The first day in pads is always a training camp milestone, and almost always one that gets more hype than it\u2019s worth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aaron Glenn\u2019s first training camp with the Jets, however, appears to be an exception to the rule.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That is because the Jets did not just strap on pads for the first time Monday. There were one-on-one drills where players took each other to the ground, practicing tackling and then pass rushing. <\/p>\n
It was the first such instance at Jets camp since the halcyon days of Rex Ryan, and a rarity amid an NFL landscape where nobody wants to run more risk of training camp injuries than necessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Glenn has talked about instilling a physical identity in his team. This would be how.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think injuries are a part of this game. There\u2019s no way to hide from it,\u201d Glenn said. \u201cUsually when you do try to hide from it, that\u2019s when they pop up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the principles of the game will never change. This game\u2019s about running, blocking and tackling. And if you don\u2019t practice that, me as a head coach, how am I giving my guys the chance to win? The only way to get better at something is to rep it. I\u2019m not saying we\u2019re gonna tackle every practice, but the thing is, we\u2019re gonna put ourselves in a position to do it or we\u2019re gonna do it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aaron Glenn on the field for the Jets\u2019 first practice in pads on July 28, 2025. Bill Kostroun\/New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the guys understand that, they knew that coming in. The thing I liked about it, they bought into that and they understand it too. They understand I\u2019m trying to do everything to help them win games. So it\u2019s part of it. I\u2019ve been a part of injuries. You can\u2019t run from them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Glenn has yet to coach a game and is still very much in the honeymoon phase, so the jury is out on whether the added practice physicality will pay off long term. If the Jets suffer a glut of injuries in the run-up to the season, or during it, the conversation may ricochet back around on the head coach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the time being, though, players are absolutely behind the new approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cOh yeah,\u201d second-year running back Braelon Allen said, asked if he enjoyed the one-on-one drills, adding he hadn\u2019t done something like that since high school scrimmages. \u201cI think you definitely gotta tackle and I gotta feel getting tackled. I liked it. I enjoyed it. I gotta make more people miss than I did today, so that\u2019ll be the goal going forward. It was fun for sure.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe fired up,\u201d third-year wide receiver\/returner Xavier Gipson said. \u201cEspecially when the pads came on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jets running back Breece Hall (20) runs a drill during practice at training camp in Florham Park, NJ. Bill Kostroun\/New York Post<\/p>\n
The Jets, on both sides of the ball, want to instill this in their marrow. That desire does not make them unique, but the lengths to which Glenn is willing to go to achieve it are. Perhaps that can be what makes the difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBetween me and the staff, we think constantly on how can we end up getting our guys better? How can we make sure we go above board on not letting our players think we\u2019re afraid of injury? But also letting them know: We have to do this,\u201d Glenn said. \u201cLike, we have to. Cause there\u2019s no way I can put you out on that field without prepping for these things that I know is gonna happen in the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jets wide receiver Xavier Gipson (3) catches a pass during practice at training camp in Florham Park, NJ. Bill Kostroun\/New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re gonna be in a position where you have to elude somebody in space. You\u2019re gonna be in a position where you have to tackle somebody in space. The only way to get better at that is to do it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand everything this league is doing on the [player] protection side of it, I understand the afternoon walk-throughs that we have, they\u2019re very valuable for us. We take as much as we can when we go out on the grass. That\u2019s what we plan on doing every time we get a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first day in pads is always a training camp milestone, and almost always one that gets more…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":101502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[59921,5287,1232,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-101501","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-aaron-glenn","9":"tag-new-york-jets","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114935370209292636","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}