The Jets held a walk-through Wednesday and WR Davante Adams was a full participant. After missing the previous three games due to a hamstring ailment, Adams, who had 18 catches in the Raiders' first three contests, is expected to make his Jets debut against the Steelers Sunday night in Pittsburgh.
"It's a challenge for Todd Downing and the offensive staff and getting him up to speed as fast as possible," Ulbrich said of the star wideout's transition to a new offense. "Fortunately, there is a lot of familiarity with the offense. It's been a system he's been a part of for years. I don't foresee it being a huge obstacle getting him going and involved."
On Tuesday, the Jets and Raiders finalized a deal that brought Adams to the East Coast in exchange for a 2025 conditional third-round pick. When paired together with the Green Bay Packers from 2018-21, Aaron Rodgers and Adams connected 425 times for 5,257 yards and 47 TDs. Those numbers were the most by any QB-WR duo during that span. Adams joins a WR room that also features Garrett Wilson, whose 41 receptions rank No. 2 in the NFL, and another former Packers teammate in Allen Lazard, whose 5 receiving scored are tied for first in the league.
"It's going to give us more an opportunity to have more flexibility with where we move these guys around," Ulbrich said. "Sometimes it will be based upon the route concepts, sometimes the matchups. But it will give us a lot of freedom to play around with where these guys line up and just make sure we're using the target, moving the target, as often as we can."
Over the last two games, Wilson has totaled 21 receptions, 208 receiving yards and 2 TDs. A versatile wideout, Wilson can excel on the outside and thrive from the slot.
"His movement is absolutely ridiculous," Ulbrich said. "It doesn't make sense the way he can change directions, come out of breaks, the way he can set you up. He's like an AND1 basketball player in there. He's virtually an impossible cover in my opinion in 1-on-1, he's a problem. And now he's starting to get way more detailed in everything he's doing, learning the nuance of the scheme and then his relationship with Aaron is going to a deeper level, just more time on task together. So, it's really cool to see him growing and evolving as a football player. And as long as we see that, we're just going to see this guy blossom into the superstar we know he can become."
Wilson took to X this week, stating the Jets have to "go" and they must do it "now".
"I've really seen an evolution into the leader he's starting to become – he's starting to get more comfortable in that role and start(ing) to really bring guys along with him," Ulbrich said. "I think that message was just 100% excited about bringing a new teammate that can absolutely help our offense and our team, and the truth is it's going to help him. When you have two receivers that caliber out there, you have to pick and choose your poison and choose who you bracket and who you double and who you give help to and who you don't. So, it will help both those guys."
While the Jets offense converted 1 of 4 (25%) inside the red zone in their loss to the Bills, they had 15 plays of 10+ yards and 8 plays of 20+yards as Breece Hall (18-113-6.3), Wilson (8-107-13.4-1TD)and Lazard (6-114-19.0-1TD) all eclipsed 100 yards.
"It's exactly what we had talked about before the game, understanding that the run game had to get it going," Ulbrich said. "And with that, all that play-pass, we created all this space on the second and third levels of defense and the offense took advantage of it. That's got to become a trend that we just keep growing and getting better and better every week. But again, everything, in my opinion, starts with that run game because it creates all that space that is necessary."
Jetcetera
The Jets held a walk-through Wednesday. If they held a full practice, CB Michael Carter II (back), CB D.J. Reed (groin), LT Tyron Smith (vet day) and QB Aaron Rodgers (ankle) would not have practiced. While Rodgers will return to practice Thursday, the two most likely candidates to miss Sunday's game vs. the Steelers are Carter and Reed. "It is a concern but ,we're fortunate to have great depth at that position," Ulbrich said. "So as much as that can give you some angst, it's also exciting from the standpoint you give another guy an opportunity. We've been so fortunate this year to have Isaiah Oliver. He is the Swiss army knife back there who has been able to play safety, nickel and corner without blinking, so he's doing a good job. … Steelers HC Mike Tomlin said Russell Wilson is in "consideration" to start Sunday night against the Jets. Justin Fields is 4-2 as a starting QB and has 5 rush TDs, but the Steelers rank No. 28 in pass yards. "From the pass-game perspective, not much will change," Ulbrich said if there is a QB change. "I know Arthur Smith, his passing game is very conducive to an athletic quarterback…. So, from that standpoint, I don't see a whole lot of change. Where you have to account for Justin Fields is the scrambling and the quarterback runs because he'll have designed runs that aren't necessarily Russell's forte. So having an answer for the quarterback runs and then at times accounting for the scramble and you do that a lot of different ways – you appoint a spy, a free player. From a coverage standpoint, you can create more vision where more guys are looking at him, but we have answers either way."
