FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — It rained, and then it poured, and so Aaron Rodgers was pulled from practice today out of an abundance of caution. Robert Saleh said it was his decision, and that Rodgers even pushed back against it, though it’s hard to blame the New York Jets coach for keeping him off the practice field for Thursday’s joint practice against the Washington Commanders.
The Jets absolutely could use — and, frankly, need — reps for Rodgers with his new-look offensive line. But in Saleh’s mind, it wasn’t worth the risk, especially with more joint practices coming up, against the Panthers (in Carolina next week) and against the Giants in two weeks. Saleh also mentioned “preliminary discussions” with Rodgers about the possibility of him playing against the Giants in the preseason finale on Aug. 24.
“He’s taken every rep in practice and we felt like it was unnecessary,” Saleh said. It’s a “heightened environment, unfamiliar foes in terms of taking care of one another. I just didn’t want to expose him to it. If it was a game, if it was clean outside, he would’ve practiced. Call it overprotection, but it’s just a decision I made.”
football weather babyyyyyy 🌧️@D7_Reed pic.twitter.com/ttTQKEDC0R
— New York Jets (@nyjets) August 8, 2024
In Rodgers’ absence, the Jets found out what it looks like to have a capable, professional backup quarterback — Tyrod Taylor was dealing, and Garrett Wilson dominated Washington’s cornerbacks. That and more observations from Thursday’s rainy joint practice:
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The Tyrod Taylor-Garrett Wilson connection
These weren’t the first reps Taylor has gotten with the first-team offense during camp — he spelled Rodgers at the end of a recent practice — but his chemistry with Wilson was palpable immediately. Or maybe it just seems that way compared to how things have looked for quarterbacks wearing the No. 2 at Jets training camp in recent years. Before it started downpouring late in practice, Taylor probably had his best day of training camp.
The Jets and Commanders opened in seven-on-seven drills and Taylor connected on three passes right away, two of them to Wilson, one of them a deep ball that landed right in Wilson’s bread basket after he got behind cornerback Benjamin St-Juste. The other completion went to Allen Lazard. Taylor threw it to where Lazard was going to be, and Lazard got there for a reception against Commanders cornerback Emmanuel Forbes, who had a rough afternoon.
To open 11-on-11 drills, Taylor had two throwaways on pressure from the Commanders, including one on which former Jets linebacker Frankie Luvu blitzed and got around left tackle Tyron Smith.
The next stretch was in the red zone, where Taylor hit Wilson on back-to-back plays, including on a perfectly executed fade to the front left side of the end zone for an easy touchdown. Wilson was getting to where he needed to be, and Taylor was consistently finding him.
Taylor connected with Wilson three more times on the next two 11-on-11 runs, all three with Forbes in one-on-one coverage against him (a curious choice). On the first one, the offensive line gave Taylor enough time to let routes develop and he connected with a sliding Wilson at the sideline.
The next one was a deep ball where Wilson easily got behind Forbes and Taylor hit him for a gain of about 55. The last one: Wilson caught the ball in front of Forbes, juked him and picked up another dozen yards after the catch.
Things got a little iffier in the move-the-ball two minute drill at the end of practice, as the rain turned harsh and the Jets starting offensive tackles — Smith and Morgan Moses — were subbed out for rest. Taylor was pressured consistently across the final drive and likely would’ve been sacked a few times.
All told, the final drive went like this:
• Back-to-back incompletions on Taylor passes intended for Lazard.
• Tyler Conklin catch in traffic for an eight-yard gain on third down.
• Short Lazard catch for a first down. Lazard made the catch while sliding on the ground.
• Throw away.
• Incomplete intended for Breece Hall, who might’ve dropped the pass.
• Short completion to Wilson
• Deep ball down the sideline to Wilson on fourth down that was called out of bounds, though the Jets might’ve challenged that in a game situation.
