One in a series of articles that will also appear in the New York Jets 2026 Yearbook, which will be published this summer.<\/p>\n
The Green & White will field a revamped secondary in 2026, headlined by key offseason addition S Minkah Fitzpatrick<\/a>. A five-time Pro Bowler and three-time All Pro, the Old Bridge, NJ, native is ready to make some noise for his hometown team.<\/p>\n “Just his history of what he’s done in this league speaks for itself,” HC Aaron Glenn said of the newcomer, acquired in a March trade with the Dolphins.<\/p>\n Fitzpatrick, who Glenn said brings influential leadership to the group, believes he still has more to give as he enters his ninth NFL season.<\/p>\n “You’re going to get a guy that plays with a lot of energy, is going to communicate to the guys around him, is going to try and get turnovers,” said Fitzpatrick, whose 28 takeaways from 2018-25 is fifth-most among league safeties. “I’m going to play within the rules of the game, but I’m going to take calculated risks.”<\/p>\n Calculated risk could also be the name of the game for Nahshon Wright<\/a>, who signed with the Jets in free agency. The sixth-year CB led the league with eight takeaways for Chicago last season.<\/p>\n “Just continue to work,” Wright said of how to build on that production. “Be intentional about my work in practice, and it will show up in the games.”<\/p>\n Wright could compete for a starting job with second-year pro Azareye’h Thomas<\/a>, who appeared in 12 games for the Green & White before sustaining a season-ending shoulder injury. Thomas recorded PDs in six consecutive games, tying Darrelle Revis for the second-longest streak by a Jets rookie. Malachi Moore<\/a>, another Jets draft pick, will be back for more after appearing in all 17 games, starting 14, and tallying 95 tackles, second-most on the team.<\/p>\n The group also features returning veterans in S Andre Cisco<\/a> and CBs Brandon Stephens<\/a> and Jarvis Brownlee Jr.<\/a> as well as a free agent addition in S Dane Belton<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cisco re-signed with the Jets this offseason after a pectoral injury cut his 2025 season short. Stephens appeared in 16 games, playing 99% of the Jets’ defensive snaps, while Brownlee showcased plenty of potential in seven games after he was acquired via a trade with the Titans. Belton joins the Jets after four seasons with the Giants.<\/p>\n The group will operate under the leadership of Glenn, who will take on defensive play calling responsibilities in 2026.<\/p>\n “AG, he gets it,” Cisco said. “Being a guy that played for this organization but also had a lot of success in this league as a player and a defensive back, I’m just excited to continue to learn from him.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One in a series of articles that will also appear in the New York Jets 2026 Yearbook, which…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":934257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,1370,24897,79846,405,403,50,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-934256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-latest-headlines","tag-minkah-fitzpatrick","tag-nahshon-wright","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116918338902182637","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934256","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=934256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/934257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=934256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=934256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=934256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}