FLORHAM PARK — All eyes may have turned to Carolina this week, but the New York Jets were back on the practice field Tuesday morning to put the final preparations in place for their joint practice work with the Panthers.
New York heads to Carolina later today, but there were plenty of major takeaways from another day at 1 Jets Drive. Arguably the biggest of which is the health of wide receiver Garrett Wilson. Head coach Robert Saleh spoke before the week expecting the reigning offensive rookie of the year winner to have a limited role in practice Tuesday.
That did not happen though.
Wilson is recovering from an ankle injury and was seen working off to the side with other rehabbing players. It’s unclear how much, if any work he’ll take part in during joint practices this week. Outside of Wilson, there were several other injury updates, as well as some key takeaways from practice.
Let’s get to it.
Injury Updates
New York had a few players that were banged up going into the new week. Almost all have returned to the practice field. Quincy Williams, Laken Tomlinson, and Jermaine Johnson all returned to practice after leaving Sunday’s work early. None of their injuries look serious.
On the other hand, Carl Lawson was not seen at practice again as he suffers a back injury. In his place, Michael Clemons and Will McDonald took all the reps at the second-team defensive end position.
Quarterbacks Struggle
It was easily Aaron Rodgers’ worst practice as a member of the Jets. Rodgers was inaccurate with his deep ball throughout Tuesday’s practice and was even picked off twice. The first one came on a throw where the quarterback threw off his back foot and threw a duck to Jimmy Moreland. The second was a tipped pass that Zaire Barnes got under for what ended up being a pick-six. He did end up throwing a touchdown in red-zone work to Randall Cobb, but it was easily one of his worst days this year.
Rodgers day was bad, but it’s not like any of the other quarterbacks were better. Zach Wilson did manage to throw a couple more touchdowns, but was erratic with short throws for the most part. I thought he had the best of all three quarterbacks but it wasn’t saying much.
Quinton Jefferson Excels
Quinnen Williams is the face of the Jets defense for a reason. Having another defensive tackle that can win one-on-one matchups will be key for the team though in 2023.
On Tuesday, Quinton Jefferson showed why he could be the player to fit perfectly with Williams. Jefferson was consistently in the backfield against the run and showed why he was brought in as a free agent this year. He’s had a relatively silent camp but his importance could be the reason why the Jets become a top unit in all of football.
XFL Standout shows why he is here
Pita Taumoepenu is the newest member of the Jets after being named the XFL Defensive Player of the Year last season for the Vegas Vipers. He showed why on Tuesday.
Taumoepenu recorded a sack in one of the few team sessions he participated in, beating the tackle around the edge and catching the eye of some fellow defensive linemen. The odds are stacked against the XFL standout but if he continues to show spurts like he did today, the odds of him catching on to someone’s practice squad would be very high. Other XFL players like KaVontae Turpin have made a name for themselves throughout the last few seasons, so why not Taumoepenu?
