Starting right guard Brian Winters welcomes the competition of lining up against the Jets defense every day.
"That's one of the best defenses you're going to see in the NFL," Winters said. "Going up against them day in and day out is a challenge for us. Every day we're coming to work and we have to know that. In practice, we're never going to see a defense do as many schemes as they do, so it's great for us and makes Sundays easier."
The 6'4", 320-pounder will have new neighbors on the offensive line as the Green & White are in the midst of a tackle competition and Wesley Johnson could be in line to replace Nick Mangold. So far, Ben Ijalana, Kelvin Beachum and Brandon Shell have been sharing reps on the outside and Johnson has been taking first-team reps at center.
With a lot of new faces in addition to the challenge of learning a new system, the result has been inconsistent practices for the offense during the first week of camp.
"It's growing pains. Everyone goes through it," Winters said. "We have new pieces on the offensive line. It takes awhile to mesh, but once we do, we'll get everything moving. We have new pieces from last year. It just takes a little time to get everyone involved. I have to work off the right tackle and center, it takes time to mesh."
Even though the Kent State Product and the rest of the unit have yet to gel, he can already see the potential.
"We're doing a great job with everything," he said. "We're moving the ball great. Our running game, passing game, it's amazing. I'm excited for everything we have going."
Winters is slowly easing back into the mix as he's recovering from shoulder surgery, but he got ready for training camp by pulling a 6,800-pound truck.
"I'm not a fan of running, so I like to try to do different workouts," he said. "My brilliant idea was if I don't like to run, why not simulate what we do on the field. That was pushing and pulling the truck. It was a good changeup. It was fun."
