Are the Jets better or worse in 2025 heading into minicamp? - ESPN

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — When mandatory minicamp opened last June, the New York Jets made news for the wrong reasons. Two of their most prominent players were no-shows. One was on the other side of the world, investigating the riddle of the Sphinx. The other was on the other side of New Jersey, spinning his own riddle with a perplexing holdout.

The latter was newly-acquired edge rusher Haason Reddick, who would continue his holdout until October. The former was quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who decided to skip minicamp in favor of a vacation to Egypt. It was a bad look for Rodgers and the Jets, who became enveloped in a controversy that could've been easily avoided.

• What we're watching at minicamp
• Bucs expect Reddick to report
• Refreshed 49ers set tone early
• Are Jets better or worse in 2025?

A year later, no one is talking about camels and pyramids around the Jets. For a change, the focus is on football.

«The players get it,» first-year coach Aaron Glenn said. «Each day we go out, man, we go out with a purpose. We don't waste the day, and the guys are on point.»

Glenn praised his players' work ethic and participation level throughout the voluntary portion of the offseason, which concluded last week. Next up is the mandatory minicamp, which begins Tuesday — another step in Glenn's quest to rebuild the Jets' culture. A distraction-free spring certainly helps, but that's only part of the process of flipping a losing situation (nine straight sub-.500 seasons).

It takes talent, and it's fair to wonder if the Jets have regressed in that area. Let's make a position-by-position comparison to last season and look at whether they're better, the same or worse:

2025: Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor

2024: Rodgers, Taylor

Rodgers is one