Jets running back Breece Hall was the subject of some trade chatter this offseason, but the Jets told him and the rest of the football world that they weren’t considering moving him this spring.
That means Hall will be part of head coach Aaron Glenn’s first season with the team this fall and his presence hasn’t done much to boost outside opinions of how the team will fare this fall. The Jets have some of the longest Super Bowl odds in the league after going 5-12 to continue a playoff drought that began in 2011, but Hall believes the team can surprise those who think that Glenn, new General Manager Darren Mougey, new offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand and the rest of the incoming brain trust can’t win quickly.
“I think people think the new coaching staff and new G.M. means a rebuild, but we have a lot of really good players on the roster, so we’re trying to win now,” Hall said, via the team’s website. “And I think a lot of people from the outside are going to take that for granted and not realize that we actually have a team.”
Rebuilding indicates that there was something there before and the Jets have gone long enough without success to make that a shaky word choice, but the Jets will take any terminology they can get if it means they surpass expectations in 2025.
The delicate genius can be hard on receivers. And Steelers receivers coach Zach Azzanni welcomes the reality that quarterback Aaron Rodgers has high standards for his pass catchers.
“I love that challenge,” Azzanni said regarding coexistence with a demanding quarterback, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com. “I like that. I’d rather have someone that’s dialed into the detail in the perimeter, and those guys ultimately have to be on the same page. I understand that he’s hard on receivers, and I like that because I’m hard on receivers.”
Azzanni has some experience with the new Steelers signal caller. He was the receivers coach in New York during Rodgers’s first season there. While Rodgers ultimately was limited to four snaps due to a torn Achilles tendon, Azzanni was able to witness Rodgers’s style during the offseason program and training camp in 2023.
We all witnessed it last year, when Rodgers publicly called out former Jets receiver Mike Williams for running his route poorly on a play that resulted in a game-sealing interception against the Bills. With Williams finishing the season in Pittsburgh, the holdovers from 2024 (Calvin Austin III, Scotty Miller, Ben Skowronek, Roman Wilson, for instance) surely heard plenty from Williams about the way their new quarterback wants things.
With Rodgers making only a cameo appearance in the offseason program, it adds more pressure to every rep they get with him, including during the slow-time sessions in Malibu.
Mason Taylor’s production in the passing game while he was at LSU helped make him the 42nd pick in this year’s draft, but the tight end wants to be known as more than just a receiver for the Jets.
Taylor set a single-season record for LSU tight ends with 55 catches last season, so it’s no secret that the Jets like his skills in that department. Head coach Aaron Glenn said Taylor was outstanding catching the ball during the offseason program, but that the rookie’s “blocking is what really gets me going” and Taylor said it’s the area he’s been focusing on since joining the team.
“I think just going back to the fundamentals — that’s in the run game, the footwork, the hand placement, leverage -- all the little things, that kind of separates yourself in the NFL,” Taylor said, via the team’s website. “So, me critiquing, then trying to perfect that and be a full tight end is the biggest thing for me right now.”
Jeremy Ruckert is the top returning tight end for the Jets, but Glenn’s arrival means it is a new offense and Taylor will be hard to take off the field if he develops blocking ability to mirror what he’s already shown as a receiver.
Former Jets defensive end Gerry Philbin has died, the team announced. He was 83.
Philbin was on the Super Bowl III championship team and is a member of the team’s Ring of Honor.
He started 109 games and played three others in nine seasons from 1964-72 before a final season in Philadelphia in 1973 when he played 13 games.
The Jets selected Philbin in the third round of the 1964 draft, and the Lions took him in the same round of the NFL draft. He signed with the Jets and was selected to play in the AFL All-Star Game in 1968 and ’69.
Philbin was a first-team defensive end on the all-time All-AFL squad.
He unofficially recorded 64.5 regular-season sacks, according to team records, which is the fourth-most in franchise history. The Jets recognize Philbin and Verlon Biggs as the only players in franchise history to get 10-plus sacks in four consecutive seasons.
After football, Philbin sold real estate in Florida before moving back to the Northeast. He found his way back to Long Island, where he owned a sand and gravel business, but returned to Florida in retirement to be near to his children.
It’s going to be one last ride for Aaron Rodgers in 2025.
In a Tuesday interview with the Pat McAfee show, Rodgers revealed that he’s likely to retire after spending the coming season with the Steelers.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure this is it,” Rodgers said. “That’s why we just did a one-year deal. Steelers didn’t need to put any extra years on it or anything. This was really about finishing with a lot of love, and fun, and peace for the career that I’ve had.
“I mean, I’ve played 20 freaking years. It’s been a long run and I’ve enjoyed it. What better place to finish than in one of the cornerstone franchises of the NFL? With Mike Tomlin and a great group of leadership, and great guys, and a city that expects you to win.”
Rodgers, 41, officially signed a one-year deal with Pittsburgh earlier this month, ending a flirtation that had lasted throughout the offseason.
With this revelation, it now means that the Jets, Patriots, Bengals, Chargers, Bears, Ravens, Lions, and Browns will all be a part of Rodgers’ season-long goodbye, as those are the teams the Steelers will play on the road. Pittsburgh will also host Green Bay on Sunday Night Football in Week 8, setting up a potentially emotional showdown against the team that Rodgers spent the vast majority of his decades-long career with.
The Steelers — who usually play their starters in the preseason — will also play the Jaguars and the Panthers on the road in August.
