WATFORD, UK — A constant theme from Aaron Glenn’s comments over the past few days has been that the coaches are trying to get everyone “speaking the same language”.
On the offensive line, this is a familiar battle, as there are few positions on the field where communication and playing as a cohesive unit are as impactful. Every year, we hear of teams hoping that their offensive line can gel as a group in the face of offseason personnel changes, in-season injuries and often having to pick up a brand new system with unique terminology. Literally, like learning a new language.
That’s the situation the 2025 Jets find themselves in, but this year’s starting group are working towards being the foundation of the team-wide improvements the coaching staff are hoping for, and perhaps even expecting.
After a major setback with the offseason injury to Alijah Vera-Tucker, Josh Myers has stepped into the lineup at center, and he and his four new linemates will start their sixth game together on Sunday. Myers provided some useful insights into what goes into the process of finding that on-field chemistry that will hopefully translate to the rest of the team.
“This is actually the first time in my career that I’ve learned a new system with everyone,” Myers said, “New system, new head coach, new everything for everyone.”
Perhaps surprisingly, Myers cited the most important aspect of coalescing as a unit as being the individual preparation each player puts into it. Essentially, every player has a personal responsibility to learn the playbook inside-out and, without that, the unit-wide cohesion being sought is impossible to achieve.
Perhaps surprisingly, Myers cited the most important aspect of coalescing as a unit as being the individual preparation each player puts into it. Essentially, every player has a personal responsibility to learn the playbook inside-out and, without that, the unit-wide cohesion being sought is impossible to achieve.
For that point forward, the line can gradually build confidence in how they’ll handle any given situation as a unit, and they communicate throughout that process. As issues arise, Myers explains, “We kinda gather as an o-line and talk it out to figure out what the best kind of call would be in that situation”.
Familiarity also breeds confidence and comfort within the system and Myers noted that there is plenty of overlap between systems, enabling players to help each other out when encountering something they know how to handle that a teammate might not have faced.
“The more you go, the better you get with everything because it’s stuff we’ve seen before in an offense we now know.”
On a similar note, Myers said that the transition has been made a lot easier for him because he’s snapping the ball to his former college teammate Justin Fields, and the communication between the line and quarterback is such a big part of the operation.
“I think it’s super-helpful,” he explained, “We know each other so well and have taken so many snaps together I can ask him anything.”
As for his new linemates, the fact that three of the four started games together on the 2024 Jets is also beneficial to the group as a whole, as it means they already have some idea of how each other might react in a certain situation and can communicate smoothly. These connections have given the line a head-start on the process rather than everyone having to go back to square one when the new system was installed.
Ironically, Myers and his new teammates were already basically speaking the same language because the system Myers played in with Green Bay was pretty much the same, with identical terminology to the one Aaron Rodgers brought with him to the Jets.
Myers refutes the idea that they all now need to learn a new language together though, implying that these similarities are things that help the transition — he’s even noticed teammates using plays from the old system as a frame of reference when helping each other understand some of the concepts in the new scheme.
The next level of communication once the offensive line is communicating well as a unit, entails the tackles communicating with the tight ends and the quarterback communicating with backs and receivers. This is the only way to get everyone on the same page the way Glenn wants.
This process usually starts with offensive meetings so the whole offense is involved in the installation process. From there, Myers said “then we break up and break it down further individually in our rooms and then we go out (and practice it).”
One of the other things the coaches were preaching this week was fundamentals. Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks talked about working on tackling with the defense, for example. This side of things doesn’t get neglected in the trenches, either.
“The best players constantly find holes within their game where they can improve and fix it, even throughout the season,” said Myers, who noted he is always working on something. Offensive line play is extremely technical, but he described it as “an unnatural thing to do” so there are always areas that can be refined.
Finally, Myers gave some specific insights into what goes into preparing for a particular opponent. Once again, each player has an individual responsibility to prepare themselves before the coaches become involved.
Myers said that he personally likes to start off the week by watching a full game of the upcoming opponent to get an idea of things like personnel, tendencies and the operation of the defense, along with a sense of how the defensive coordinator calls the game. Only then does he hone in on individual players he’s likely to be going up against to determine their tendencies or any go-to moves. Finally, he likes to return to watching some more full games having had that additional insight into the individuals.
As for how the coaches prepare the team, it comes down to the coaches giving the scout team defense the looks that they can expect to see in the game, and coming up with a protection plan, along with a gameplan for their running game. The level of detail involved in this process would this week have had some defensive players in orange jerseys with the numbers of key Broncos players.
Apparently, this is not to alert the offense to where the more dangerous opposing players might line up, instead it helps them to indicate things like what personnel package they might be in when a certain player is on the field.
The offensive line will keep following these tried and tested steps to ensure everyone is completely prepared whenever they take the field. The Jets are hungry for results, but Glenn still wants everyone to “trust the process” and remains confident that this is the only way to get things turned around and headed in the right direction.
Read the full article here
