GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Jets got a taste of what an elite team looks like during the first day of joint practices with the Green Bay Packers.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh viewed the joint sessions as a “great challenge” and pointed out the Packers feature a championship roster. And that’s how it appeared for the Jets at times during Wednesday’s practice.
There were moments when the Jets defense held up for a couple of plays.
Then boom.
Aaron Rodgers fired a heat seeking missile to Marquez Valdes-Scantling over the middle for a 30-yard touchdown. Then the three-time MVP added a 20-yard touchdown pass to Robert Tonyan with C.J Mosley in coverage.
The Jets’ first-team offense strung a few good plays together only to have Zach Wilson get sacked by Preston Smith.
If teams want to be the best, they have to see how top-tier squads operate.
“They’re definitely a Super Bowl-caliber team,” Wilson said. “So it’s awesome for us to be able to come against them and kind of stack up what we’ve got and take our best shot.”
The Packers looked like a team coming off a 13-3 season. And the Jets looked like an improved team, but still in the early stages of a 2-14 rebuild.
Overall, the first-team offense couldn’t get the pass or run game going Wednesday.
Wilson was subpar as he went 12 of 23 with no touchdowns or interceptions.
But it wasn’t all on the rookie quarterback.
The offensive line didn’t create many holes in the ground game and more alarming was the fact that Wilson was constantly under duress. He was sacked seven times.
Packers defensive tackle Kingsley Keke had two sacks up the interior. Second-year anchor Mekhi Becton gave up a couple sacks to Smith.
One of the sacks was a well designed corner blitz that fooled the offensive line as they slid right and corner Eric Stokes ran free to Wilson from the left side.
As a result of all the pressure, Wilson couldn’t get comfortable.
Outside of a nice touch pass off his back foot as he was pressured by Smith and a couple over-the-middle darts to Corey Davis the majority of Wilson’s throws were short.
The Jets' O-line battle against the Packers front was a matchup that bore watching going into these joint practices. The Packers were the clear winners on Day 1. Granted some of the sacks may not have ended up that way in a game, but nonetheless there was consistent pressure around Wilson.
So it wasn’t a good practice from a blocking standpoint, but it was a good learning experience. The Packers run an odd 3-4 front and usually have five players on the line of scrimmage with the two outside linebackers and three defensive lineman.
That’s different from what they see in practice every day since the Jets run a 4-3 attacking front.
Jets center Connor McGovern discussed that dynamic after practice.
“A lot of it is technique. Our D-lineman are more up the field, trying to disrupt stuff. This defense is more read, so they play those tight techniques,” McGovern said. “The Packers extend their hands, they’re not trying to give a whole bunch of penetration to the backfield, they’re trying to make plays. … It’s really good practice.”
Why does that matter? Because two teams within the AFC East — the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots — run a similar front.
“We’re playing a true shade on the center. Five guys on the line of scrimmage defense,” McGovern said. “Pretty similar to Patriots or Miami so it’s nice to get that work.”
So even though the Jets struggled in practice with this front, it’s a learning point. Let’s see how the Jets offense bounces back on Day 2.
