Jets’ identity for offense on display during preseason loss to Giants

It would have been less obvious who the Jets plan to be on offense this season if coordinator Tanner Engstrand just shared snapshots from his playbook on the MetLife Stadium video board.

After giving up an early touchdown to the Giants on Saturday in their annual preseason matchup, the Jets ran the ball on each of the first 10 plays of a scoring drive, including one scramble by Justin Fields on a called pass.

Of course, Fields’ legs are a bigger strength than his arm, so that will be a possible offshoot of almost every dropback this season.

When Fields finally uncorked a pass, on third-and-2, it was to a tightly covered Garrett Wilson — who else? — and broken up for an incompletion as the Jets settled for three points on the second and last series for their offensive starters.

The Jets gained 47 yards on the ground and five by penalty before Nick Folk converted a 38-yard field goal.

Welcome back to the Ground and Pound Era, which suffered a 31-12 loss in its infancy to the Giants.

The offense played 19 snaps and did nothing to quash any concerns out of training camp about the under-construction passing attack.

Fields connected on 1-of-5 passes for four yards, with his only completion coming when he used his athleticism to move the pocket on a rollout left and hit rookie tight end Mason Taylor moving toward the sideline.

Despite some of the struggles in the passing game, Jets general manager Darren Mougey was impressed with how Fields is leading the offense.

“His approach is awesome,” Mougey said of Fields during an in-game interview on CBS. 

The worst of Fields’ four incompletions?

That would be the one-hopper on a wide receiver screen that got Wilson unnecessarily knocked to the turf.

In fact, Fields and Wilson have not connected on any of four targets during two preseason games despite their excitement about joining forces again and re-establishing their Ohio State chemistry.

The search for a second receiver that Fields trusts didn’t gain any clarity, but Brandon Smith might have earned a bigger opportunity when he made four catches for 31 yards in the first half from backup quarterback Adrian Martinez.

No wonder then that when the Jets faced a third-and-8 at their own-30-yard line — a passing situation under most NFL circumstances — the call was a draw to 235-pound back Braelon Allen, who powered his way to an 11-yard gain.

In fact, the Jets’ field goal drive started with five straight runs to the right side, including four by Breece Hall. 

Allen converted a third-and-1 after the third-and-8 — and probably should’ve been entrusted with the third-and-2, too.

Perhaps it was a sign of Engstrand just being in tune to an opponent’s weaknesses given that the Giants haven’t stopped the run over the last two seasons and it remains a big question even after a couple of significant offseason additions.

More likely, it was a glimpse into the future.

One year ago, the Jets ranked last in the NFL in rushing attempts — and the next-closest team to the bottom was the explosive (not a description that applied to Gang Green) Bengals.  

It’s clear that’s not going to be the case again with the Jets, who didn’t have Isaiah Davis available due to injury.

The Bears and Steelers averaged 153.1 rushing yards per game during Fields’ first 44 career starts, according to ESPN.

NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky believes the Jets will have no worse than a top-five rushing attack while Fields also utilizes his backs on screen passes. 

Fields averages 50.2 rushing yards per game in his career, including a 1,143-yard season in 2022.

“I think we have a nice little three-headed monster,” Fields said during the week. “The running back room is stacked, for sure.”

The question now becomes whether Fields plays Friday against the Eagles or if that was his last appearance of the preseason.

With only four full practices left before Week 1, a skeptic might say that Fields and Engstrand need all the live reps together to balance out the offense before Sept. 7 against the Aaron Rodgers-led Steelers.

Nothing during Saturday’s first quarter would be enough to swap that opinion.