FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — As Aaron Glenn bopped around the field for Friday’s first rookie minicamp practice, he spotted one player who plays like him, and another wearing his old number.
The first one is cornerback D’Angelo Ponds, a second-round pick and undersized cornerback often compared to Glenn the player. Ponds didn’t know much about Glenn’s playing career, but he studied up in the aftermath of the Jets picking him — and the subsequent outpouring of comparisons.
“He does play similar to me,” Ponds said. “He was a great player.”
The second one was edge rusher David Bailey, the draft’s No. 2 pick who will be wearing No. 31 in the NFL, as he did in college. That number, though, carries significance for Glenn: He wore it through the entirety of his Jets playing career. Glenn made sure to share that fact after Bailey, flanked by his mother and sister, visited Glenn at his office for the first time after the NFL Draft.
“He showed me a little poster board and jersey,” Bailey said.
“He has to show out, I guess,” Glenn said, chuckling.
This was just the first day in a long trek through the offseason for two Jets rookies who are expected to play significant roles in their first season.
Friday was the media’s first exposure to this rookie class and this new-look coaching staff this offseason. The rookies will practice again Saturday before the veterans join them for OTAs next week.
Here are eight things I learned at rookie camp on Friday:
1. It is fully Frank Reich’s show on offense. That was obvious the moment Glenn pushed out Tanner Engstrand and replaced him with someone of Reich’s background and experience level — especially once Glenn took over play calling on defense. Glenn needed a coach he could trust to handle his business on offense, and Reich was the man for the job. Reporters were only present for about 30 minutes of Friday’s practice, but Reich presented himself as a vocal leader who communicated often with fourth-round rookie quarterback Cade Klubnik.
Reich is “very, very intentional,” Glenn said. “He has a good understanding of what he wants to do, does a really good job with the offensive staff, allowing those guys to have input and being able to tie it all together. It’s not his offense, it’s our offense … Every day just being able to communicate with someone who has seen it before as a head coach on the offensive side has been good for me — and for him too, as far as understanding how we play defense. Every day is a learning experience for both of us and it’s been outstanding.”
2. Klubnik got valuable reps. The Jets are, purposefully, putting a lot on Klubnik’s plate right now. It’s the perfect time to do it, before the veterans join the fray. The only other quarterback at rookie camp is Tulane’s Jake Retzlaff, a tryout player.
Klubnik got the majority of the reps in the 11-on-11 drills reporters were present for at the start of practice. He seemed to be empowered to make changes at the line of scrimmage based on what he was seeing, and he spoke with Reich after every play. These drills are very low-effort this time of year, with defensive players jogging and often not interfering with the play, even if the ball flies right in front of them.
I note that before I note this: I only counted two incompletions among the passes I saw, with a few others that would have been broken up in a full-speed setting. Klubnik’s best pass was a sideline throw to UDFA wideout Malik McClain from Arizona State, a throw on the move on which McClain made a nice catch.
Glenn said Reich and quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave are “putting things in buckets,” so Klubnik isn’t “swimming” too much with everything being thrown at him.
“He’s a really smart man,” Glenn said. “I don’t think he’s swimming as much as you think he is, and that’s a lot because of how much the coaches are teaching him. We’re going to push that player and see exactly where he’s at and how he’s going to be able to operate with our offense. Obviously, you’re going to see him a lot in the preseason. He’s a guy we targeted, we’re happy that we got him and look forward to seeing him in training camp.”
3. Not so fast on Mr. Unlimited. The Jets hosted veteran quarterback Russell Wilson for a visit last week and viewed him as a potential option to back up Geno Smith — an option approved by Smith himself based on their time playing together (and serving in reverse roles) with the Seattle Seahawks. Despite Wilson recently suggesting the Jets made him an offer, I am not under the impression that the Jets were planning on signing him as of now. He is one of multiple options they are considering, including a scenario where they don’t add anyone else, at least for this portion of the offseason.
Glenn’s comments Friday indicated that may be the case. He was asked directly about the status of Wilson, and he made sure to point out that he and general manager Darren Mougey are “going through a process” that “sometimes … it becomes a bigger issue than it really is,” and that the Jets are “talking to a number of veteran quarterbacks.”
Glenn also went out of his way to say he’s “happy with our quarterback room.” He shouted out Smith, pointed out how Klubnik was a guy they targeted in the draft, and he said they plan on “allowing (Klubnik) to get those reps” this offseason.
Bailey Zappe and Brady Cook are the other quarterbacks currently on the roster. It’s still possible Wilson winds up here, but it’s not something I would predict as of now.
4. Bailey’s role is coming into focus. It would be a fool’s errand to actually evaluate defensive players in these light practices, but it was hard not to notice Bailey’s get-off even in this setting. He caught some tryout offensive linemen off guard on multiple occasions during team drills and practiced with burst during individual drills.
Glenn said that Bailey will play outside linebacker when the Jets are in their 3-4 base defense and defensive end when they go to four defensive linemen. Notably, that’s the first time Glenn has directly acknowledged that 3-4 will be the base — he usually deflects to say they’ll be “multiple,” which is what defensive coordinator Brian Duker said earlier in the week, too.
Glenn also intimated that Bailey and edge rusher Will McDonald can “absolutely” play together, despite their similar skill sets. Interestingly, Glenn alluded to the idea that the key to McDonald unlocking his full potential could be learning from Bailey, the rookie, in one area in particular:
“Both of them have that first-step quickness, both can beat guys around the edge,” Glenn said. “Will got better with his long arm and power rush this past season. We want to continue to do that with him. That’s something Bailey has — we want to continue to improve in that aspect.”
5. There was trash talk in the trenches. Fourth-round defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. bounced around during college, with stops at Maryland, Miami and finally Florida State, where he was teammates with second-year Jets cornerback Azareye’h Thomas.
In Miami, he developed a friendship with offensive lineman Anez Cooper, who the Jets drafted in the sixth round.
“We’ve always been competitive on the field, and we joke in the locker room,” Jackson said. “We go back and forth, we talk junk to each other, but we have fun with it. When I played with him — he’s physical, he talked trash a lot. He worked hard and played hard.”
Does Jackson talk trash?
“Yeah, especially with Coop.”
6. The kicking competition is underway. The Jets currently have three kickers on the roster, and two of them were at rookie camp: German kicker Lenny Krieg and undrafted rookie Will Ferrin.
Krieg appeared to have the upper hand early in practice when the two of them kicked off to the side, making all his attempts while Ferrin missed a couple, including one that clanked off the upright.
Those two will compete with veteran Cade York, signed as a free agent this offseason.
7. A son of a former Glenn teammate was there. For the first time as Jets coach, Glenn found himself face-to-face with the son of one of his old Jets teammates.
Tryout offensive lineman Rocco Spindler, an undrafted rookie from Nebraska, walked up to Glenn and told him his father played with Glenn. Marc Spindler was a Jets defensive lineman in 1995-96.
“I do remember that name,” Glenn said.
8. There were some notable non-rookies. The Jets brought in two offensive linemen with NFL experience as tryout players for the weekend. One is tackle Landon Young, a 2021 sixth-round pick of the Saints who played in 56 games (12 starts) from 2021-24. The other is guard Jaxson Kirkland, who spent the last three years with the Cincinnati Bengals but only appeared in two games.
Other veterans at camp include a few members of the Jets’ 90-man roster: Krieg, wide receiver Jamaal Pritchett, wide receiver Quentin Skinner, wide receiver Mac Dalena and defensive lineman Paschal Ekeji.
The most notable rookie tryout player is probably Retzlaff, who threw for 3,168 yards, 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions at Tulane last year after transferring from BYU.
