5 Things To Watch During Jets' 2026 Preseason Slate

The Jets get their preseason underway on Friday night as they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first of three August games, ahead of the regular season opener on Sept. 13.

Here are five things to watch during the preseason...

A different approach on defense

With Aaron Glenn now calling the plays, the Jets will apparently be putting more of an emphasis on size during early downs, with the defense geared toward ensuring they stop the run and get off the field on third down.

The unofficial depth chart that was released earlier this week hinted at this, with three interior linemen listed in the starting lineup, as the Jets are expected to operate more often out of odd-man fronts in early-down situations.

Glenn has promised that the defense would be multiple this year, and gameplans are always vanilla in the preseason. However, it will be interesting to see which formations and personnel packages New York uses in this first game.

Can David Bailey make an early impact?

The number two overall pick,Baileyhasn't disappointed in training camp, and Bucs tackle Luke Goedeke had his hands full with him during joint practices early this week. Can he start living up to the hype immediately?

Bailey might not get many chances to make an impact on Friday night, but he'll be pinning his ears back and getting after the quarterback, so the Bucs may struggle to keep him quiet. If he stands out, it will be a good sign that he's on the road to developing into the kind of impact player the Jets were hoping for.

An early glimpse of Geno Smith and the weapons at his disposal

Smithwill suit up and play for the Jets for the first time in almost a decade, and while he'll probably only be in the game for a few series, it wouldn't be surprising to see him take a few shots down the field.

For Jets fans, while first-round tight end Kenyon Sadiq remains out, it will be their first chance to get a look at the other first-round pass catcher, Omar Cooper Jr.

Smith will also be eager to establish in-game chemistry with Garrett Wilson, Adonai Mitchell, Mason Taylor, and Isaiah Williams, all of whom have been performing well in camp.

Handling of injury issues

Every team's main concern during the preseason is to avoid injuries, and the Jets will no doubt take a cautious approach toward playing time and workloads over the next few weeks.

There are already a few players out and we can learn plenty from how the team handles these absences. In particular, T'Vondre Sweat and Joseph Ossai are out, so New York will have to decide how this affects the rotation on the interior and at the edge positions.

Who is the kicker?

There are plenty of position battles to watch, especially in the defensive secondary, where multiple roles are up for grabs. However, one of the most interesting unanswered questions is who the kicker will be.

Neither Cade York nor Jason Sanders seems to have separated themselves yet in camp, so any preseason success or failure could make all the difference.

Of course, we can never be certain that the Jets will get into scoring range often enough to guarantee each of them plenty of work, so it will also be interesting to see who the first man up is.