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T’Vondre Sweat’s eye-opening presence and the 10 most interesting Jets post-minicamp

New York Jets' Harrison Phillips and T'Vondre Sweat participate in an NFL football practice in Florham Park, N.J., Wednesday, June 10, 2026.

T'Vondre Sweat (right) made a big impression on teammates like Harrison Phillips. Seth Wenig / Associated Press

By Zack RosenblattJune 19, 2026 Updated

School’s out. Time for summer break.

New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn brought his roster in for a team meeting on Thursday morning and opted to cancel the last practice of minicamp, meaning the next time the new-look Jets take the field will be the start of training camp in late July (report day is expected to be July 28, though the Jets haven’t made an official announcement yet).

Glenn called the participation “outstanding” during voluntary organized team activities and mandatory minicamp.

“I like exactly where we’re at,” Glenn said. “But I want to get to the point where I love where we’re at.”

Analyzing 3 standout performers from the Jets' offseason programZack Rosenblatt

Before we look ahead to training camp, let’s look back at the spring. Here are 10 of the most interesting Jets players coming out of minicamp, based on how they look and what’s to come.

T’Vondre Sweat, DT

Harrison Phillips (6 foot 3, 307 pounds) is not small. However, when he’s watching film, he feels small next to No. 99.

That’s T’Vondre Sweat, the Jets’ 366-pound defensive tackle — and 366 might be erring on the lighter side of his true weight.

“T-Sweat is one of those guys when you’re watching tape where you’re just like: Which one am I? Is a linebacker in a three-point stance next to him? I want to get as many photos taken next to him as I can,” Phillips said.

The Jets acquired Sweat in a swap with the Tennessee Titans for Jermaine Johnson. Sweat’s presence — in terms of his size, skills and athleticism — was all the rage this spring.

“Genetically, it’s incredible,” Phillips said.

Wide receiver Adonai Mitchell: “He’s a big ol’ dude, man.”

Guard Joe Tippmann: “He’s going to make our camp hell. Having him on this team is going to make us all, especially inside, it’s going to make us all better.”

And defensive line coach Karl Dunbar had the funniest line of them all: “I love big men. I remember a coach telling me back in the day: Big men are like pretty women. There’s not a lot of them, but everybody wants them.”

The Jets have a legitimate rotation at defensive tackle for the first time in a while with Sweat, Phillips, veteran David Onyemata and Jowon Briggs. But Sweat, at least potentially, feels like the key to it all.

If the Jets can tap into his upside and keep him in shape, Sweat could make a significant impact in the middle of a defense that was one of the worst in the NFL last season, including in the area he thrives: against the run.

Sweat only played a part-time role in Tennessee but graded as one of the best run stoppers in the NFL, even as a second-year player. PFF had him ranked fourth among all defensive tackles.

In a comparison Jets fans will appreciate, Glenn likened Sweat to Kris Jenkins, a Pro Bowler for them in 2008, and Jason Ferguson.

“He’s a big man that’s agile,” Glenn said. “He’s tough, he’s competitive, he has long arms, he demands a double-team block. … Any time you can go around and you can get somebody of that magnitude that actually fits exactly what you’re doing, you think about how you can put that player on your team, and it just happened that we were able to make the swap with those two guys.”

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Armand Membou, OT

The 2025 first-round pick was indisputably the best thing to come out of a terrible three-win season. Even as a high draft pick, he exceeded expectations and looked like a future Pro Bowl player out of the gate.

Maybe that future is now. It’s important not to overreact to anything in the trenches during this time of the year due to limited/no contact, no tackling and when the quarterback can’t be touched.

And yet, Membou looked like he dominated just about every rep in team drills with the media present, many of them coming against first-round rookie David Bailey.

Jets center Josh Myers said that Membou “has the ability to be one of the greats. There’s a lot that needs to happen between now and then, but he’s got the talent; he’s got the mentality (and) he’s a heck of a player.”

Adonai Mitchell, WR

We’ve written at length about how good Mitchell has been this spring, as well as his budding chemistry with quarterback Geno Smith. So I’ll leave you with this quote from offensive coordinator Frank Reich about what he’s seen from Mitchell:

“I just want to be in a room that he’s in because he’s going to light up the room,” Reich said. “First of all, just with his mentality, he’s got this winning mentality, this positive vibe about him, and I think we all feel that on the field.

“And so between him and Garrett (Wilson), I mean that combination has been really good and certainly AD has really shown himself well through this whole program in the offseason, just showing what he can do, showing how they complement each other and how we can use the two of them, along with the other guys … I feel good about AD.”

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Cade Klubnik, QB

The Jets dabbled in the veteran quarterback market, with mild interest in options like Russell Wilson and Carson Wentz as potential backups to Smith. They opted against signing any of them. Instead, they’re rolling with what has, thus far, looked like an underwhelming QB2 competition between veteran Bailey Zappe, Brady Cook and Klubnik, the fourth-round rookie.

Of that trio, Klubnik had the most positive moments in the spring and flashed some intriguing athleticism and potential. However, he struggled toward the end of OTAs before a back injury knocked him out of some practices, including in minicamp (Glenn said Klubnik would’ve practiced on Thursday if that session hadn’t been canceled).

Zappe operated as the No. 2 quarterback but hasn’t shown nearly enough to earn that job yet.

