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5 Things to Watch in Jets Green & White Practice at MetLife Stadium

Head Coach Adam Gase Says Team Has a Lot to Improve 

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The Jets will practice at MetLife Stadium on Sunday for the first time in their home stadium since last Dec. 22 . Fans can tune in across the Jets' social media platforms at 12:15 p.m. for "Training Camp LIVE," presented by Atlantic Health System for a look-in at the practice. Fans can also tune into SNY Monday at 6:30 p.m. for an exclusive airing of practice. Below are five items to watch for in Sunday's practice:

Bounce Back
The first-team offense and defense struggled in the Jets' scrimmage on Wednesday. Wide receivers Chris Hogan and Jamison Crowder both lost fumbles, and QB Sam Darnold was intercepted by rookie S Ashtyn Davis. The offense was also penalized a number of times. The defense allowed a handful of chunk plays including a 70-plus-yard touchdown run from La'Mical Perine.

"I know that it's a good kind of middle point for us to where now when we come back to practice, our guys realize, hey times running out," Head Coach Adam Gase said after Wednesday's scrimmage. "We've got to get this stuff cleaned up as fast as possible and the next time we have a scrimmage we've got to be a lot smoother. We've got to execute a lot better. We need to make sure that we protect the ball better, be better with our run fits. There's going to be a lot of great things that we're going to get out of this film."

The Clock Is Running Out
The Jets have a laundry list of injuries from players who will play key roles in 2020 like WR Breshad Perriman (knee) and CB Pierre Desir (hamstring) to players such as T Conor McDermott (knee) and LB James Burgess (low back). Time is ticking as the season opener at Buffalo is Sept. 13.

"Hopefully we start getting these guys back by bunches," Gase said. "And it's the right time because the sense of urgency has got to be there. Everybody's got to earn their spot and we need guys to be out there, we need guys going in that first game knowing what to do. We need to have some kind of chemistry heading in that first game."

See the Top Images from the Second Week of Practices at 2020 Jets Camp

Pseudo Preseason
Players competing for roster spots have an opportunity to stand out Sunday. The starters on offense and defense lined up against the second-team players Wednesday and so on with the second and third teams. We'll see if the format is the same, but this is as close to a game-like setting the players will get without a preseason before the rosters are cut from 80 players to 53.

"We have to do everything we can to prepare ourselves and at same time you've got a bunch of guys battling for jobs," Gase said. "Those guys have to do everything they can and put themselves in position to force us to make a decision. And when we get to that week where we're actually preparing for a game, we've got to make all those days before count."

Leg Up
Special teams coordinator Brant Boyer referred to scrimmages as the "tell-all" for his unit with no preseason. Sam Ficken and Brett Maher are "neck and neck" in their kicking competition, but a good performance could provide one of them with a leg up.

"I think they both have been very productive," Boyer said. "Both have pretty solid percentages thus far. They both have more than adequate legs. I think that Sam did a solid job last year, and Brett definitely has experience and everything like that. … Everyday they're being charted on the same kicks from kickoffs to mortar kicks to onside to field goals. So, it's all going to come down to a big body of work and who we decide on at the end."

Rooks Are Home
Sunday will mark the first time the rookie class will be at MetLife Stadium. Perine and Davis were both impressive in the Jets' scrimmage Wednesday, but how will they perform Sunday? Punter Braden Mann, whom Boyer complimented earlier this week, will have an opportunity to show off his leg at MetLife for the first time. The rookies are dealing with injuries e.g. WR Denzel Mims (hamstring) and DL Jabari Zuniga (quad), but the healthy young players have been impressive starting with the No. 11 overall pick Mekhi Becton.

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