. "I want to utilize that player and take advantage of everything that he has."

CB Qwan'tez Stiggers
Getting to play against the Giants was "a blessing" for Qwan'tez Stiggers who had a scare earlier in training camp during a joint practice with the Buccaneers that put him in concussion protocol.

"I wish I could have prevented it but, you know, it happened," Stiggers said post-game. "I feel like the performance I had, like I made a couple plays but I still have [somethings] I can correct."

On the Giants' second drive when they were on the verge of possibly scoring points, McCrary-Ball forced a fumble and Stiggers was there to recover the ball in the end zone.

"It's always a good feeling to see anyone, but especially a teammate, who has a scare like that and ends up being OK coming back and having a game like he had," McCrary-Ball said.

Stiggers saw 20 snaps on defense and three 3 on special teams. On the Jets' punt in the first quarter, Stiggers was penalized for interfering with a fair catch. It's a mistake he plans on cleaning up "by being coachable."

Overall throughout training camp, Stiggers said he's improved as a leader and has pushed himself to be more vocal in the room and helping the younger guys -- 2026 will be Stiggers' third season in the NFL.

LB Marcelino McCrary-Ball
Marcelino McCrary-Ball and Qwan'tez Stiggers are both from Atlanta and they joked about how they teamed up to make plays Friday night.

"That's my dawg, I love when I play with Marcelino," Stiggers said. "He brings the juice and tenacity that we're looking for."

McCrary-Ball played 38 snaps on Friday, the most he's seen all preseason, 36 on defense.  He had 9 tackles, 1 INT and 1 FF.

"Even though it's preseason you treat it like a regular-season game, you treat practice the same way," McCrary-Ball said postgame. "Every play means the most so it felt good going out there and competing with the guys."

Glenn said McCrary-Ball is "a key part of what we're doing," and the work he's done in practice is showing up in the game. Glenn always wants practice to feel as "game-like" as possible and McCrary-Ball believes "there's been a continual build up with everything AG implemented."

"Everything we've been doing in OTAs to the preseason and training camp, they are all things that we've been programming our minds and bodies to just put ourselves in position to get the ball back," McCrary Ball said.

In 2025, McCrary-Ball was a special teams captain but only played in five games after sustaining a hamstring injury in Week 3.