Beginning his third season as a pro and second defending against four-time MVP QB Aaron Rodgers in training camp, Jets pass rusher Jermaine Johnson is feeling well-equipped for the grind of a full NFL season.

At practice Tuesday, Johnson and the Jets defense were put through the ringer of a two-and-a-half-hour practice that simulated three quarters of game action. Johnson competed well, consistently pressuring Rodgers and winning from both edges.

"I feel good after a practice like that now that I might not have before," Johnson said. "It is just callusing and getting your body strong. I think us as a team, we accept that challenge and up our game."

Johnson began learning the pro ropes as a rookie member of the Jets' front-seven rotation in 2022. He played 14 games with no starts, taking 312 defensive snaps and recording 2.5 sacks.

This past season, he became a full-time starter while playing 747 defensive snaps over 17 games and posting 7.5 sacks, second on the team behind only DL Bryce Huff. Initially named a Pro Bowl alternate, Johnson was named to his first Pro Bowl Games following a series of dropouts.

Now in his third Jets training camp, Johnson feels poised to take his game up another notch.

"I just have grown a lot in my confidence from the beginning of my career to now," Johnson said. "I have been here and done it, now I am just taking my game to that next level. Solly (Solomon Thomas) told me yesterday that the sky is the limit for me and just to keep going. I tell myself that all the time, but for your peers to also see that in you and being respected it very important to me."

In practice, Rodgers has had the Jets' defense on its toes and Johnson has benefitted, improving as both a pass and run defender.

"He is smart and just knows what plays to get to," Johnsons said. "He has man beaters or zone beaters, whatever have you, or if he can get a hard count in. He is just a field general that has been doing this as a long time at a really high clip. He is certainly the best we will go up against, and we go against him every day."

In addition, Rodgers has been using his patented hard count to get defenders to jump offsides. Johnson has found ways to adapt.

"I can tell when to go based on the tackles' legs because tackles are taught to get off early," Johnson said. "Then there is Aaron's motion and stuff like that. That is why I sometimes stand up, because even if I do jump, I won't be in the neutral zone."

Johnson did not play in the Jets first preseason game against the Commanders Saturday. However, he has made the most of his opportunities in practice that has often seen him line up against LT Tyron Smith.

"We are really one of only a few positions that can't go full-go because our job involves hitting the quarterback," Johnson said. "But I just really try to focus on things that I need to get better at. I know the stuff I am good at, but I see practice as a chance to work on stuff. I am not here to impress anybody, just get ready to perform for my team on Sunday. That is how I see practices."