I had Taylor completing 10 of 19 passes during 11-on-11 — numbers skewed by the struggles in the pouring rain at the end of practice. Don’t let that fool you: Taylor played well.
“He’s one of those guys like he’s extremely confident in what he does,” said cornerback Sauce Gardner. “He’s one of those quarterbacks that’s not afraid to make those tough throws.”
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Jets defense vs. Commanders offense
The challenging part of joint practices is choosing whether to watch the Jets offense or defense — and risk missing out on what the other side is doing on the opposite field. I mostly focused on the Jets offense, but by all accounts, including The Athletic’s Ben Standig, it was a dominant day for the Jets defense.
The Commanders offensive line is banged up and the Jets defensive front took advantage of that. There were some raves for defensive end Will McDonald, who won his matchups in one-on-one drills with Washington offensive linemen. According to at least one Washington reporter present, Jayden Daniels completed just 7 of 15 passes on the day, most of them dump-offs.
I was able to watch the Jets defense completely during the move-the-ball period at the end of offense and the dominance wasn’t overstated. Daniels was pressured consistently — including twice by McDonald — and the offense went nowhere. Gardner and Daniels were talking trash throughout practice — Gardner said he kept yelling, “He young! He young!” at Daniels — with the Jets cornerback having the upper hand.
Daniels opened with a short completion, tried throwing on D.J. Reed at the sideline and missed his receiver and then Gardner followed wide receiver Terry McLaurin and stifled him one-on-one, forcing an incompletion. On fourth down, Daniels completed a 50/50 ball to tight end Zach Ertz in traffic but someone on Washington was called for a penalty at the line of scrimmage, bringing it back.
The drive ended when Gardner made a leaping pass breakup, though he admitted afterward he actually caught himself in the wrong coverage before recovering in time to bat the pass away.
Daniels told Gardner that he “would’ve been able to get that throw over anybody but you,” Gardner said after practice.
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Mike Williams’ return
The Jets activated Mike Williams off the PUP list on Wednesday, ahead of schedule. Williams participated in individual drills for the first time since his ACL surgery, though the Jets are going to take their time with him before he graduates to team drills. Saleh said to expect Williams to just do individual drills, walkthrough and “routes on air” for the next couple weeks.
The goal is still for Williams to return in Week 1, though Saleh wasn’t ready to say if that would be at a full workload or not. “He’s a lot further ahead than we anticipated,” Saleh said.
Injuries and other absences
Cornerback Michael Carter II remains out with an injury and it’s unclear if he’ll be back soon. He was walking around the sideline with a slight limp … Safety Ashtyn Davis returned to practice after leaving it on Tuesday … Defensive end Haason Reddick has yet to report for training camp amid a contract holdout, with no end in sight. He’s being fined $50,000 for every day of practice he skips.
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Miscellaneous notes
• NFL officials showed a presentation to media after practice on Thursday, including this tidbit: The league will be testing the new electronic ball spotting system during the Jets-Giants preseason games at MetLife Stadium.
• Olu Fashanu split reps between the starters (filling in for Smith) and backups (Andrew Peasley got most of Taylor’s reps as the backup quarterback. He did a solid job overall, though he did get beat on a few pass rushes, including one from linebacker Jordan Magee who likely would’ve sacked Peasley.
• Rookie receiver Malachi Corley got open during the move-the-ball period with Peasley at quarterback and made a nice catch down the sideline. Saleh said that Corley “made a couple plays, (had) a couple plays I’m sure he wants back. It was junky weather for receivers today.”
• Rookie running back Isaiah Davis had a couple of nice runs during team drills, though the teams weren’t tackling. Still, progress for Davis, who has clearly been behind fellow rookie Braelon Allen in the pecking order.
• Jets quarterback Adrian Martinez scored a touchdown on a keeper during red zone 11-on-11 drills. He also had an ill-timed toss to running back Israel Abanikanda that led to a tackle for loss by Washington defensive end K.J. Henry.
(Top photo: Luke Hales / Getty Images)
