New York Jets training camp recap: Week 1

The Jets finished their first week of training camp and will put on the pads for their next practice on Monday.  As in mostly Jets fashion, there was plenty of excitement this week among the fans and plenty of their hearts stopped beating momentarily when what looked like a major injury to their starting quarterback turned out to be a false alarm. We won't go as far as to say the Jets luck is changing for the better, but they fact they dodged a bullet with a major injury to Justin Fields is nothing short of a miracle.

Here are some more takeaways from the first week of Jets training camp:

Aaron Glenn vs. Questions

It's only been one week, but you really see the difference between an Aaron Glenn press conference and one from Robert Saleh. Glenn gets right to the point and doesn't try to undermine anyone's intelligence when it comes to discussing injuries. He also has no issue calling out the Jets reporters when he feels it's warranted.

When the Fields injury happened, panic initially set in and the Jets writers couldn't be happier to put a scare in the fan base, emphasizing on social media how he was carted off the field and that it didn't look good. But, as soon as practice ended, Glenn immediately went to the podium to explain that Fields hurt his toe and while he didn't know the severity at that moment, it didn't sound serious. Fields returned to practice the next day and Glenn admonished the Jets reporters for making a big deal about nothing.

Glenn has been a little combative with the Jets writers since his introductory press conference when he got frustrated being asked the same question multiple times about Aaron Rodgers. Noted pot stirrer Rich Cimini asked him after practice if he thinks it will be tough for Fields to learn the offense due to now being behind because of the injury. Glenn took a little issue with the question reminding Cimini that Fields only missed one day of practice.

There's nothing wrong with being a little combative with the Jets beat writers, but Glenn needs to tow a fine line between being informative and being defensive. He doesn't have much of a filter and his postgame press conferences have potential to be must see TV for the entire season, especially after a loss.

Help Wanted: Kicker

The Jets surprisingly released veteran Anders Carlson, who performed well for them last year, in favor of a competition between two kickers with no NFL experience, Caden Davis and Harrison Mevis. It's way too early to tell if that was the right decision, but the early returns have not been good.  Both have struggled in the first week of camp although Saturday’s practice was much better as Davis and Mevis made a combined five of six field goals.  

We'll know more after the first preseason game against Green Bay on August 9, but a rough first game for both Davis and Mevis and you can expect the Jets to cast a wide net with a few more kickers in camp to compete for the job.

The Players Were Not Fans of Robert Saleh

Aaron Glenn is receiving plenty of praise from former Jets players and a few reporters for the way he conducts practice. Everything is more structured with a strong emphasis on coaching and professionalism. The differences in the practices between Glenn and Saleh haven't gone unnoticed with some of the players.

“He (Glenn) praises physicality, but more, like, accountability.  I think that’s very important for a head coach to do.  That’s something I haven’t seen as much of in my career.”, said Alijah Vera-Tucker.

Breece Hall said “it feels a lot better” going to work every day, compared to last year and felt there was “a lot of instability around the whole operation”. Hall praised Glenn saying that he's done a great job balancing being a player's coach and making sure they get the right amount of work in.

Even Glenn inadvertently took a shot at the previous coaching staff. When he was asked by SNY's Connor Hughes if Will McDonald's power that he showed during this first week of camp is a new element to his game, Glenn simply responded it's "Coaching." When pressed by Hughes to elaborate, Glenn said "You just said he has never done it last year, right? Now you see him do it. It's just coaching. That's all it is."

Saleh mostly got a pass after he was fired during last season as everyone loved blaming Woody Johnson for all the issues that hurt this team. But, the knock on Saleh was that he had difficulty separating being a player's friend and being their coach. Perhaps, he was a bigger part of the problems in the locker room than we were initially led to believe.

Quick Hits

1. Judging by Glenn's comments after his first practice, Micheal Clemons has a great shot at a roster spot if he wants it.  “He’s a big, strong, D-end that can set an edge.  He’s a power player so I expect him to go out there and play with power.”   Clemons has the size and the look of a defensive end and he fits Glenn's roster strategy of players who may have untapped potential. Clemons should see plenty of reps in the preseason as the team brings Jermaine Johnson along slowly after he was recently medically cleared from his achilles injury. If anyone can get through to #72, it's Glenn.
2. The Jets welcomed officials back to their practices for the first time in over two seasons in hopes it will make the players more disciplined and not take bad penalties at the worst possible moments of a game. “It’s no secret that we were the most penalized team in the league last season, so that’s one of the things that I want to nip in the bud early.”, Glenn said after speaking with reporters.  He admitted that some penalties aren't necessarily bad like the occasional pass interference or defensive holding call. But, he's more concerned with eliminating the penalties that crushed potential scoring drives or gave opposing offenses another chance after the defense initially made a stop to get off the field.
3. Malachi Corley was back at practice this week after dealing with injuries that kept him out through most of OTA's. He dropped his only target on the first day of camp, but bounced back on Saturday, catching a touchdown from quarterback Brady Cook. He was not used on special teams this week either, which could be considered a red flag. The second year wideout from Western Kentucky has a tough uphill battle to climb for one of the last receiver spots on the roster and with rookie Arian Smith as well as Tyler Johnson already making plays in camp, Corley is officially hanging on by a thread and the margin for error just got much smaller.

This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: New York Jets training camp recap: Week 1