FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York Jets backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor uncorked one of his patented high-arching deep balls, and wide receiver Jason Brownlee ran under it for a touchdown to cap a dominant performance in Wednesday’s joint practice with the New York Giants.
Taylor let his former team know about his impressive throw as he ran past the Giants’ sideline to celebrate in the end zone. There may be some residual bad blood from Taylor not immediately reclaiming the starting job from undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito when he returned from broken ribs last season.
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Meanwhile, Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner came onto the field to wave goodbye to the Giants before they made the 30-minute drive back to their facility. It was that kind of day for the Giants.
Rookie WR Malik Nabers: “We beat ourselves today.”
Nabers talks Sauce Gardner waving goodbye to #Giants sideline pic.twitter.com/z9ohg9jXyt
— Charlotte Carroll (@charlottecrrll) August 21, 2024
The intensity the Giants displayed in a pair of joint practices with the Lions earlier in training camp was mostly absent from the cross-state meeting with the Jets. Here’s everything you need to know from Wednesday’s practice:
Attendance
WR Gunner Olszewski (groin), TE Lawrence Cager (groin), OL Jon Runyan (shoulder), LB Micah McFadden (groin), LB Matthew Adams (groin), LB Dyontae Johnson (ankle), CB Cor’Dale Flott (quad), CB David Long (undisclosed), S Gervarrius Owens (knee) and S Jonathan Sutherland (burner) stayed at the Giants’ facility to rehab injuries.
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Daboll said there is no concern about Runyan’s availability for the season opener. The starting left guard has been sidelined since injuring his shoulder in practice last Monday. Runyan surely won’t return for Thursday’s practice or play in Saturday’s preseason finale. The Giants’ projected starting five offensive linemen still have not taken a single rep together in practice.
Daboll said Olszewski, Cager, McFadden, Adams, Johnson and Owens are “week-to-week.” Daboll said Flott is “closer” to returning.
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Injury report
In addition to the players who didn’t travel to the practice, cornerback Tre Herndon worked on the side with a trainer due to an undisclosed injury. Backup quarterback Drew Lock, who has been dealing with an oblique injury suffered in the preseason opener, suited up for practice but didn’t participate.
Observations
Green’s day
It was Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and wide receiver Garrett Wilson’s day, and the Giants defense didn’t have much to say about it. The crowd was closest to the field with the Jets offense against the Giants defense, so the constant “oohs and ahhs” added to the general energy. Rodgers put on a show with the highlight coming on the final play of an 11-on-11 period, as he connected with Wilson on a long touchdown pass after the receiver burned Giants cornerback Nick McCloud.
HOLY BEAUTIFUL THROW 🤯@AaronRodgers12 ➡️ @GarrettWilson_V pic.twitter.com/wJaqhj4Zz8
— New York Jets (@nyjets) August 21, 2024
With the crowd loving the moment and chanting Wilson’s name, Rodgers imitated putting a crown on Wilson’s head. Rodgers finished 16-of-22 in 11-on-11 periods.
Wilson torched the Giants secondary, including one play where he was so open that it was difficult to tell which Giants defender was supposed to be covering him. Coverage on Wilson varied between Deonte Banks and McCloud, but Wilson found success regardless.
With Flott sidelined, McCloud has taken first-team corner reps opposite Banks. But after getting burned by Wilson, the Giants put in Tre Hawkins for the final two-minute drill period. Banks was targeted repeatedly on the drive, but on the final play of the drill, Jets wide receiver Allen Lazard beat Hawkins for a touchdown.
.@AaronRodgers12 DOT to @AllenLazard 🔥 pic.twitter.com/TiMHiGN0Dr
— New York Jets (@nyjets) August 22, 2024
Inside linebacker Bobby Okereke tallied an interception during the two-minute drill, but it was negated by a flag on the defense. The penalty appeared to be holding on slot cornerback Dru Phillips. The next play was the Lazard touchdown.
Rookie ascending
Rookie safety Tyler Nubin has worked his way into the first-team defense. After missing five practices with a calf injury early in camp, Nubin has been trying to oust Dane Belton from a starting spot. That looks inevitable at this point with Nubin lining up alongside opposite veteran Jason Pinnock in the first 11-on-11 period on Wednesday. While there was still plenty of rotation between the three, Belton appeared to take some snaps at nickel corner as he did Tuesday in practice.
