New York Jets Preseason Recap, Week 1: First Impressions

Wins, losses and total scores in the preseason do not matter. For all intents and purposes, the second half of last night’s Texans-Jets game mattered only to the coaching staffs that need to make cuts, and the players that are desperately trying to make the roster.

With that said however, Monday night was still the first chance we had to see the Jets’ first team offense and defense in action. So let’s talk about it.

First and foremost, I absolutely loved the two offensive drives that the Jets’ starting unit ran under Mark Sanchez. Those two drives may have only amounted to three points, but you’d have to assume that in a real game situation, the play calling would be far less conservative.

Shonn Greene looked like a bull, and the way he got his yards was exactly what Rex Ryan was looking for. He chipped away at the Texans for three to four yards on three attempts, and then on attempt four, he broke an arm tackle and ran for a 20-yard gain. That’s the kind of running back Greene can be in this league. He’s not the biggest guy, and he’s not the fastest guy, but he’s super low to the ground and he will keep churning all game. I would make absolutely nothing of LaDainian Tomlinson’s very brief appearance. Rex Ryan needed Greene to prove something, and he did.

It’s very difficult to judge Mark Sanchez on this game, particularly because he didn’t look deep once and every play design was a West Coast offense slant pattern.

Here is what I will say though. In nine Mark Sanchez drop-backs, I did not grip my chest in fear of a heart attack once. And in three years, that’s the longest span of snaps I’ve gone under the Sanchez regime without fearing for my life. Sanchez’s drops were quick and crisp, and if the look wasn’t there, Sanchez took the hit. That is a monumental step in quarterback maturity, so long as it isn’t a fluke occurrence. But the fact that Sanchez was making quick reads, and additionally not forcing the ball to looks he didn’t have, made me very optimistic.

As far as the rest of the skill players go, it’s clear to me that the Jets knew exactly what they were doing when they went after Derrick Mason. They might not be the most dazzling WR corps there, but the Jets WRs, particularly with the development of Patrick Turner, might have the surest hands in the league. Sanchez and Schottenheimer appear to love these six-yard slant routes, and the Jets have a crew of receivers and a standout tight end who are absolutely going to bring in the ball in traffic.

I only had one problem. You could tell Brad Smith wasn’t there. Jeremy Kerley is a speedster, but when the Jets tried to use him in a gadget role last night, he was eaten alive. Based on his speed alone, Kerley will be just fine in his special teams role, but Schottenheimer is going to have to hit the drawing board hard in order to figure out how to better utilize Kerley in an offensive setting where he will absolutely be needed for at least six plays a game.

The defensive ends will be a lot easier to talk about, because of their production. As always under Rex Ryan, last night’s contest was a regular season game according to the Jets defense. The Jets got great pressure on Matt Schaub in their blitz packages. Second-year linebacker Josh Mauga was all over the place in the Jets’ two opening drives, and I think he opened a few eyes after pretty much clotheslining Matt Schaub in the first quarter.

But the Jets pass rush wasn’t exactly consistent. When the Jets blitzed, it was business as usual, and it looked great. But when the Jets didn’t blitz, they generated zero pressure on Matt Schaub. This isn’t really indicated in the stat column for two reasons: A) second-year DB Kyle Wilson was superb in his appearances as the nickel back; and B) Schaub overthrew a wide open Owen Daniels on a play that could have been a touchdown.

The Jets’ secondary is good, with the potential to be great if Kyle Wilson continues to progress. But good offenses are going to find a way to get open if the Jets can’t generate pressure without gambling on blitzes all game. I’m all for high-risk high-reward, but at a certain point, the Jets are going to be in real game situations where they will have to rely on coverage and not blitzing. If the Jets can’t generate pressure from two linebackers and their three lineman, this could be a problem.

All in all, I’d call this a solid performance from the Jets’ first team, with a few additional surprises (Greg McElroy and Marcus Dixon made me super happy). Let’s see what adjustments are made for Week 2.