July 15, 2025 • 21 mins
Host Eric Allen is joined in the studio by ST Coordinator Chris Banjo. The former Broncos assistant and NFL safety talks about the changes HC Aaron Glenn is making to the team's culture and the potential for the Green & White's special teams unit in 2025.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We got a special podcast on the way because we're
talking special teams with coordinator Chris Banjo and Quincy and
Numa and.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Meet anybody in the world.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
And I think we're gonna win. Next Sunday gets Wonder.
Can't wait.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Put your seatbelts on and get ready for the ride.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Official Jests podcast is presented by Kendrick Scott, the Jewelry
Company to shiny brighton doing good, shop, game Day, jewelry styles,
and so much more at Kendrascott dot com. On your
thirty third birthday, you announced on social media that you
were retiring from football. What was your plans at that point?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
To be honest, my plans that expedited a little bit.
I didn't plan initially to retire my quote unquote thirty
third birthday. I had to just finish my tenth season,
you know. A couple weeks prior. I anticipated maybe around
seeing if I was going to try for eleventh. But
I received a call from a former coaching minder in
coach Sean Payton, and he painted a picture of like
what coaching could look like for me. He'd always talked about,
(01:10):
he'd always repen something like that in my prior playing
days with him, but I never, you know, never really
took it all that serious at the time. But Seawan
is real persistent, you know, and he's very very good
at peyton visuals for people. So when he did that,
I was able to kind of see the same vision
that he had and it made sense. And I also
knew the passion I still had for football in general,
So that went into my decision and retire.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Had you and Sean spoke about possibly coaching in your
future during your playing this, yes, he had referenced it.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah, back when I was adoring this, he'd always you
always just say you'd be a great coach, You'd be
a good coach when you're doing And I used to
mess around with him like, man, I'm not I'm not
trying to do that, you know. I'm worried about playing
right now, obviously, And I hadn't played for Sean by
the time when he had called me in four years.
My last time played for Sean was in twenty nineteen.
I had retired it well after the twenty twenty two season,
so when he called me, I wasn't thinking that he
(02:02):
was calling me about coaching, but sure enough he was,
and instantly those memories came back about, you know, the
conversations we had, and I was able to kind of
see it full.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
So take me back to New Orleans. Not only is
Peyton head coach, but your secondary coach is a guy
by the name of Aaron Glen No. What was it
like for you being in that position room you were
safety and also what kind of relationship did you guys
strike up there?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
I think we were able, by guys Grace, to strike
up a very very good relationship, very great working relationship
in regards to you know, what he expected from me
as a player, what I could expect from him, at
him as a coach, how demanding he was, and everything
that he poured into us as players there, I was great.
I was able to carry a lot of those same
things with me, not only on the football field, but
(02:49):
in life. From our time there in New Orleans. He had,
you know, real similar He had mentioned, you know, me
being a coach on the field and you know, being
able to get guys lined up, and he was able
to see kind of my my attention to detail and
approaching my game. And sure enough, as I got into
coaching too, he was excited for me, cited for my
opportunity to go coach, and just talked about, you know
(03:10):
what my future can end up looking like in regards
to coaching.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
So you go to us, some of you, you're a
successful college player, you go on drafted. How did you
go on to play one hundred and thirty one games
as far as regular season play in the National Football
League and then you have a bunch of playoff games
on your resume as well.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, only by guy's grace when you say going on undrafted,
that route obviously is not the most ideal route or
the most iconic by any means. My situation was a
little bit different. Not only did I go and drafted,
but I was out of football for a whole year
before I had I received my first opportunity. During that time,
I was working as a tech recruiter also, you know,
(03:50):
waking up at four o'clock working out, just trying to
get you know, every opportunity I could. And fortunately enough,
I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity in Jacksonville,
got cut the day before training camp, the day right
training camp, signed the Green Bay four four days later,
four days late in the training camp, and I was
fortunate enough to make the fifty three and then very
(04:11):
an I was able to play ten years, but to
be able to play, like you said, one hundred and
thirty one games, be a part of a numerous playoff games. Again,
it's all by guy's grace. I did everything I possibly
could have, put one foot in front of the other
and guided the rest.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
I gotta imagine it's easy for you to look around
your room, the Special Teams room right now and relate
to all these guys, because not only are you a
young dude, but you were a core Special Teams player
throughout your career, so across the board you did it.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yes, yeah, yes, so no doubt about it. In regardless
of being able to relate to them, I'm talking about
everything they do they think about. I'm like, I'm right
there with you. So the passion that I try to
speak with them is not because I'm I'm just making
something up. I've literally been fortunate enough to do exactly
what it is that you're doing right now, sitting in
these access these exact same seats. So speaking from that perspective,
(05:03):
I think I've been fortunate enough to be able to
grab some of those guys' attention when it comes to that.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
You know this all too well, but special teams is
off and overlooked. People talk about offensive unit, defensive unit.