More defensive shuffling
Inside linebacker is one of the positions decimated by injury, which has allowed sixth-round rookie Darius Muasau to play first-team reps. Isaiah Simmons, who has rotated to multiple positions, also played linebacker in the dime package.
DJ Davidson was the third defensive lineman alongside Dexter Lawrence and Rakeem Nunez-Roches in the base defense. That spot had been occupied by Ryder Anderson, who was waived with an injury designation on Monday.
No show
While deep passes were being completed with regularity on the field pitting the Jets’ offense against the Giants’ defense, there was far less action on the other field. Giants quarterback Daniel Jones completed a steady diet of short passes against one of the league’s best pass defenses.
The juicy matchup between Gardner and Giants rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers didn’t produce any fireworks. Nabers had three short catches in team periods. His most notable play was a drop on a deep pass from Jones in the two-minute drill to end practice. Nabers beat Jets No. 2 cornerback DJ Reed, but failed to catch an under-thrown pass from Jones. Nabers was hard on himself after the practice for having “too many drops.”
.@D7_Reed really did NOT hold back today 💪 pic.twitter.com/nBi5Dz0Cx8
— New York Jets (@nyjets) August 21, 2024
Rookie tight end Theo Johnson had a more egregious drop of an accurate Jones pass over the middle. Johnson had room to run if he had made the catch. Johnson’s hands have been inconsistent in camp, which has served as a reminder that there will be growing pains with the fourth-round rookie.
The Giants clearly tried to take a deep shot to wide receiver Jalin Hyatt off a play fake, but Jones had to throw the ball away because of the Jets’ coverage.
Jones had success in a red-zone period early in practice, completing all five of his passes, including a touchdown to tight end Chris Manhertz on a play-action rollout. Jones also rushed for a touchdown after keeping the ball on a bootleg.
The two-minute drive at the end of practice fizzled after Nabers’ drop on second down. Consecutive incompletions to Darius Slayton led to a turnover on downs.
Jones’ best completed pass was an out route to Johnson in a tight window along the sideline. Otherwise, his completions consisted almost entirely of curls, check-downs and screens.
O-line rotation
Undrafted rookie Jake Kubas rotated with Greg Van Roten as the first-team right guard. The Giants are likely managing the workload of the 34-year-old Van Roten, who signed a week into camp.
Notably, Kubas has been getting the first-team reps behind Van Roten. Kubas was beaten by Jets defensive end Jermaine Johnson for a sack. Kubas, who has been the second-team left guard throughout camp, also got some third-team reps at center. It looks like the Giants are preparing Kubas to make the roster as a versatile interior backup.
Meanwhile, Evan Neal continues to ramp up after getting activated from the physically unable to perform list on Aug. 11. Neal took most of the right tackle reps with the second-team offense, but he was replaced by Joshua Miles midway through the two-minute drive at the end of practice.
Off his game
Quarterback Tommy DeVito took all of the second- and third-team reps with Lock sitting out. DeVito was late on a seam pass, and Jets cornerback Tre Swilling stepped in front of wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton for an interception.
DeVito hasn’t looked sharp since building some momentum in the first preseason game.
Return roundup
Undrafted rookie wide receiver Ayir Asante broke a long kickoff return. Asante and running back Eric Gray were the second kickoff return pairing. Wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie and running back Tyrone Tracy were the first-team kickoff returners.
Put the checkbooks away
The big winners of the day were the owners. The Giants and Lions were fined $200,000 apiece for the fights during their joint practices. There were no fights on Wednesday, so ownership won’t need to cut any six-figure checks to the league.
Play of the day
DeVito fired a pass to Daniel Bellinger up the seam that the tight end caught for a touchdown during a red-zone period.
Quote of the day
“I mean, they can do that. They won on the day. Their defense came out here and executed well. We beat ourselves today.” — Giants WR Malik Nabers on the Jets’ taunting at the end of practice
Next up
The Giants will conduct their 18th training camp practice — and their final practice before cut day — on Thursday.
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(Photo: Chris Pedota / USA Today)
