Jets-Bucs Training Camp Report: Fights, Offensive Struggles, Rookies Highlight Practice

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. – If Tuesday’s joint practice between the Jets and Buccaneers was any indication, players are ready for the 2026 NFL regular season.

Read more Could Tyreek Hill Be the Rams’ Next Odell Beckham Jr.?

Throughout the two-hour practice in 85 degrees, New York and Tampa Bay traded both highlights and haymakers with no fewer than five fights breaking out. The most intense skirmish happened when the Buccaneers’ first-team offense and the Jets’ top-line defense squared off, with right tackle Luke Goedeke picking up a defender’s helmet and launching it at least 20–25 yards in the air (before impressively being caught by a Jets staffer).

Perhaps the most important, if not the most exciting action came from the other sides of the ball, with New York’s offense trying to assert itself against Tampa Bay’s starting defense. For both units, there are myriad questions, and in both cases, it could be the difference between playing meaningful football in December and January.

Jets offense struggles, then rallies behind Geno Smith

AD Mitchell repeatedly got open in team drills, and Geno Smith repeatedly misfired in his direction.

Mitchell put on an array of moves multiple times against overmatched Tampa defenders, once getting loose down the left sideline and then, moments later, running a crisp outbreaking route on the right side. Smith overthrew the first attempt, and then missed behind Mitchell on the second.

If there’s a positive, it’s Mitchell, who came to the Jets last year in the Sauce Gardner trade and showed promise over eight games with 24 receptions for 301 yards and two touchdowns (albeit on 58 targets).

“He’s put the work in, and as he continues his trajectory right here, he will be a really good Robin to our Batman,” said receivers coach Shawn Jefferson, referencing star receiver Garrett Wilson.

The early going of the practice was brutal for New York, as Smith threw as many interceptions as completions (two) in the first full 11-on-11 period. One of the picks was brought back for six by corner Damarion (Pepe) Williams, who took advantage of Wilson slipping to make the pick.

As the day progressed, so did the Jets’ offense, but gradually. It was an afternoon of safe, short passes for the most part before ending the day in red-zone drills, where Smith had his best throws, including touchdowns to tight end Mason Taylor and Wilson, who caught a deflected ball and turned it into an elusive odyssey, shaking by would-be tacklers for a touchdown.

“A couple years ago, he had to be the savior,” Jefferson said. “Now we’ve put pieces around him so that he doesn’t have to strain as hard. Sometimes when you strain so much, the engine dies. So, we’re in a good place with him right now.”

If you gave the Jets truth serum, they’d likely admit this season isn’t about winning a championship. It’s likely not even about reaching the playoffs. It’s about developing a team that is competitive each week, something it wasn’t in 2025 under first-year coach Aaron Glenn.

Last season, New York lost nine games by double digits on its way to a 3–14 record and the second pick in the draft. In their last five games, the Jets were outscored 188–54. The defense, which ranked 25th in yards and 31st in points allowed last year, isn’t going to suddenly become the Steel Curtain, even with the notable addition of standout first-round edge rusher David Bailey, who dominated Goedeke throughout much of the practice.

While that group aims for significant improvement as Glenn takes over the play-calling after Steve Wilks’s dismissal in December, it’ll be a climb.

To that point, the offense has to produce for New York to be viable come Thanksgiving. If new coordinator Frank Reich can find some long-term pieces from the group, including first-rounders Kenyon Sadiq and Omar Cooper Jr., that will be a victory for the franchise. Regardless, in all likelihood, New York will be drafting its quarterback of the future in April, with Smith being a one-year stopgap.

Read more Nolan Arenado is Proving Everyone Wrong With Diamondbacks

One up-and-comer to keep an eye on? Taylor.

While his leaping touchdown grab to punctuate practice was nice, his other play throughout was noticeable. This offseason, Taylor trained at PER4ORM in Davie, Fla., alongside fellow tight end Jonnu Smith and Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving, focusing on bettering himself as a blocker while also elevating as a pass-catcher following a rookie season that included 44 catches for 369 yards and a touchdown across 13 games. According to Taylor, progress has come this summer, but there’s more work to be done.

“I’ve shown flashes of what I can do, but when you’re talking on a consistent level, it could have been much better,” Taylor says of his run-blocking. “And then run after catch is something I’ve worked on all offseason. Just knowing what you want to do with the ball after you receive it, having a plan of attack and just having the mindset that the first person isn’t taking me down.”

Come September, Glenn and Reich have to win or face the real possibility of watching their former team select Arch Manning or Dante Moore.

To win enough, Smith must be better than he was on Tuesday as the pieces around him continue to show improvement.

Bucs should feel encouraged about remade front seven

Coming out of the draft, one personnel executive told me Josiah Trotter was the biggest steal as the No. 46 pick.

He looked the part on Tuesday.

Playing with the starting defense, the rookie inside linebacker out of Missouri picked off Smith on a busted screen pass while consistently helping to blow up inside runs. On one play, Trotter knifed through the second-string offensive line and wrapped up back Kene Nwangwu for a tackle for loss before exulting in triumph. One

Still, while Trotter could be an emerging star, the Buccaneers have plenty of problems to fix from a year ago.

In 2025, Bucs coach Todd Bowles dialed up one blitz after another as per usual. Tampa Bay ranked fourth in blitz percentage at 29.6%, and still ranked in the league’s bottom half of sacks (37) and pressure rate (19.8%). The result was an 8–9 finish, including a 3–8 collapse down the stretch, and the Bucs missed the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

As a result, the Buccaneers revamped their pass rush and simultaneously reimagined their linebackers after the retirement of Lavonte David. In response, general manager Jason Licht signed Al-Quadin Muhammad after posting a career-best 11 sacks last year before drafting defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. in the first round. On the second level, the Buccaneers signed 31-year-old veteran Alex Anzalone to pair with Trotter.

While Trotter was the star of Tuesday’s defensive showing, Bain and Muhammad each provided good pressure in both one-on-one and team periods. Although it’s an August practice against a team projected to finish well outside the playoffs, Bain having wins and draws against 2025 first-round right tackle Armand Membou is notable. Anzalone also had an interception in seven-on-seven drills to highlight a solid morning.

If Tampa’s defense can even get into the top half of the league’s scoring defenses as it did every year between 2020–24, the Buccaneers should once again be the NFC South favorite in the weak division.

This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jets-Bucs Training Camp Report: Fights, Offensive Struggles, Rookies Highlight Practice.

Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Read more Dodgers C Dalton Rushing doesn’t believe he needs UCL surgery

This story was originally published August 11, 2026 at 11:38 AM.