How fortunate do you feel like you are here where
a guy in Aaron Glenn is gonna put such an
emphasis and importance of special teams.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Very fortunate, extremely fortunate, not only being a coach, but
for the guys who are on this team to hear
those same words come from his mouth and echo that sentiment.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
It's huge.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
It's huge.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
I tell these guys all the time, the special teams,
specifically for me, change my life, and I believe it
can do the same for them. And to have a
head coach that believes in that, believes in that perspective
for the game, I think it's huge. I think it's
kind of a little bit of a lost start in
regards to the NFL how a lot of teams approach it.
But again, to have a head coach that buys in
like that to it, I think it's phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Can you speak to your experience in Denver and how
that's gonna help you now as you are the guy
in front of the room you're making the calls.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
I think I was fortunateenough to have a great experience
in Denver. I was able. I was fortunate to be
molded by a lot of great people in regards to
this game, this fourth down game that we play on
special teams. When you talk about Mike Westyle, who's obviously
a former great here, you talk about Ben kay Wika,
who's had some history here as well. Obviously Sean Payton
is being another head coach who really emphasized the special
team as well. So Denver was a great infrastructure for
(06:24):
me to kind of come up in in regards to,
you know, being a young coach. But now I'm excited
for my opportunity here now with another great coaching staff.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Can you speak to the similarities between a g and Peyton.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
They're similar, but they're also very different. I mean, when
you talk about the intensity, the attention to detail, I
think that's to be I would say this is the
biggest similarity. I would note right there. Their attention to
detail is very very rare that I've come across in
this game of football. They like no details too small
or too big, and they make sure they emphasize that.
(06:57):
But they're also very different in terms of just their
person Nowadays, you know their backgrounds, A little bit. They
have their own way of stamping different things that they do.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
For sure, we got to let you get downstairs, but
I wanted to ask you about the competitions here across
the board. With your unit starting a kicker and you
can go back to punter as well. It's in the
early going. What's gonna happen once we get through OTA's
and once training camp starts, not only at those two positions,
(07:27):
but for the rest of you guys.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
No doubt. I mean you said the word, the key
word right, there's competition and that's something AG is stressed
since day one that all of us have stepped into
here to this building. It is about competition and they
thrive on that, they live on that. And if there's
no secret that we're in a competition. Specifically, when we
talk about from the specialist standpoint, we're very excited to
see what all those guys can do. They have a
(07:50):
lot of potential and what they're able to do the
tools that they have. But again across the board that
you've talked about, when you talk about a lot of
these four core guys, we're just excited to see all
these guys hit the ground running and see what that
competition does well.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Thanks Chris, appreciate you, Tom, Sir, thank you. Get ready
for all the action energy of Jets game day this
season with twenty twenty five season tickets. Lock in your
seats to be there for every snap of exciting matchups
at my Life Stadium at and why Jets dot com
slash season tickets, Quincy, what's up? What's going on? You
(08:23):
enjoyed the summer?
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Of course, it's been pretty good so far, so I
just wish it was our raining out here.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Yeah, you had the sun in southern California.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
The beautiful son, no humidity.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
It was nice. I loved it out there. All right.
Let's talk about special teams, Yes, sir, Jets have a
new coaching staff. Of course, Aaron Glenn selected Chris Banjo
to lead his special teams unit. Your thought of the choice.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
I think it's you know, when you think about special teams,
that's a huge road to fill, right, because I think
a lot of people don't talk about special teams and
the importance of it. As a young guy, you realize
that it's really important because if you want to get
on the field, you need better teams. So to bring
in a guy that was an assistant last year to
be your head coordinator. You know that means you have
a lot of faith in him. This is a young
(09:07):
special teams unit, right, last year we had a lot
of older guys, the punter, the kicker. Right now you've
got you know, new punter, new kicker. Right you got
a returner coming back that you know had some success.
But he's got he's got his work cutout for him.
So I've said it before. I think that AG really
wants his guys to be great coaches and great teachers.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
You, as a player, is that something that resonated with
you that Hey, listen, my coordinator is a young dude,
and not only is young, but he played in this
league over ten years.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Yeah, so I never had that experience. So I think
as special teams it would be interesting, right, And I
hope that he kind of brings this film because Special
Teams film is different than any other film. I like
Special Teams because it's like mercenary one on one. It's
like real dog like dog play there.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Man.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Like I think if I, if I didn't have success
on offense, I would have tried to play Special teams
as long as possible because you really get to show
your athletic ability and your mentality. So I hope he
brings that into the coaching room because it'll just kind
of give him a little one up.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
What's that mentality? Entering the National Football League if you
are a late round pick or an undrafted free agent.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Oh, I mean it's important. I think you see a
lot of guys say, oh, I'm never going to play
special teams. I think that's the wrong. Like I don't
care where you're drafted, honestly, Like you should try to
find a way because it'll just kind of get you
in the good graces. Like a young guy like myself,
a six round pick. There was three guys that we
drafted at receiver, but I separated myself because I got
in with the special teams coach. Now he knows my
(10:34):
name right, he wants to put me on the field,
So it just kind of now it's like, Okay, we
have an extra slot. Well, this receiver played special teams.
