Why Jets held secretive players-only practice after lopsided preseason loss to Giants

The New York Jets held a practice on Sunday without media or assistant coaches present the day after suffering a 31-12 loss to the New York Giants in their second preseason game. The only people in attendance for the practice were players and first-year coach Aaron Glenn.

The team clarified on Wednesday that the practice was technically a walk-through. Rules state that training camp practices must be open to the media, but walk-throughs can be closed. Nonetheless, it was a team gathering that was a bit out of the ordinary. 

"It was personally different for me because I've never experienced that, having no coaches out there," cornerback Brandon Stephens said via ESPN. "It was great for us to lead the groups by ourselves."

Jets coach Aaron Glenn 'very confident' in QB Justin Fields despite criticism of passing attack

Chris Bengel

During the practice, players conducted their own drills and called their own plays. Jets quarterback Justin Fields ran the offense, while linebacker Jamien Sherwood was in charge of the defense, per The Associated Press. Jets star wide receiver Garrett Wilson said in an interview with Overtime that the player-only practice lasted "about an hour."

Safety Andre Cisco told reporters that the purpose was to have the players take "ownership" and a greater understanding of why the coaches are calling certain plays.

"Yeah, [an] ownership thing and also just us owning the calls, owning the defense and really leaning into what is it that our coaches are going to be calling and why are they calling it, and can we even step in and kind of predict it as a defense?" Cisco said, via The Associated Press. "So Sherwood kind of took over those duties on that day. And it was just player-led from that standpoint. So we gathered ourselves, we took ownership of how many reps we were going to get, and then just holding guys accountable, how we were getting to the ball, executing the calls. And so it was effective."

In the loss to the Giants, Fields only played on the first two series of the game and finished just 1 of 5 for four yards through the air. The Jets allowed 478 yards of total offense -- 7.8 yards per play.

"We were sloppy, and the guys know that," Glenn said after the loss. "Overall, in general, it wasn't good enough. I don't care if it was the starting offense, I don't care if it was the second-team offense, the third-team offense."

The Jets are entering a new era with Glenn at the helm of the franchise. New York hired the former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator earlier this offseason after he spent the last four years with the team. New York also signed Fields to a two-year, $40 million deal earlier this offseason to be their starting quarterback.

New York opens the 2025 season against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 7.