The New York Jets opened their preseason schedule against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night in the Hall of Fame Game, giving us our first taste of a live-action NFL game since the Super Bowl. New York was unable to come away with the victory as Cleveland secured the 21-16 victory.
Both teams rested a plethora of players in their preseason opener, which allowed some of the players competing for roster spots to get more opportunities. Some players performed better than others and there is still time for players that struggled on Thursday night to turn things around before roster cuts are made.
Following Thursday’s loss to the Browns, here are a couple of studs and duds from the Jets.
Stud: Israel Abanikanda
Abanikanda drew the start for the Jets on Thursday night and the rookie rusher had a solid performance in his preseason debut. The Pittsburgh product would finish the game with 27 rushing yards and a touchdown on nine attempts, while he also caught one pass for five yards. There were plays where Abanikanda was stuffed by defenders at the line of scrimmage, but he showed off his explosiveness on his rushing touchdown where he beat the defender to the pylon.
Stud: Chazz Surratt
Surratt was a former third-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in the 2021 NFL draft that found his way to the Jets in 2022. After holding a reserve role last season, Surratt is looking to earn a spot on the 53-man roster behind C.J. Mosley and Quincy Williams. On Thursday night, Surratt tallied four tackles, a pass breakup, and an interception on a play where he undercut the receiver to make the play. Surratt will hope to stack positive outings this preseason in hopes to get his career on track.
Stud: Greg Zuerlein/Thomas Morstead
Kickers and punters are people, too. Zuerlein is entering his second year with the Jets and Morstead is on his second stint with New York after spending last season with the Miami Dolphins. Having confidence in your kicking specialists is vital for any team, particularly one that has their sights on a Super Bowl. Zuerlein converted all three of his field-goal attempts on Thursday (including a 54-yarder) and Morstead averaged 49.6 yards per punt on five punts.
Dud: Jason Brownlee
It’s tough trying to dissect players in the preseason, especially with the lack of playing time that each player receives. Brownlee wasn’t awful by any stretch, but with the hype he had coming into Thursday’s game, he had a quiet performance against the Browns. The undrafted rookie hauled in only two of his five targets for 17 yards, and he dropped a pass that hit him in the hands. The athletic wideout will still have a couple more chances this preseason to prove he deserves a spot on the 53-man roster.
Dud: Chris Streveler
Streveler was an exciting player in the preseason last year, however, he couldn’t generate much offense for the Jets in Thursday’s loss. The mobile quarterback played the entire fourth quarter and he completed only one of his seven attempts for nine yards, along with throwing an interception on the final offensive play for the Jets. He also was unable to produce any numbers on the ground, which is a large part of his game. It appears that Tim Boyle has the inside track to winning the No. 3 spot on the depth chart with his experience playing behind Rodgers, so Streveler needs a strong showing in the preseason to stick around in New York or somewhere else.