Let's put him out there. So you know, I think
it's one of the most important things you can do
as a young guy.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
It was such an emphasis for Aaron Glenn and his
two previous stops. When you're talking about Detroit under Dan
Campbell and then of course Sean Payton in New Orleans
for years. He just put that on top far as
we're going to be good at this, and then you
go back as far as AG is concerned, the Bill
(11:05):
Parcells influence. Yeah, and Parcels always truss special.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Teams exactly, you know. And you know, we could talk
about one of our biggest rivals as the Jets, that
Bill Belichick, right, a guy that really hondes in on
special teams as well. So it's a really important part
piece of the game.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
You know.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
I wish, honestly, with that TV broadcast spent a little
more time on it, you know, kind of gave us
a better view. I think if we could get a
more comprehensive understanding of football, not just the offense and
defensive side, but also the special team side, right, I
think people would really kind of look at it differently.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
All Right, So it was we head into training camp.
I just wanted to read a couple of numbers to
you from last year. Jets field goal percentage seventy one
point four to three thirtieth in the National Football League.
The Jets were twenty fourth in points difference and points
difference three point nine points a games, nineteenth in yards
(11:59):
per difference yards per game difference minus three point five.
So I mean the margins there not too much. Yeah, yeah,
and that can be the difference between winning and losing,
and especially as you're starting a program here, Aaron Glenn
has put an emphasis not only on the defense, on
the offense, but saying, hey, listen, we have to excel
(12:22):
in this area. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
I mean you're talking about a blade of grass there, right,
like in terms of the margins. So, you know, I
think we all saw last year how much special teams
came to play. You know, we didn't have big plays
in the in the return game, right field, goals were
being missed, you know, so those small pieces there really
changed the outcome of the season. And if you talk
to some of the players, they'll say the same thing, Right.
(12:44):
I think they understand that, you know, they have to
do a better job office of defense, but special teams
could have helped them just kind of push them forward.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, you wonder how the trajectory of the season and
how everything could have changed. Special teams might have been
different last year. So as we head in the training camp,
you got battles across the board, which is kind of
no surprise me. The special teams is the one unit
where you see so much turnover. But for the Jets specifically,
you're going to have a kicking battle with Harrison Meavs
(13:14):
and Caden Davis. Now, Meavis, who the Jets just signed.
What do you think about the nickname the Thicker Kicker
five eleven forty three pounds. He went twenty to twenty
one for the uf OLS Birmingham Stallions recently.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
He reminds me of a who is the Raiders Kicker,
Sebastian Jenikowski.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
He was a big dude out there, man, But you know,
he played for a very long time. You know, you
hope that if you got a guy with a with
a great nickname like that, that he ends up, you know,
being your guy for a long time.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Yep. So I wonder how they're going to approach it,
because it's one thing what's going to happen out here
on the practice field. But I think a lot of
coordinators over the years, remember brand Boyer always told me that, hey,
we have to see what these guys actually do under
the lights exactly right.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
So you know, one thing I can say though, is
that practice really kind of gives you an idea of
how a guy will be. But once you get into
the lights, right, that's where some guys just kind of
shine higher, brighter than others. So you know we're going
to see obviously in a preseason, you know, how these
guys kind of go out there and win the games,
lose the games, compete, and then we'll really know who's
going to be the guy.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
All right. You also have a punning battle, yep. Thomas
Morristead no longer here, of course, he signed with the
forty nine ers. He got Austin McNamara and Kai Kroger,
a rookie out of South Carolina. So that's something we'll
be watching as well.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Yeah, and another important piece, you know, when you talk
about more said he was one of the leaders, right,
he was one of the guys that really kind of
changed the course of some games. Some of those kicks
were amazing.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Uh, you know.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
We also one thing that we haven't mentioned is obviously
the gunner.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Play, right Yep, We're gonna get to it.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So you know, the punning game, the
kicking game, those are all important. The other pieces are
also very important as well.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Yeah, Charles, he wasn't participating throughout the spring, he was
coming back from injury. But listen, a special team's wolf.
The guy was a beast. The Jets also signed Chris
Boyd in free agency, a guy who is cut his
teeth in the National Football League, absolutely, but by what
he's done on team absolutely.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Yeah. I think that's another guy that's gonna come in
and be a big piece and you know, we'll see,
you know, how deep his play is on offense. But
the guy like Aaron Smith is not a bad guy
to put out there at gunner, right, a guy that
can just kind of close the space, close the gap
on the punning games.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Yeah, So the Jets did select Arion Smith of the
draft and he's gonna change the dynamic, hopefully offensively. We'll
have to see how he works into some packages there.