Klubnik will determine whether Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey add another veteran quarterback at some point. There aren’t any particularly appealing options left in free agency, with veterans Josh Dobbs and Cooper Rush the best available.

Brendan Sorsby could factor in as a potential target in the supplemental draft, but it’s unclear as of yet if the Jets intend to put in a bid for him.

So for now, the Jets are banking on Klubnik’s potential and his bond with Reich.

“I think Cade has natural leadership instincts,” Reich said. “It’s hard to get to this area when you don’t have that, but he’s pretty charismatic like that. He’s fun to talk to, he’s easy to talk to, he has high emotional intelligence.”

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Braelon Allen, RB

Allen was a standout in each of the last two summers, though that didn’t amount to anything when the games mattered. He had a limited role as a rookie. Then he suffered a season-ending injury against the Miami Dolphins in Week 4 last season, with his final moments including a fumble near the end zone and the injury suffered on a kick return.

Now, Allen says he’s healthier, stronger and faster than ever. He bulked up to 250 pounds, which includes, he said, the most lean muscle mass and lowest body fat percentage he’s ever had. The Jets are hoping he can live up to his potential as the big, bruising back they imagined when the previous regime drafted him from Wisconsin in 2024.

“That rehab takes a toll, and you have to tell yourself, ‘What do you want to get out of this and who do you want to be when you come out of this?’ ”Allen said. “I put a lot of thought into that, and the time is now for me. I can’t sit around and wait anymore once I get that opportunity; I can’t look back.”

Jamien Sherwood, LB

Sherwood entered the offseason with a whole lot of self-awareness. He had a breakout 2024 campaign that led to a big-money contract last offseason, and then he fell off in a big way after becoming a captain and his responsibilities increased. Now that Demario Davis is in the building, Sherwood can get back to focusing on making plays and using his athleticism to fly all over the field.

Sherwood said he has to improve in pass coverage and that last season he didn’t feel like his new contract put any more pressure on him. The bigger issue was his tendency to focus too much on specific details during plays.

“I did get myself in trouble a few times with my eyes,” he said.

The 2025 season “wasn’t the best,” Sherwood said. “There were some good plays, there were some bad plays. I just felt for myself, I can definitely be more consistent than I was.”

The Jets didn’t add any linebackers of note this offseason and lack depth at that spot — a clear endorsement of how they still feel about Sherwood, even after adding Davis.

Nahshon Wright, CB

The Jets needed playmakers on defense, and Wright was one of the best playmakers at cornerback in the NFL last season, getting five interceptions in a breakout season for the Chicago Bears.

The Jets signed Wright to a cheap deal (one year, $3.5 million), considering his production, and this spring he looked like the early favorite to earn the starting job opposite Brandon Stephens. He made more plays on the ball than his primary competition, second-year cornerback Azareye’h Thomas.

Wright is a unique player at 6 foot 4, and the Jets could certainly use his skill set after a full season without an interception.

“With deep balls, quarterbacks have to make the perfect throw because I have confidence that I can go up and get the ball,” Wright said.

D’Angelo Ponds, CB

The second-round rookie closed out minicamp in style, picking off Zappe during Wednesday’s practice — a typical play for him when he starred at Indiana and a big reason why the Jets drafted him.

In the early going, it appears more likely that Ponds pushes Jarvis Brownlee to be the primary nickel corner, though Glenn said at the start of the spring that Ponds will get reps on the outside as well.

“I think he’s a dog, man,” Mitchell said. “You could just tell the way he approaches the game, he’s a dog. He’s always been an underdog. A lot of people have always counted him out, and he wears that on his sleeve. I think he has a bright future.”

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Isaiah Williams, WR/PR

The Jets’ 2025 team MVP has been working to get even faster in 2026. And he was already fast — watch his two punt-return touchdowns from last season.

This offseason, he trained in Arizona with “some Olympians,” he said.

He attacked the offseason highly motivated to build on what he showed in 2025, one of the few success stories on the Jets roster. He said his offseason has been about “becoming a better receiver, a better returner, all the things I need to work on from last year — just sharpening those tools,” Williams said.

Williams is locked in as the Jets’ primary punt returner and No. 2 kick returner with Kene Nwangwu, but he’ll also play a role on offense as a gadget player and backup in the slot. He made a lot of plays during team drills this spring.

Jason Sanders, K and/or Cade York, K

At this point, who knows if the Jets’ roulette wheel at kicker will keep spinning. Since Glenn was hired, ponder the turnover at the position:

• Harrison Mevis and Caden Davis entered training camp last season competing for the job. Both struggled at the start of camp, so the Jets signed veteran Nick Folk.

• Folk had a stellar, nearly perfect season.

• The Jets had interest in bringing Folk back, but the Atlanta Falcons paid him more (two years, $9 million) than the Jets were willing to. Glenn and Mougey instead signed undrafted rookie Will Ferrin and German kicker Lenny Krieg, and later veteran Cade York. Ferrin struggled during rookie camp and was cut.

• The Jets signed veteran Younghoe Koo in late May.

• Krieg struggled in OTAs and was released.

• Koo struggled and was released.

• The Jets signed Sanders after the New York Giants released him a couple of days earlier. In minicamp, York missed two 50-yard field goals.

So, for now, the Jets will enter training camp with the veteran Sanders, who is coming off a hip injury that cost him the entire 2025 season, and York, who has made 73.3 percent of his field goals in the NFL.