The Jets have joined their co-tenants at MetLife Stadium in announcing their schedule of open training camp practices.
The team will report to camp on July 22 and they will hold their first practice open to fans on July 25. They will have another open practice on July 26.
Seven overall practices will be open to the general public. The rest of those workouts will take place on July 31, August 2, August 7, August 19, and August 20.
The Jets will also have a joint practice on August 12 with the Giants. That session will be open to the team’s season ticket holders and it will come the day before they have a joint practice with their fellow Jersey residents at the Giants’ facility.
C.J. Mosley announced his retirement from the NFL last month. It didn’t take him long to find a second career.
Mosely announced Tuesday he is launching Legacy Trust Sports Group, a full-service sports agency co-founded with longtime business partner Brandon Wassel.
“Coaching was never my path, but guiding, mentoring and doing the right thing has always been in my DNA,” Mosley said in a press release. “Our mission is to help athletes grow not just as players but as people, throughout their careers and beyond.”
The agency also announced the hirings of senior agent Joe Gazza, who currently represents four players in the NFL, vice president of player personnel AK Mogulla, formerly Auburn’s lead front office official, director of client services Xaria Wiggins, formerly Auburn’s recruiting coordinator, director of football operations Gabby Singer, a licensed NFL agent, and head of social media marketing Cade Pribula, who follows Gazza from Acrum Sports.
Next July, MetLife Stadium will be hosting the FIFA World Cup final match. In the opinion of Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovač, the venue is more suited to hosting the PGA Championship.
“It’s more a golf green, so you can putt here,” Kovač said after a 3-2 loss to Real Madrid in the Club World Cup, via Ronald Blum of the Associated Press. “It’s very short. But this is not the grass we are used to playing on in the Bundesliga and also in the other two stadiums.”
Kovač is referring to matches played by Dortmund at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati and at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
“As you saw, the watering wasn’t good enough, I would say, because you don’t have the devices for that.” Kovač said. “When it’s too dry, it’s unbelievable. It’s sticking.”
Kovač also commented on the heat of the outdoor matches. When the most recent match at MetLife Stadium started, it was 86 degrees.
The FIFA World Cup final is reportedly expected to start at 3:00 p.m. ET on July 19. Which means it could be very hot for the most important match in the sport.
If the Jets are going to exceed expectations this season, they will need a strong season from quarterback Justin Fields.
Fields was drafted 11th overall by the Bears in 2021 because they thought he could be their long-term answer at quarterback, but could never turn flashes of talent into consistent play and he moved on to the Steelers last season. Fields was 4-2 as a starter to open the year, but the Steelers still opted to go with Russell Wilson the rest of the way and that led to Fields moving on to the Jets as a free agent this offseason.
A third team in three years doesn’t do much to inspire hope that it will all fall into place for Fields this fall, but his new teammate Andre Cisco thinks that anyone who shares those doubts is in for an unpleasant surprise. The safety has gone up the ladder at the same time as Fields and he said his first chance to see the quarterback up close has convinced him good things are coming.
“Me and Justin, we were in the same class in high school,” Cisco said. “Same class in college, same class coming up to the NFL so these are the people that, whether you play with them or not, you feel like you know them from not too far away. Getting to know him up close as a teammate has been really, really special. I’m really glad that I get this opportunity to get behind him and just support him as he takes on that role. We already know what quarterback means in the NFL. I’m excited for him to prove those who are doubting him wrong and those who are supporting right, because I think he’s gonna have a huge year.”
Cisco isn’t the only Jets player to share his belief that the team is in better shape than most outside observers believe, but years of offseason hope that went nowhere for the Jets means the proof will have to come on the field for the bandwagon to fill up.
Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner started his career with two memorable seasons. Year Three was forgettable, to say the least.
Via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com, Next Gen Stats ranked Gardner 47th out of 52 cornerbacks in Expected Points Added per target as the nearest defender to the receiver during the 2024 campaign.
In 2022, he was second out of 49. In 2023, he was 13th out of 47.
Gardner landed on the official All-Pro team in both of those seasons, the first cornerback and only the third defender to earn that distinction twice to start his career.
Gardner downplays last year’s down play. Via Cimini, Gardner called his 2024 performance “pretty smooth.”
“It’s never as bad as people try to paint it to be,” Gardner said.
Still, it was well below the standard Gardner had set.
The new coaching staff, led by coach Aaron Glenn and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, are trying to make it better.
“I know I’m not perfect, but the fact that [Wilks] is trying to get perfection out of me is what I need because, you know, I’ve had a lot of success, early success in the league,” Gardner said. “And the last thing I need is a new regime to come in here and just allow me to be complacent.
“I’m not saying that’s who I am, but it’s great to just have those type of guys that are going to demand a lot out of me and just push me in ways that I’ve never been pushed before.”
Glenn wants Gardner to become more of a leader, relying more on his example.
“Here’s what I’ve talked to him about, about who he needs to be,” Glenn said, per Cimini. “When you do lead, just let your influence do all the talking. How do you operate in the huddle and with the players in the locker room? That speaks more than the rah-rah guy. He understands that because influence, to me, is really what leadership is about.”
Glenn wouldn’t be saying that if he didn’t believe Gardner was lacking in that area. And Gardner may have gotten a little satisfied with himself in 2024, especially since the team’s results were far from satisfying. Why dig deep when otherwise in a hole you can’t get out of?
The situation makes the question of whether Gardner gets his second deal before, or after, the 2025 season — when he’s due to make only $5.2 million — very interesting. What the Jets will be willing to pay him after his 2024 season may be much less than what he’d get after a strong 2025. And the Jets may be hoping to get him to own 2024 by accepting that the reward will come in 2026.