But he's not just a lanky guy with speed. He
gets at it, gets after it with his physicality.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Yeah, of course, you know that's one thing you gotta
you're gonna have to do whether or not he was
somebody that did that as a guy that's that wasn't
you know, top three pick, right, He's gonna have to
find a way to do that, And I think gunner
play will be amazing for him if he could just
learn a few little skills there. You know, he's got
a great mentor in nerve Charles. I mean that guy.
He was getting double triple teams right, like you know,
(16:09):
things that you don't usually see. But that's how you
know how important he is. So if he can come
back for that injury, you know, it's a dangerous two
guys there.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Yeah, but how about the transition over the years when
we talk about a guy like Justin Hardy. Yeah, Brandon
Eckles is no longer here. He departed in a free agency.
You mentioned Charles and his growth. But you know other
guys that we have to watch at the gunner position.
You gotta watch a guy like Arian Smith. Yes, you
(16:38):
have to watch a guy who is a rookie out
of Florida, JaMarcus Weston. He appeared in fifty two games
for the Gators. He had sixteen defensive stops, one forced fumble,
and one sack. He made his mark in Gainesville on
special teams. And this guy's got a different body, man,
he's like sixty three to fifty plus. Yeah, playing gunner.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Yeah, that's scary. Listen, those are the most dangerous guys.
And that's why I say, like it's really mercenary, Like
you really get to show your athletic ability, and that's
where you can kind of separate yourself from other guys.
Like some guys are just great football players. Some guys
are great athletes. And if you can be a great
athlete that is also very physical, then you know, special
teams can take.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
You along way. All right, So what do you want
to see from the returner position? You got x Man
coming back, Exavior Gibson, Yeah, kana Wa Wo returns. You
got a couple of rookies there, and Jamal Pritchett and
Damir Miller, and then we should mention Arion Smith as well.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Yeah, definitely. I think you know, you've got a couple
guys there with some touchdown experience. Getting a touchdown special
teams is very difficult, right, So if you've been able
to touch the end zone at least one time in
your career, that boosts your confidence to another level. You're
talking about a guy Banjo, their coach, who was assistant
special teams in Denver. They actually were top three or
four in punt return yards last year, right, So I
(17:57):
think that's an important piece because last year we didn't
see a lot of great returns. So if he can
bring that over here, you know, that'll really help. Again,
we talk about special teams helping the team, this will
be a great way to do that.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
How difficult is it to feel punts? This like?
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Oh my god? That you know? Punters are magicians, right,
Like they're able to make the ball do things that
no other I've never seen before, right, the way that
it spins, it can you know, the winds starts taking
in all these other things. So it's not easy, all right.
Those guys that can catch punts, they're special players.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Did you enjoy doing something like that after practice?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
No?
Speaker 3 (18:30):
I would do kickoffs because kickoffs are way easy to read, right,
you know, and I had to kickoff return a little bit,
but punts were just a different animal. But honestly, I
wish I would have just to kind of get a
better understanding of how the ball travels in the air.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
You know, I'm very impressed out here watching X every
day because he's a fluid catcher, and you need a
guy can catch the ball before he gets up the field,
and you gotta do it. Cleanly, no matter who's booting
it on the other side.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Definitely, there were so many times last year. You know,
I hope that he continues to improve and progress, but
there are a lot of times last year where he
would do things that for me, I would feel worried
because I'm like, whoa. But that's how you know how
comfidy he is in his ability to catch punts because
he was doing things at times that were just a
little risky, but he would catch the punt, you know.
So that's how you know he really puts it into time,
(19:15):
into his craft.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
And to your point about Wan Woo, here's a guy
who's put the ball in the end zone, not only
with Minnesota, but he comes here and he's activated and
there he is running one back for a touchdown. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Yeah, So you know they've got some dynamic guys back there,
you know. And again, the return game is one that
you want to continue to improve and change the game.
It really flips the field every time.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
What changes in camp when you put the pads on,
because this camp is going to be physical, Aaron Glenn,
I'm specific specifically talking about special teams, you know.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Yeah, I mean, you know, I think one thing that
you'll really see. They've changed a lot of special teams
since I played right, and that wasn't even that long ago. Right,
There's there's so many different rules. You talked about the
kickoff game, but I think getting those reps in with
pads is really important because now it's it's a lot
of skill and physicality. When you talk about how to
block a kickoff return, right, you don't get the opportunity
(20:10):
to really meet a guy five ten yards away from
the kickoff. You have to catch him, so it makes
it a little challenging for guys.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Official Jets Podcast is presented by Kendri Scott's Jewelry Company
to shining brighton doing good shop, game day, jewelry styles,
and so much more at kendrascott dot com. Time for
my extra point. Aaron Glenn comes from the Bill Parcells
coaching tree, so he's going to emphasize hidden yardage at
every turn. In a league where most games are decided
(20:40):
by seven points or less, factors like net punting differential,
average starting possession and penalty differential are huge. Parcells old
adage is one hundred yards of hidden yardage is worth
seven points when it comes down to tough roster decisions.
