The Jets head into week two of their NFL Preseason schedule with a game against the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field, this Friday night in Landover, Maryland.
The importance of improving week-to-week in practice and preseason games never gets lost on Jets head coach Todd Bowles. While the Jets were able to come away with a 17-13 win, over Jacksonville, in their preseason opener, Bowles knows there’s plenty of work still to do.
“You want to be more polished than you were in game one,” Bowles said. “We’re going to have more continuity and clean up some of the mistakes we made last week. This week we’re trying to get out and start and get guys’ continuity with each other and try to move on from there.”
Matt Forte Is Back On The Practice Field, Will He Play Friday Night?
This past Wednesday, for the first time in training camp, Jets running back Matt Forte participated in team drills. Forte has been hampered by a nagging hamstring injury, suffered before the beginning of camp, and has been limited to individual drills.
Forte, according to reports, is highly confident he’ll be ready for the regular-season opener. For now, the Jets have to just feel relieved to have him out on the practice field again doing more than just individual work.
“It was good to see him out there running around,”Jets head coach Todd Bowles said after practice. “I think he’s got to get into some football shape. They weren’t tackling or really hitting him. He was about three quarters speed. We look forward to him getting better. If he doesn’t have any setbacks tomorrow, then we’ll move forward.”
Bowles said there’s a “slim” chance of Forte playing, Friday night, and that he’ll warm up for the game. I still stand by my thought process on having Forte 100 percent ready for the regular season, however if Bowles does put him in there against the Redskins, I’d suspect it would only be for a series or two to just get a sweat going with his new teammates.
Will Christian Hackenberg Get On The Field?
There’s a very good chance Hackenberg sees playing time, against the Redskins.
“That’s the plan, Bowles said. ” We’ll see how it works out.
Four quarterbacks on a roster for a preseason game usually means there won’t to be much playing time, if any, leftover for the fourth guy. That guy, in the Jets preseason opener against Jacksonville, was Hackenberg.
It’s a new week and with that comes increased reps in practice for Hackenberg, the Jets 2016 second round pick.
“He’s gotten much more practice reps than he had the week before.” Bowles said.
Look for Hackenberg to not just get on the field for the first time, but for the Jets to take an extensive look at how he does in live game action.
Will Muhammad Wilkerson Play?
The news of Muhammad Wilkerson returning to the practice field brings added buzz and excitement around the Jets.
Wilkerson, returning from a broken leg he suffered in last year’s season-ending loss to the Buffalo Bills, has also vowed to be ready for the regular season-opener. If he plays against the Redskins, or in the preseason at all, will be something else the Jets will have to decide.
“Mo’s been practicing,” said Bowles on if Wilkerson will see playing time against Washington. “We’ll see. We’ll talk about it and go from there. He’s got a better chance than Matt though.”
Wilkerson’s impact to the defense is huge and expectations are high for the their talented line. Much like Forte, Wilkerson may get on the field but it could just be long enough to get that feeling of live action for a few snaps before it all turns real in September.