The NFL preseason has become starter optional for most of the league, as in it’s not often you see the regular players on the field. A decade ago, starters would usually use the preseason to ramp up, with the first half of the third game being a dress rehearsal.
In recent years, it has been rare to see starters play more than a few series the entire preseason combined. Last year, under coach Robert Saleh, the Jets starters didn’t play at all.
But new coach Aaron Glenn hasn’t run training camp in the typical manner, with the Jets doing more live tackling in the first three weeks than they have in the last several years combined. So it wasn’t a surprise on Thursday, when Glenn said his starters would play on Saturday night when the Jets travel face the Packers in the preseason opener in Green Bay.
“We’re playing, we’re playing,” Glenn said. “I can’t tell you how much we’re going to play, it’ll depend on how the game goes. But we’re playing.”
And the reasoning behind that decision?
“Because I want the guys to play,” Glenn said. “That’s the reason.”
Glenn has dismissed the risk of players getting injured during a more physical training camp by acknowledging the reality of this brutally physical sport: players are always at risk of getting hurt. And that’s obviously something he’s factored decision to put his starters on the field for the preseason games that don’t count toward their record.
It’s Glenn’s job to prepare them as he best sees fit for the season. Of course, there will be questions to answer if a player suffers a significant injury.
But if you want a sense of how the players in the locker room fell about it, the Jets’ best known player, cornerback Sauce Gardner, is probably a good place to start.
“It did not surprise me at all,” Gardner said of the decision. “If you all look, we’ve been tackling in practice. I was pretty sure he was going to want us to tackle another team. So I’m embracing that and looking forward to it, but I definitely was not surprised. None of his were surprised when he said that.”
And as for Gardner’s feeling about the decision?
“I love football. I’m obsessed with football,” Gardner said. “Any chance that I get to play, I’m always going to love the idea.”
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Andy Vasquez may be reached atavasquez@njadvancemedia.com.
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