The ultimate time break for depth players may come down
(21:02):
to team's value. For this Jets team to win, special
teams will be critical every week until next time. We'll
see you later.
We got a special podcast on the way because we're
talking special teams with coordinator Chris Banjo and Quincy and
Numa and.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Meet anybody in the world.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
And I think we're gonna win. Next Sunday gets Wonder.
Can't wait.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Put your seatbelts on and get ready for the ride.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Official Jests podcast is presented by Kendrick Scott, the Jewelry
Company to shiny brighton doing good, shop, game Day, jewelry styles,
and so much more at Kendrascott dot com. On your
thirty third birthday, you announced on social media that you
were retiring from football. What was your plans at that point?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
To be honest, my plans that expedited a little bit.
I didn't plan initially to retire my quote unquote thirty
third birthday. I had to just finish my tenth season,
you know. A couple weeks prior. I anticipated maybe around
seeing if I was going to try for eleventh. But
I received a call from a former coaching minder in
coach Sean Payton, and he painted a picture of like
what coaching could look like for me. He'd always talked about,
(01:10):
he'd always repen something like that in my prior playing
days with him, but I never, you know, never really
took it all that serious at the time. But Seawan
is real persistent, you know, and he's very very good
at peyton visuals for people. So when he did that,
I was able to kind of see the same vision
that he had and it made sense. And I also
knew the passion I still had for football in general,
So that went into my decision and retire.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Had you and Sean spoke about possibly coaching in your
future during your playing this, yes, he had referenced it.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah, back when I was adoring this, he'd always you
always just say you'd be a great coach, You'd be
a good coach when you're doing And I used to
mess around with him like, man, I'm not I'm not
trying to do that, you know. I'm worried about playing
right now, obviously, And I hadn't played for Sean by
the time when he had called me in four years.
My last time played for Sean was in twenty nineteen.
I had retired it well after the twenty twenty two season,
so when he called me, I wasn't thinking that he
(02:02):
was calling me about coaching, but sure enough he was,
and instantly those memories came back about, you know, the
conversations we had, and I was able to kind of
see it full.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
So take me back to New Orleans. Not only is
Peyton head coach, but your secondary coach is a guy
by the name of Aaron Glen No. What was it
like for you being in that position room you were
safety and also what kind of relationship did you guys
strike up there?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
I think we were able, by guys Grace, to strike
up a very very good relationship, very great working relationship
in regards to you know, what he expected from me
as a player, what I could expect from him, at
him as a coach, how demanding he was, and everything
that he poured into us as players there, I was great.
I was able to carry a lot of those same
things with me, not only on the football field, but
(02:49):
in life. From our time there in New Orleans. He had,
you know, real similar He had mentioned, you know, me
being a coach on the field and you know, being
able to get guys lined up, and he was able
to see kind of my my attention to detail and
approaching my game. And sure enough, as I got into
coaching too, he was excited for me, cited for my
opportunity to go coach, and just talked about, you know
(03:10):
what my future can end up looking like in regards
to coaching.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
So you go to us, some of you, you're a
successful college player, you go on drafted. How did you
go on to play one hundred and thirty one games
as far as regular season play in the National Football
League and then you have a bunch of playoff games
on your resume as well.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, only by guy's grace when you say going on undrafted,
that route obviously is not the most ideal route or
the most iconic by any means. My situation was a
little bit different. Not only did I go and drafted,
but I was out of football for a whole year
before I had I received my first opportunity. During that time,
I was working as a tech recruiter also, you know,
(03:50):
waking up at four o'clock working out, just trying to
get you know, every opportunity I could. And fortunately enough,
I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity in Jacksonville,
got cut the day before training camp, the day right
training camp, signed the Green Bay four four days later,
four days late in the training camp, and I was
fortunate enough to make the fifty three and then very
(04:11):
an I was able to play ten years, but to
be able to play, like you said, one hundred and
thirty one games, be a part of a numerous playoff games. Again,
it's all by guy's grace. I did everything I possibly
could have, put one foot in front of the other
and guided the rest.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
I gotta imagine it's easy for you to look around
your room, the Special Teams room right now and relate
to all these guys, because not only are you a
young dude, but you were a core Special Teams player
throughout your career, so across the board you did it.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yes, yeah, yes, so no doubt about it. In regardless
of being able to relate to them, I'm talking about
everything they do they think about. I'm like, I'm right
there with you. So the passion that I try to
speak with them is not because I'm I'm just making
something up. I've literally been fortunate enough to do exactly
what it is that you're doing right now, sitting in
these access these exact same seats. So speaking from that perspective,
(05:03):
I think I've been fortunate enough to be able to
grab some of those guys' attention when it comes to that.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
You know this all too well, but special teams is
off and overlooked. People talk about offensive unit, defensive unit.
