Monday morning’s training camp practice at One Jets Drive marked the first time the Jets were in full pads in 2025, and it was clear that head coach Aaron Glenn wants to establish a level of physicality right away.
While some teams elect to hold back on the physicality early in camp and instead opt for more of a wrap-and-release form of tackling, the Jets tackled to the ground during Monday’s one-one-one open field drills. They ran one-on-one pass-blocking drills with their O-line vs. D-line. Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic called it the most physical training camp he’s covered in years.
So make no mistake: Glenn is not going to shy away from his players being physical.
“You try to create an identity of your team, and you start to figure out who’s going to be a part of that identity, and that’s what the evaluation process is,” Glenn said after practice. “We’re evaluating in the meeting room, we’re evaluating on the field, and they all know that that’s a part of who we want to be. And the good thing is, man, they look forward to it.”
Running back Braelon Allen, known for his downhill, violent running style, echoed what his head coach had to say, stating that he hadn’t run tackling drills like Monday’s since his youth football days during high school scrimmages.
"Definitely enjoyed it a lot,” Allen said. “That first padded practice, it almost feels like a game the night before. The next day you gotta get your mind right because you know it's up."
"That's gonna be our identity," the second-year running back added later. "That starts up front and with the run game, so he's relying on us to kinda set that tone."
“We’re fired up, especially when pads came on,” said receiver and returner Xavier Gipson. “We were fired up before pads came on. [Glenn] keeps preaching that [physicality] and just hearing the guys talking about it every day is giving you a great feeling for sure."
While teaching how to properly tackle and establishing a physical identity early in camp are clearly of great import to Glenn and his staff, there’s obviously a balance when it comes to risking injury.
No one ever wants to see a player go down with a serious injury, especially during training camp when the season is still so young, but Glenn explained that injuries often can’t be avoided, and that his team knows that tackling is huge part of who they want to be.
“I think injuries are part of this game, and there’s no way to hide from it,” Glenn said. “Usually when you try to hide from it, that’s when they pop up. The principles of this game will never change. This game is about running, blocking, and tackling, and if you don’t practice that, me as a head coach, how am I giving my guys a chance to win?
“The only way to get better at something is to rep it, and I’m not saying we’re going to tackle every practice, but the things is we’re going to put ourselves in position to do it, or we’re going to do it. And guys understand that. They knew that coming in. The thing I like about it is they’ve bought into that, and they understand it too. They understand that I’m trying to do everything I can to help them win games. It’s part of it. Listen, I’ve been a part of injuries, and you can’t run from it.”
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