The Jets have become Lions east since hiring Aaron Glenn as head coach in January.
Gang Green is trying to steal some of the magic that made Detroit the No. 1 seed in the NFC last year.
A big part of that is new offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand.
The 42-year-old was the Lions’ pᴀssing game coordinator for the past three years, serving as Ben Johnson’s right-hand man in an offense that was No. 1 in points and No. 2 in yards last year.
Now, Engstrand comes to the Jets, who have been offensively challenged for most of the past 15 years.
He is the 11th play caller the Jets have had in that span.
No one has lasted more than two years in the job since Brian ScH๏τtenhemier was fired following the 2011 season.
Engstrand spoke to the media Thursday for the first time since he was hired.
He laid out his vision for the offense.
“I think we want to play fast,” Engstrand. “We want to be physical. We want to be aggressive. We want to be explosive. We want to be detailed. We want that to show up on tape each and every week. When somebody looks at our tape, we want those things to show up, and that’s what we’re going to shoot for.”
That sounds great in May.
Many of his predecessors said something similar.
The problems usually come in September-January.
This is the first time Engstrand will have called plays since a 2019 stint in the XFL as the offensive coordinator of the DC Defenders.
Engstrand has never been an NFL offensive coordinator before, but he served as the OC for the University of San Diego from 2011-17.
Engstrand said he’s ready for this chance.
“A hundred percent, absolutely ready,” he said. “I’m excited to be in it. I’ve been in a coordinator role before at multiple different places, obviously not in the NFL. But I think nine years or something like that, so I feel 100 percent confident. I’m excited for this opportunity.”
Like all offensive coordinators, Engstrand’s success is tied to his quarterback.
In this instance, that is Justin Fields, who the Jets signed in March as a free agent.
“He’s just a talented individual in all facets,” Engstrand said of Fields. “He’s obviously a physically talented player. Everybody talks about the running. Well, the guy’s got an arm, too, and he does a great job with that. Mentally, he’s phenomenal. He’s been absolutely phenomenal so far, and we expect more out of that. There’s just a lot of things that you can do with that type of player that is going to put stress on a defense and make that defensive coordinator stay up late at night as we get going into this thing.”
Fields said he has spent time studying the Lions offense and what quarterback Jared Goff did there.
Fields said he has been impressed by Engstrand.
“Just talking to him, you can tell he’s really smart,” Fields said. “He knows what he’s doing. I think he’s very detailed with installing the plays and things like that, especially in the limited time that we have now. He puts a lot on the guys’ plate, our plate, but I think in the long run it will help us.”
Beyond Fields, Engstrand will be relying on playmakers Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson, two players he spoke highly about Thursday.
“That is a blessing to come into a place and already have weapons in place,” Engstrand said. “Breece, he’s shown in his career that he can run the football — whether it’s inside, between the tackles, whether it’s outside and in the pᴀss game, he’s caught a ton of pᴀsses in his career, which is very beneficial for us. Garrett has shown to be an explosive player. We’re going to hopefully continue to do that. I know A.G. talked about, ‘Hey, what are we going to do with Garrett? We’re going to give him the ball as much as we can.’ You know what? I’m in on it. I feel really good about those guys.”