How fortunate do you feel like you are here where
a guy in Aaron Glenn is gonna put such an
emphasis and importance of special teams.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Very fortunate, extremely fortunate, not only being a coach, but
for the guys who are on this team to hear
those same words come from his mouth and echo that sentiment.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
It's huge.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
It's huge.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
I tell these guys all the time, the special teams,
specifically for me, change my life, and I believe it
can do the same for them. And to have a
head coach that believes in that, believes in that perspective
for the game, I think it's huge. I think it's
kind of a little bit of a lost start in
regards to the NFL how a lot of teams approach it.
But again, to have a head coach that buys in
like that to it, I think it's phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Can you speak to your experience in Denver and how
that's gonna help you now as you are the guy
in front of the room you're making the calls.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
I think I was fortunateenough to have a great experience
in Denver. I was able. I was fortunate to be
molded by a lot of great people in regards to
this game, this fourth down game that we play on
special teams. When you talk about Mike Westyle, who's obviously
a former great here, you talk about Ben kay Wika,
who's had some history here as well. Obviously Sean Payton
is being another head coach who really emphasized the special
team as well. So Denver was a great infrastructure for
(06:24):
me to kind of come up in in regards to,
you know, being a young coach. But now I'm excited
for my opportunity here now with another great coaching staff.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Can you speak to the similarities between a g and Peyton.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
They're similar, but they're also very different. I mean, when
you talk about the intensity, the attention to detail, I
think that's to be I would say this is the
biggest similarity. I would note right there. Their attention to
detail is very very rare that I've come across in
this game of football. They like no details too small
or too big, and they make sure they emphasize that.
(06:57):
But they're also very different in terms of just their
person Nowadays, you know their backgrounds, A little bit. They
have their own way of stamping different things that they do.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
For sure, we got to let you get downstairs, but
I wanted to ask you about the competitions here across
the board. With your unit starting a kicker and you
can go back to punter as well. It's in the
early going. What's gonna happen once we get through OTA's
and once training camp starts, not only at those two positions,
(07:27):
but for the rest of you guys.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
No doubt. I mean you said the word, the key
word right, there's competition and that's something AG is stressed
since day one that all of us have stepped into
here to this building. It is about competition and they
thrive on that, they live on that. And if there's
no secret that we're in a competition. Specifically, when we
talk about from the specialist standpoint, we're very excited to
see what all those guys can do. They have a
(07:50):
lot of potential and what they're able to do the
tools that they have. But again across the board that
you've talked about, when you talk about a lot of
these four core guys, we're just excited to see all
these guys hit the ground running and see what that
competition does well.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Thanks Chris, appreciate you, Tom, Sir, thank you. Get ready
for all the action energy of Jets game day this
season with twenty twenty five season tickets. Lock in your
seats to be there for every snap of exciting matchups
at my Life Stadium at and why Jets dot com
slash season tickets, Quincy, what's up? What's going on? You
(08:23):
enjoyed the summer?
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Of course, it's been pretty good so far, so I
just wish it was our raining out here.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Yeah, you had the sun in southern California.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
The beautiful son, no humidity.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
It was nice. I loved it out there. All right.
Let's talk about special teams, Yes, sir, Jets have a
new coaching staff. Of course, Aaron Glenn selected Chris Banjo
to lead his special teams unit. Your thought of the choice.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
I think it's you know, when you think about special teams,
that's a huge road to fill, right, because I think
a lot of people don't talk about special teams and
the importance of it. As a young guy, you realize
that it's really important because if you want to get
on the field, you need better teams. So to bring
in a guy that was an assistant last year to
be your head coordinator. You know that means you have
a lot of faith in him. This is a young
(09:07):
special teams unit, right, last year we had a lot
of older guys, the punter, the kicker. Right now you've
got you know, new punter, new kicker. Right you got
a returner coming back that you know had some success.
But he's got he's got his work cutout for him.
So I've said it before. I think that AG really
wants his guys to be great coaches and great teachers.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
You, as a player, is that something that resonated with
you that Hey, listen, my coordinator is a young dude,
and not only is young, but he played in this
league over ten years.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Yeah, so I never had that experience. So I think
as special teams it would be interesting, right, And I
hope that he kind of brings this film because Special
Teams film is different than any other film. I like
Special Teams because it's like mercenary one on one. It's
like real dog like dog play there.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Man.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Like I think if I, if I didn't have success
on offense, I would have tried to play Special teams
as long as possible because you really get to show
your athletic ability and your mentality. So I hope he
brings that into the coaching room because it'll just kind
of give him a little one up.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
What's that mentality? Entering the National Football League if you
are a late round pick or an undrafted free agent.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Oh, I mean it's important. I think you see a
lot of guys say, oh, I'm never going to play
special teams. I think that's the wrong. Like I don't
care where you're drafted, honestly, Like you should try to
find a way because it'll just kind of get you
in the good graces. Like a young guy like myself,
a six round pick. There was three guys that we
drafted at receiver, but I separated myself because I got
in with the special teams coach. Now he knows my
(10:34):
name right, he wants to put me on the field,
So it just kind of now it's like, Okay, we
have an extra slot. Well, this receiver played special teams.
