In a game with not much star power on display, the Jets and Buccaneers each got their preseason campaigns underway with Tampa Bay outlasting New York 24-16 on Friday night.
The Jets’ initial on-field preparations for the upcoming season were made less challenging than anticipated with the announcement that the Bucs would be resting all of their starters. The Jets also opted to rest quarterback Geno Smith, who has foot soreness but reportedly would have been fine to play if it were a regular season game.
New York’s retooled starting defense had some early success, as they forced a 3-and-out on the opening series, highlighted by a Will McDonald sack. Rookie Cade Klubnik then led the Jets downfield with the starters and Cade York’s short field goal opened the scoring.
After the Bucs were again forced to punt on their second series, it was backups the rest of the way for the Jets too, and they increased the lead to 10-0 on the ensuing possession on Braelon Allen’s 31-yard touchdown run.
Connor Bazelak, the Bucs’ starting quarterback, led Tampa Bay downfield and into the red zone, but rookie cornerback Mory Bamba broke up a third-down pass in the end zone, so the Bucs had to settle for a field goal to make it 10-3. They then tied the score three plays later when rookie Ayden Garnes intercepted Bailey Zappe and returned it for a 47-yard touchdown.
Having been intercepted a second time, Zappe responded by leading the Jets to a go-ahead field goal as time expired just before halftime. York’s 38-yarder gave the Jets a 13-10 lead.
Tampa Bay took its first lead of the night with 5.24 remaining in the third quarter on a 12-yard touchdown run by Josh Williams. However, the Jets – now with Brady Cook at quarterback - cut it to 17-16 on Jason Sanders’ 47-yard field goal with 9:48 remaining.
Bucs rookie Jalon Daniels’ one-yard quarterback sneak provided the final margin, as Cook got the Jets down inside the 30 in the closing moments but then turned the ball over on downs.
Here are the takeaways...
-It may be a little early to predict who is going to win the various position battles on defense, but we got a few early clues with safety Andre Cisco and cornerback Azareye’h Thomas on the field to start the game with the rest of the starters. Interestingly, the Jets came out in a nickel defense with a four-man front and Jarvis Brownlee Jr. in the slot, but they did play some conventional 3-4 base sets on the second drive.
-All eyes were on top draft pick David Bailey, but he only got a few chances to rush the quarterback and while he looked like a handful and was in the backfield a few times and was credited with one tackle, he didn’t make a direct impact. The closest he got was ironically on McDonald’s sack, as he came up the middle on a stunt.
-Klubnik got some valuable reps with the starters due to Smith’s absence and made a confident, if simple, first down throw to Mason Taylor on his first pro snap. However, the next snap was a blown play that lost five yards as Klubnik made an ill-advised pitch to Breece Hall. He settled down with two nice completions to Garrett Wilson, but that drive stalled in the red zone, and he ended up 5-of-7 for 56 yards.
-Two of Zappe’s first three passes were intercepted, but the second of those was wide receiver Arian Smith’s fault as the ball deflected off his hands. After an underwhelming rookie season, Smith may struggle to crack the rotation this year, and if it wasn’t for his special teams contributions, he’d be a strong candidate to be released.
First-round rookie Omar Cooper exclusively worked with the backups, but had a couple of catches, including a 26-yarder from Zappe to get the Jets into scoring range just before halftime.
Game MVP: Jets CB Mory Bamba
The undrafted rookie Bamba was an unlikely candidate to be the most outstanding player on the field in the first half, but he certainly made the most of his opportunities as he broke up four passes before halftime. He ended up with five tackles and also registered pressure on a blitz. After halftime, he added an impressive tackle on special teams, which could be a viable route for him to potentially make the roster.
Highlights
What a catch by Garrett Wilson 😤 pic.twitter.com/TyQ9QQWZqC
— SNY Jets (@snyjets) August 14, 2026
Braelon Allen is GONE! 0️⃣ pic.twitter.com/n8djDoAyeM
— SNY Jets (@snyjets) August 14, 2026
Omar Cooper Jr. with the big gain! pic.twitter.com/M8WjZ5mXK0
— SNY Jets (@snyjets) August 15, 2026
What's next
The Jets continue their preseason slate with a game against the Steelers on Friday, Aug. 21 at 7 p.m.