The Jets finished their first preseason with a 1-2 record after losing to the Philadelphia Eagles, 19-17, last week at MetLife Stadium.

Head coach Aaron Glenn and his staff have made their final cuts and the initial 53-man roster is set.

The preseason didn’t tell us much about this Jets team as most of the starters barely played. There were some highlights and there are still some things that need to be worked on as the team now gets ready for the start of the season and a date with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 7.

Depending on what side of the fence you stand on regarding the importance of the preseason, you were either very excited or very disappointed.

Here are Jets Wire’s things we learned from the Jets during the 2025 preseason:

The Wide Receiver Room is a Work in Progress

Outside of Garrett Wilson, the Jets have rounded out their wide receiver room with plenty of depth and potential, but the jury is still out on whether they can be impact players.

Josh Reynolds will most likely be WR2 by default and Allen Lazard should be the No. 3, even though he missed the final two preseason games with a shoulder injury. We didn’t see much of Reynolds to feel comfortable with him being a starter opposite Wilson. The same goes for Tyler Johnson.

Rookie Arian Smith, the team’s fourth-round rookie, had a solid preseason putting to rest any drop issues he had while at the University of Georgia. But it’s unclear what his role will be and it’s also unfair to expect him to be an impact player so early in his NFL career.

The Jets could look to add another receiver through waivers, but the options available aren’t much better than what they currently have. Please be patient with this unit and expect some growing pains to start the season.

Justin Fields And the First-Team Offense Should Have Played More

Tyrod Taylor needing arthroscopic knee surgery may have altered the game plan a bit for Glenn when it came to playing his quarterbacks. With Taylor missing the entire preseason, it was way too risky to let his starting quarterback play too much in meaningless games and risk getting injured.

The downside to that decision is Fields never got much of a chance to develop chemistry with any of the other receivers not named Wilson.

While Fields did lead the Jets on a scoring drive against the Packers, he struggled against the Giants and didn’t play against the Eagles. Preseason football is the time to work on all those areas of a player’s game that need to be fixed.

Fields could have used more time on the field against other team’s defenses to work on his accuracy, gain more trust with his offensive line and show that the Jets will not be a one-dimensional offense this season.

The Special Teams Could Be One Of The Best In The League

New special teams coordinator Chris Banjo has already left his mark on this unit after only three preseason games. Their gunners have speed and can get down the field quick. Their tackling was excellent.

Austin McNamara did an incredible job punting the football with six punts inside the 20 and two that covered 60 yards. They made former Jet Mecole Hardman’s life hell against the Green Bay Packers, tackling him deep in his own territory once and forcing a fumble after he dropped a punt.

New York got solid kick returns from Kene Nwangwu and Jamaal Pritchett. This is a unit that needed a new voice for a long time. It looks like they finally have one in Banjo.

Penalties Are Still a Problem

Rome wasn’t built in a day.  We know that.  The transition from being the most penalized team two years in a row to a more disciplined unit will take some time.  

Accountability was something that was often preached, but never practiced under the Jets previous head coaches. But, after watching all three preseason games, it’s clear as day that Glenn is not afraid to chew a player out or bench them for dumb penalties that hurt the team.

The Jets were penalized 27 times for 234 yards in all three preseason games combined, which is pathetic.

Whether it was Micheal Clemons shoving Packers offensive lineman Zach Tom or Eric Watts getting called for a 15 yard unnecessary roughness penalty in back to back games, they have to find a way to keep their composure regardless of the situation.

Glenn and the starters will fix the penalty issue. The head coach knows penalties will happen. No team is perfect in that department. Hopefully, the players got it out of their system as they begin prep for Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers.

The Jets Running Game Could Be One of the Best In The League

Glenn wants to be a run heavy offense and it was on full display in the preseason. With Breece Hall and Braelon Allen, the Jets could have arguably one of the best running back tandems in the league. While they’re not quite on the level of what Glenn had in Detroit with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, Hall’s elusive style pairs well with the physical style of Allen. Isaiah Davis has a similar physical style to Allen and it led to some big runs from all three backs in games against the Packers and Giants.

A rushing attack is only as good as its offensive line and the Jets have a very underrated unit ready to make some noise this season. One thing that was great to watch with Tanner Engstrand’s offense is opposing defenses knew they were going to run the football and still couldn’t stop it. In one game, they ran the ball eight plays in a row for some big yardage. Allen looks like a different back this year compared to last season when his number wasn’t called much in any game. Let’s not forget the plays that will be called for Fields to use his legs for yardage.

Glenn and Engstrand know the team’s strength and have no issues daring teams to stop it.

This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: What we learned from the New York Jets’ 2025 preseason