Let's put him out there. So you know, I think
it's one of the most important things you can do
as a young guy.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
It was such an emphasis for Aaron Glenn and his
two previous stops. When you're talking about Detroit under Dan
Campbell and then of course Sean Payton in New Orleans
for years. He just put that on top far as
we're going to be good at this, and then you
go back as far as AG is concerned, the Bill
(11:05):
Parcells influence. Yeah, and Parcels always truss special.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Teams exactly, you know. And you know, we could talk
about one of our biggest rivals as the Jets, that
Bill Belichick, right, a guy that really hondes in on
special teams as well. So it's a really important part
piece of the game.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
You know.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
I wish, honestly, with that TV broadcast spent a little
more time on it, you know, kind of gave us
a better view. I think if we could get a
more comprehensive understanding of football, not just the offense and
defensive side, but also the special team side, right, I
think people would really kind of look at it differently.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
All Right, So it was we head into training camp.
I just wanted to read a couple of numbers to
you from last year. Jets field goal percentage seventy one
point four to three thirtieth in the National Football League.
The Jets were twenty fourth in points difference and points
difference three point nine points a games, nineteenth in yards
(11:59):
per difference yards per game difference minus three point five.
So I mean the margins there not too much. Yeah, yeah,
and that can be the difference between winning and losing,
and especially as you're starting a program here, Aaron Glenn
has put an emphasis not only on the defense, on
the offense, but saying, hey, listen, we have to excel
(12:22):
in this area. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
I mean you're talking about a blade of grass there, right,
like in terms of the margins. So, you know, I
think we all saw last year how much special teams
came to play. You know, we didn't have big plays
in the in the return game, right field, goals were
being missed, you know, so those small pieces there really
changed the outcome of the season. And if you talk
to some of the players, they'll say the same thing, Right.
(12:44):
I think they understand that, you know, they have to
do a better job office of defense, but special teams
could have helped them just kind of push them forward.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, you wonder how the trajectory of the season and
how everything could have changed. Special teams might have been
different last year. So as we head in the training camp,
you got battles across the board, which is kind of
no surprise me. The special teams is the one unit
where you see so much turnover. But for the Jets specifically,
you're going to have a kicking battle with Harrison Meavs
(13:14):
and Caden Davis. Now, Meavis, who the Jets just signed.
What do you think about the nickname the Thicker Kicker
five eleven forty three pounds. He went twenty to twenty
one for the uf OLS Birmingham Stallions recently.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
He reminds me of a who is the Raiders Kicker,
Sebastian Jenikowski.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
He was a big dude out there, man, But you know,
he played for a very long time. You know, you
hope that if you got a guy with a with
a great nickname like that, that he ends up, you know,
being your guy for a long time.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Yep. So I wonder how they're going to approach it,
because it's one thing what's going to happen out here
on the practice field. But I think a lot of
coordinators over the years, remember brand Boyer always told me that, hey,
we have to see what these guys actually do under
the lights exactly right.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
So you know, one thing I can say though, is
that practice really kind of gives you an idea of
how a guy will be. But once you get into
the lights, right, that's where some guys just kind of
shine higher, brighter than others. So you know we're going
to see obviously in a preseason, you know, how these
guys kind of go out there and win the games,
lose the games, compete, and then we'll really know who's
going to be the guy.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
All right. You also have a punning battle, yep. Thomas
Morristead no longer here, of course, he signed with the
forty nine ers. He got Austin McNamara and Kai Kroger,
a rookie out of South Carolina. So that's something we'll
be watching as well.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Yeah, and another important piece, you know, when you talk
about more said he was one of the leaders, right,
he was one of the guys that really kind of
changed the course of some games. Some of those kicks
were amazing.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Uh, you know.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
We also one thing that we haven't mentioned is obviously
the gunner.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Play, right Yep, We're gonna get to it.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So you know, the punning game, the
kicking game, those are all important. The other pieces are
also very important as well.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Yeah, Charles, he wasn't participating throughout the spring, he was
coming back from injury. But listen, a special team's wolf.
The guy was a beast. The Jets also signed Chris
Boyd in free agency, a guy who is cut his
teeth in the National Football League, absolutely, but by what
he's done on team absolutely.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Yeah. I think that's another guy that's gonna come in
and be a big piece and you know, we'll see,
you know, how deep his play is on offense. But
the guy like Aaron Smith is not a bad guy
to put out there at gunner, right, a guy that
can just kind of close the space, close the gap
on the punning games.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Yeah, So the Jets did select Arion Smith of the
draft and he's gonna change the dynamic, hopefully offensively. We'll
have to see how he works into some packages there.
But he's not just a lanky guy with speed. He
gets at it, gets after it with his physicality.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Yeah, of course, you know that's one thing you gotta
you're gonna have to do whether or not he was
somebody that did that as a guy that's that wasn't
you know, top three pick, right, He's gonna have to
find a way to do that, And I think gunner
play will be amazing for him if he could just
learn a few little skills there. You know, he's got
a great mentor in nerve Charles. I mean that guy.
