T’Vondre Sweat didn’t draw any blood or tears.
But the 366-pound nose tackle made his presence felt Monday in 11-on-11 drills during his first training camp practice with the Jets after being activated from the non-football injury list.
“He has the ability to take up two gaps for the most part,” head coach Aaron Glenn said. “And when you’re able to do that as a big man, that allows the linebackers to get a chance to run. He’s going to take up two blockers, which means they’re missing a blocker when you’re on someone. That’s the reason why he’s here. I don’t want to sit here and just look at him as this big run stopper because he has the ability to push the pocket in the passing game also.”
Less than four weeks remain until Sweat makes his regular-season Jets debut against the Titans, the team that traded him for edge rusher Jermaine Johnson. Sweat (three sacks in 29 career games) ranked No. 6 among NFL interior defensive linemen against the run last season.
“We want to make sure that we take our time with him,” Glenn said. “I know there were a couple of times that he didn’t want to come out, but that’s just the guy. He’s a competitor.”
Running back Braelon Allen noticed it’s harder to run against the Jets defense when Sweat is on the field.
“Oh yeah, that’s a big dude,” Allen said. “He’s hard to move, for sure.”
CB Qwan’tez Stiggers (concussion protocol) worked on the side with trainers after collapsing Tuesday during a joint practice with the Buccaneers. He was absent from only one practice.
QB Geno Smith sat out Saturday’s preseason game due to a sore ankle but participated in team drills during Monday’s relatively light practice.
“Anytime you have a situation to where you have soreness or something, I don’t think it’s totally gone,” Glenn said. “Players understand how to manage it, and players want to practice because they want to get better. We have to do a really good job of making sure we don’t push the limit so far that we end up going backwards. I want to see exactly how he feels coming out of this practice to see how we’re going to continue to move forward.”
Jason Sanders went 7-for-8 and Cade York went 5-for-8 in the kicking competition. Sanders’ only miss was from 54 yards — and his weakness at this point in an eight-year career that includes missing all of last season (hip injury) appears to be range compared to his peers around the league.
