Thoughts From the New York Jets’ Final Preseason Game

The New York Jets faced the Philadelphia Eagles in their final preseason game of 2016.  How did they look?

It’s a new season, so another preseason finale between the New York Jets and the Philadelphia Eagles has come and gone.  Every year we get three games on Thanksgiving and the Eagles and the Jets to complete the preseason.  See that, fans?  The NFL really does revel in its traditions.

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This version ended with a 14-6 Eagles’ victory, but as usual, the score isn’t the story in the exhibition season.  Here are some thoughts on the action:

• Robby Anderson, though he didn’t catch a bunch of passes, likely secured a roster spot with his performance.  He caught two passes for 61 yards, including a 44-yard toss from Bryce Petty for an early touchdown.  Robby catches everything with his hands, and looks like a receiver that can make an immediate impact.
• The offensive line, on the other hand, did nothing to distinguish itself.  The eyes were on the competition on the right side between Brent Qvale and Ben Ijalana for right tackle while Breno Giacomini recovers from injury.  Neither one of them looked good, and the offensive line as a whole was not very good.  The decisions here will be interesting.
• Talking about the offensive line, Brandon Shell did not do himself any favors.  I liked him on tape from college, but he is very raw.  On this night, he nearly got both Khiry Robinson and Bryce Petty killed.  He missed the block that led to Petty’s injury.  If he sticks, he is certainly not ready to play left tackle.
• The Jets’ defense is very well constructed.  Only a few guys played in the game that will see a lot of regular season action, like Darron Lee and Lorenzo Mauldin.  But they still managed to force five Eagles’ turnovers.  No matter who makes this roster, this defense is built to take the football away, and they are good at it.

• It will be a shame if Bryce Petty’s time with the Jets ends due to an injury, but that could potentially happen. Against the Eagles, he went 4-for-6 for 87 yards and 44-yard touchdown to Anderson.  He was hit hard on the touchdown pass and left the game with a shoulder injury.  According to Rich Cimini of ESPN, x-rays were negative and Bryce is scheduled for an MRI on Monday.  He is trending upward and deserves more time in the organization, but we will see how the team handles the injury situation.
• No surprise here, but Christian Hackenberg has a long way to go.  Getting to play the entire game after Petty’s injury, he went 11-for-31 for 54 yards and an interception.  The interception was a bad one, taking place in the red zone as he was being hit.  Ed Reynolds turned it into a 90-yard pick six.  He’ll get better, he’s a project that will benefit from watching and learning.
• The Jets have a punter!  Lachlan Edwards got a workout, punting 12 times, averaging 37.1 yards per punt, and dropping six inside the 20-yard line.  Other than the one that was returned for a score, Edwards gets great hang time, and dropped a beautiful punt that landed on the one-yard line and bounced straight up for the team to down it.  Jets fans finally won’t need to groan on each and every punt.
• Taiwan Jones stood out on defense for the Jets, posting nine tackles, eight solo, and an interception.  The goal was to get younger and faster at the linebacker position, and Jones could make the end of this depth chart after a performance like that.
• Khiry Robinson made his debut at running back against the Eagles, and although the numbers weren’t eye-popping (13 carries, 25 yards), but there were good signs.  He is the only runner on the team that runs with some power, a la Chris Ivory.  When he did have room, which wasn’t often thanks to the offensive line, he ran with anger.  He ran like he had something to prove, especially on his seven-yard run.

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Next up is the Bengals in week one.  The regular season is here, finally!