He was getting double triple teams right, like you know,
(16:09):
things that you don't usually see. But that's how you
know how important he is. So if he can come
back for that injury, you know, it's a dangerous two
guys there.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Yeah, but how about the transition over the years when
we talk about a guy like Justin Hardy. Yeah, Brandon
Eckles is no longer here. He departed in a free agency.
You mentioned Charles and his growth. But you know other
guys that we have to watch at the gunner position.
You gotta watch a guy like Arian Smith. Yes, you
(16:38):
have to watch a guy who is a rookie out
of Florida, JaMarcus Weston. He appeared in fifty two games
for the Gators. He had sixteen defensive stops, one forced fumble,
and one sack. He made his mark in Gainesville on
special teams. And this guy's got a different body, man,
he's like sixty three to fifty plus. Yeah, playing gunner.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Yeah, that's scary. Listen, those are the most dangerous guys.
And that's why I say, like it's really mercenary, Like
you really get to show your athletic ability, and that's
where you can kind of separate yourself from other guys.
Like some guys are just great football players. Some guys
are great athletes. And if you can be a great
athlete that is also very physical, then you know, special
teams can take.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
You along way. All right, So what do you want
to see from the returner position? You got x Man
coming back, Exavior Gibson, Yeah, kana Wa Wo returns. You
got a couple of rookies there, and Jamal Pritchett and
Damir Miller, and then we should mention Arion Smith as well.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Yeah, definitely. I think you know, you've got a couple
guys there with some touchdown experience. Getting a touchdown special
teams is very difficult, right, So if you've been able
to touch the end zone at least one time in
your career, that boosts your confidence to another level. You're
talking about a guy Banjo, their coach, who was assistant
special teams in Denver. They actually were top three or
four in punt return yards last year, right, So I
(17:57):
think that's an important piece because last year we didn't
see a lot of great returns. So if he can
bring that over here, you know, that'll really help. Again,
we talk about special teams helping the team, this will
be a great way to do that.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
How difficult is it to feel punts? This like?
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Oh my god? That you know? Punters are magicians, right,
Like they're able to make the ball do things that
no other I've never seen before, right, the way that
it spins, it can you know, the winds starts taking
in all these other things. So it's not easy, all right.
Those guys that can catch punts, they're special players.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Did you enjoy doing something like that after practice?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
No?
Speaker 3 (18:30):
I would do kickoffs because kickoffs are way easy to read, right,
you know, and I had to kickoff return a little bit,
but punts were just a different animal. But honestly, I
wish I would have just to kind of get a
better understanding of how the ball travels in the air.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
You know, I'm very impressed out here watching X every
day because he's a fluid catcher, and you need a
guy can catch the ball before he gets up the field,
and you gotta do it. Cleanly, no matter who's booting
it on the other side.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
Definitely, there were so many times last year. You know,
I hope that he continues to improve and progress, but
there are a lot of times last year where he
would do things that for me, I would feel worried
because I'm like, whoa. But that's how you know how
comfidy he is in his ability to catch punts because
he was doing things at times that were just a
little risky, but he would catch the punt, you know.
So that's how you know he really puts it into time,
(19:15):
into his craft.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
And to your point about Wan Woo, here's a guy
who's put the ball in the end zone, not only
with Minnesota, but he comes here and he's activated and
there he is running one back for a touchdown. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Yeah, So you know they've got some dynamic guys back there,
you know. And again, the return game is one that
you want to continue to improve and change the game.
It really flips the field every time.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
What changes in camp when you put the pads on,
because this camp is going to be physical, Aaron Glenn,
I'm specific specifically talking about special teams, you know.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
Yeah, I mean, you know, I think one thing that
you'll really see. They've changed a lot of special teams
since I played right, and that wasn't even that long ago. Right,
There's there's so many different rules. You talked about the
kickoff game, but I think getting those reps in with
pads is really important because now it's it's a lot
of skill and physicality. When you talk about how to
block a kickoff return, right, you don't get the opportunity
(20:10):
to really meet a guy five ten yards away from
the kickoff. You have to catch him, so it makes
it a little challenging for guys.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Official Jets Podcast is presented by Kendri Scott's Jewelry Company
to shining brighton doing good shop, game day, jewelry styles,
and so much more at kendrascott dot com. Time for
my extra point. Aaron Glenn comes from the Bill Parcells
coaching tree, so he's going to emphasize hidden yardage at
every turn. In a league where most games are decided
(20:40):
by seven points or less, factors like net punting differential,
average starting possession and penalty differential are huge. Parcells old
adage is one hundred yards of hidden yardage is worth
seven points when it comes down to tough roster decisions.
The ultimate time break for depth players may come down
(21:02):
to team's value. For this Jets team to win, special
teams will be critical every week until next time. We'll
see you later.
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