With the Hall of Fame game and festivities in the rear-view mirror, it is time to get into the meat of the NFL preseason schedule. On Friday, the up and coming New York Jets and 2nd-year head coach Robert Saleh travel to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles and their second-year coach Nick Sirianni. The opening kick is scheduled for 730pm EST.
Expectations are running high in New York as the Jets prepare for year-two of the Robert Saleh regime. The former defensive coordinator of the 49ers is now in his second camp with the team and the hopes are that his imprint will take hold this season. The Jets had a busy offseason, starting with the draft, as the team had three picks in the first 24. The Jets took defensive back Sauce Gardener with the 4th overall pick and then receiver Garrett Wilson (10th) and pass-rusher Jermaine Johnson II (26th). Gardener and Johnson II will be on display this preseason particularly as the defensive-minded Saleh tries to improve a defense that ranked last in the NFL in total defense in 2021. Other key signings on the defensive side of the ball include defensive back DJ Reed from Seattle, strong safety Jordan Whitehead and defensive lineman Jacob Martin and Solomon Thomas. The Jets have brought in young veterans that will bring physicality to a de fense that lacked it last year, much to the chagrin of Saleh.
Offensively, the Jets made a number of moves to help support 2nd-year QB Zach Wilson. First off, the Jets re-signed veteran signal caller Joe Flacco, who should help out the youngster in the QB room. In addition to adding wideout Wilson in the first round, the Jets signed two veteran tight ends that should immediately provide an upgrade in the Jets passing game and also in the locker room: C.J. Uzomah from the AFC champion Bengals and Tyle Conklin from the Vikings. Both players give the Jets size and legitimate pass catching options for Wilson, who struggled with his decision making in 2021. He will now have two legitimate check-down options in Uzomah and Conklin. The Jets were also able to snag Lagen Tomlinson who Saleh is very familiar with as Tomlinson spent the past five seasons in San Francisco, including a Pro Bowl season last year. Finally, Saleh and the Jets front office made a key move for the Jets special teams by signing veteran kicker Greg Zuerlein. This will be his 11th NFL season and he is coming off two solid seasons in Dallas in which he made 82.9% of his field goal attempts and nearly 90% of his extra point tries. More importantly, Zuerlein gives the Jets more than a puncher's chance from long range as he has made the most 55+ yard field goals of any kicker in NFL history with 18.
what a moment for AJ ?? pic.twitter.com/Pgo6pjTt1e
— New York Jets (@nyjets) August 7, 2022
All of these signings will take time to gel and the changes will take time to develop over the course of training camp and the preseason games. Trying to decipher the time given to key players in the opener is also a challenge. In 2021, Saleh and the Jets were 2-0-1 in the preseason. In the opener, Wilson played a full quarter of action as he was put to the test in his first training camp. The Jets enter camp with four quarterbacks on the roster: Zach Wilson, Joe Flacco, Mike White, Chris Streveler. Wilson, still just 23-years of age, will likely at least play a series in the opener and the veteran Flacco could play a couple of series as well. The bulk of the playing time will likely go to Mike White, who saw a good chunk of action last season due to Wilson's injuries, and Chris Streveler, who saw limited time with Arizona last season and is a CFL veteran. Expect to see mostly basic offense for the Jets in the opener while Saleh may open up the playbook on the defensive end a bit more with all his new pieces.