The New York Jets have added another piece to the defensive side of the ball.
ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter shared on social media that veteran defensive back Jalen Mills “is signing with the Jets practice squad.”
Mills won a Super Bowl championship with the Philadelphia Eagles. Most recently Mills spent three seasons with the New England Patriots from 2021 through 2023. Schefter added that Mills “spent training camp with the Giants” this offseason.
Mills Brings Even More Experience to the Jets Defense in 2024
The green and white have a stellar defense, but you can never have enough depth.
Mills, 30, entered the NFL in 2016 as the No. 233 overall pick in the seventh round. He spent the first five years of his career with the Eagles. After that, he spent the next three years with the Patriots.
During that period, Mills has appeared in 106 games and has made 83 starts. In those contests, Mills has racked up seven interceptions, over 406 total tackles, 53 pass deflections, and two forced fumbles.
NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo revealed that Mills had been dealing with a calf injury but he is now “recovered” which led to his signing with the Jets. Mills’ nickname is “The Green Goblin” and now he will be suiting up for the green and white in 2024.
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic noted that Mills and Jets general manager Joe Douglas “spent years together in Philly.” They were together for four years from 2016-2019 and Douglas was part of the regime that drafted him.
Jets Add Some Unique Versatility to the Backend of the Defense
Mills is listed as a defensive back, but he does so much more than that.
Last season for the Patriots, Mills played 480 defensive snaps. In those reps, Mills lined up as a boundary corner (27 reps), slot corner (136 reps), free safety (159 reps), inside the box (106 snaps), and he even got reps as an outside linebacker (31 reps), per Pro Football Focus.
The Jets have one of the best defenses in football and the coaching staff loves players who have versatility.
Mills was spotty in coverage (52.2 coverage grade), was elite against the run (84.1 run-defense grade), was a solid pass rusher (65.5 pass-rush grade), and finished with a 59.1 overall grade according to PFF.
The Jets’ secondary is one of their greatest strengths on the team. Heading into the season, Trevor Sikkema of PFF ranked the Jets’ cornerback group the No. 1 unit in the NFL.
There were some big questions about the Jets’ starting safety combination this offseason. So far the results have been pretty mixed.
Chuck Clark, returning from a torn ACL, has been stout in run defense (85.9 grade), but he has graded poorly in other key areas like overall (58.9 grade) and pass coverage (51.7 grade).
The other starting safety, Tony Adams, has been awesome in coverage (79.7 grade), but he has been terrible against the run (41.4 grade).
Mills can get up to speed with the Jets’ defense on their practice squad over the coming weeks. If he picks things up quickly then perhaps there will be a path for him to join the 53-man roster at some point later in the season.
Either way the Jets have reinforced the depth on the backend of the defense making a strength even stronger.
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