Jets rule New York right now, but what about the rest of the NFL?
Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers looks to throw during a joint practice with the Giants on Wednesday in Florham Park, N.J. Credit: Corey Sipkin
Sauce Gardner didn’t have to say a word. As the joint practice between the Jets and the Giants ended on Wednesday afternoon in Florham Park and the teams headed off in opposite directions — one to the buses that would bring them back home, the other directly to what figured to be a celebratory locker room; one toward a season expected to be a struggling step in a long rebuilding process, the other with a clear path to the playoffs and possibly even that big silver trophy at the end of it — the star cornerback simply stood there watching the opposing team leave.
And then he waved.
Buh-bye!
Of all the footballs that flew up and down the fields, all the one-on-ones and seven-on-sevens that pitted New York against New York, all the drills that left no doubt at all in anyone’s mind about which team rules this local football landscape right now, that simple gesture was the iconic moment that summed it all up. A dismissive “thanks for coming.” A flippant “see ya.”
“We were just having fun out there,” Gardner said afterward, well aware that his gesture had already taken on a life of its own on social media. “Two New York teams and we all know each other outside of football because we see each other around. Just having fun with it. A little goodbye. I don’t want to sugar coat it. It was all love. It ain’t no disrespect.”
What it was, though, was a clear truth. The Giants weren’t terrible, but the Jets were better at nearly every position on the field. It’s something most honest observers would have been able to surmise before they faced off in this workout. The events of this day displayed that. The wave cemented it.
“I mean, they can do that,” brash Giants rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers said of Gardner’s post-practice send-off. “They won on the day. Their defense came out here and executed well.”
The Jets offense also managed to come up big as Aaron Rodgers and Garrett Wilson picked apart a Giants secondary that is becoming increasingly worrisome for the team as the regular season approaches.
The Giants lacked much of the fire that defined their joint practices with the Lions earlier this month, the ones that erupted into nearly a dozen fights. John Mara, looking on in enemy territory, might have been willing to pay another $200,000 fine to the league for unsightly fisticuffs if it meant seeing a bit more spark from his employees.
Instead, it was the Jets who were aggressors. That is something they normally pride themselves in, but also something they spoke about specifically in their meetings before the team with whom they share the region and MetLife Stadium came to their house.
“Guys were throwing it around out there, you know, like, who's the team in New York?” Jets safety Chuck Clark said of the banter between the rosters.
Who is that team?
“Us,” he said, laughing at the ridiculousness of the question.
Even veteran offensive tackle Tyron Smith, new to the Jets this season, seemed to relish the chance to exude his dominance over the team he faced for so many years as a member of the Cowboys.
“I'm starting to learn the rivalry they have out here and see who rules New York,” Smith said. “I’m always going to have that little salty spot in my heart for the Giants.”
Of course the Jets have won this title many times over the years. They’ve dominated the Giants — and the rest of the league for that matter — in splashy offseason moves, headline-grabbing bravado, and bold expectations. They ever took home a few preseason Snoopy Bowls that their (OK, Rex Ryan’s) inferiority complex somehow managed to make into an actual thing,
With neither team expected to play many of their starters in Saturday’s preseason finale, this joint workout served as the summer’s one and only barometer between the organizations that often see themselves as brothers locked in a fierce sibling rivalry.
So congrats, Jets. Add this mythic crown to all the others you seem to treasure in your trophy case of March-through-August baubles and hosannas.
Once September rolls around it’s a whole different situation. Winning a “Battle of New York” is one thing, winning the battles to come in San Francisco and Nashville and Miami and Buffalo and even London is where it’s all at. Winning the Battle of New Orleans is the ultimate goal.
Do these Jets have it in them to come out on top in those? Can they stay healthy enough to hold their season together for 17 games and beyond? Can they salvage the tedious legacies and careers of their general manager, head coach, and more than a few players on the roster? We’re about to find out.
Gardner waved goodbye to the Giants. He might as well have been giving a robust fare-thee-well to the emptiness of preseason hype and the silliness of comparing where these quasi-rivals stack up against each other on midweek summer afternoons.
So long, meaninglessness. Say hello to reality.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
