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The New York Jets just picked up a unique advantage ahead of the 2021 season.
Ahead of the team’s second scheduled preseason game on Saturday, August 21 vs the Green Bay Packers, the Jets will participate in several joint practices. The news was first reported by Brian Costello of the New York Post.
Those practices are set to take place on August 18 and 19 featuring both the Jets and the Packers. This will be the first time the green and white have participated in a joint practice with another NFL team in over three years.
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A True Measuring Stick Ahead of 2021 Season
The Jets don’t do this sort of thing very often and quite frankly they should do it more. It’s a unique opportunity to test your mettle against another team.
Speaking as a former player, this can be a breath of fresh air in the middle of training camp. For weeks you’re smacking your own teammates around and things get boring. You’re itching to hit someone of a different colored jersey.
This is the ultimate measuring stick for the Jets.
The Packers are not only one of the most storied franchises in NFL history, but they’ve been the class of the league over the last few years. Over the last two seasons, Green Bay has gone 13-3, won the NFC North, and reached back-to-back NFC Championship games.
In the wise words of the “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, to be the man, you gotta beat the man! WOOOOOOOOO!
Some Familial Connections Made This a Reality
Of course, the commonality with the recent success of the Packers is tied with their head coach Matt LaFleur. The last name should sound familiar and that’s because Matt is the older brother of new Jets offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur.
Although the connections between the two organizations don’t stop there. Gang Green head coach Robert Saleh used to be Matt’s roommate and fellow grad assistant at Central Michigan.
In an interesting twist of fate, Saleh gave the older LaFleur brother his first crack in the NFL as an offensive assistant with the Houston Texans. They have a special connection and the eventual Packers head coach was Saleh’s best man at his wedding.
This joint practice collab was almost too obvious not to happen. Here are the top matchups to watch out for:
- The high-flying Packers offense goes against the Saleh defense.
- Taking that to another level we’ll see Davante Adams vs whichever Jets cornerback is going to be willing to step up to the plate. Although will we see Aaron Rodgers? That is yet to be determined as he continues to try and find a new NFL home via trade.
- Jets’ offensive line vs the Packers pass rush.
- Most people inside the green and white building believe they’ve constructed the best possible offensive line they could have this offseason. Now they’ll get to test it out against a ferocious pass rush that is going to get after a young quarterback in Zach Wilson out of BYU.
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