Beginning his 10th year in the NFL, Jets captain C.J. Mosley is not expected to play much this preseason. So, for the five-time second-team All-Pro, he treated Thursday's joint practice with the Panthers as a dress rehearsal of sorts.

"For me joint practices are a small step in getting ready for the regular season," Mosley said. "I am watching film on an opponent and getting my study habits right like I would for a regular-season game. Keying the right notes and keying the right things in practice. Once we get out there on the field, we are competing trying to show our best and execute."

Mosley, in his fifth year with the Jets, hasn't lost a step despite turning 32 in June. In 2023, he started all 17 games, led the Green & White in tackles (152) and called the plays for the NFL's third ranked-defense in yards allowed.

Mosley and the Jets' traveled down to Charlotte Wednesday afternoon and got on the field with Carolina Thursday morning. And despite a slow start, Mosley liked the team's resilience.

"It was a workday," Mosley said. "The cons of being the guest and going to joint practices, we have to get ready a little quicker. It took us a little while to sort of get in the zone, but once we got warmed up it started to get a little bit competitive. It is fun to be out there going against another team but overall felt like it was a good day."

Practicing with Carolina for the second season in a row, Mosley took note of the improvements the 2023 first overall draft pick, QB Bryce Young, made going from Year 1 to Year 2.

"We have a really good defensive line, so there were couple times in there where he had to really get out of the pocket and make some throws on the run," Mosely said. "They did a lot of misdirection, boot, and obviously he's a quarterback that's mobile so he's always been able to get out of the pocket and make plays, I think he's going to be able to make some plays on the back end."

Young and Carolina's new head coach Dave Canales, the former Buccaneers and Seahawks offensive coordinator, got the better of Mosley and his unit in the early red-zone periods. The mike 'backer was encouraged , however, by the experience the unit got playing with their backs against the goal line.

"It puts a lot of stress on us early," Mosley said. "It is all Cover 1, so instead of doing a traditional one-on-one, DB, LB and running back battles, we just do seven-on-seven with Cover 1 one. So is it hard, yes. Is it the first thing we have to do? Yes. But we don't want to make any excuses because there are going to be a lot of critical downs and third-and-shorts where we have to get off the field, so we have to just use that same mentality."

After the Jets' preseason game against the Panthers on Saturday night, which Mosley likely won't play in, the team will travel back to New Jersey to prepare for its final joint session, against the Giants on Wednesday.

Mosley's excited to back to One Jets Drive for one final tune up against their cross-town rivals before opening the season against the 49ers in Santa Clara, CA, on Monday night, Sept. 9.

"Practices are cool when you're at home," Mosley said. "But when you're away, you have to adjust to certain things, and you don't get the schedule that you would when you're getting ready for practice. I try not to make a big deal about it because I am at the point where I am not even playing in preseason games, so theses joint practices are like my gamedays."