The Jets are adding some depth to their secondary. The team is signing defensive back Jalen Mills to the practice squad, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Jets are plenty familiar with Mills after he spent the past three seasons with their division rival in New England. Mills played a handful of different roles during his time with the Patriots. After spending his first two years with the team as a cornerback, he spent the 2023 campaign at safety. He only graded 75th among 95 qualifying safeties on Pro Football Focus, and the Patriots ultimately decided to move on this past offseason.
Mills caught on with the Giants back in March but spent most of his stint with the team on the NFI. He was cut by the Giants in August and has spent the first few weeks of the regular season unsigned.
While Mills struggled last season, there’s a chance he still has something left in the tank. The veteran got into 90 percent of his team’s defensive snaps as recently as 2021, and he was a staple of Doug Pederson‘s defense during his time in Philly (where he won a Super Bowl in 2017 as a starting CB). Current Jets GM Joe Douglas was in Philly’s front office for much of Mills’ tenure in Philly, so the executive is probably plenty familiar with what he’s getting.
It’s uncertain exactly where Mills would fit in New York. The team is locked in at cornerback with Sauce Gardner, D.J. Reed, and Michael Carter II, and safeties Chuck Clark and Tony Adams have barely missed any snaps this season. Most likely, Mills will provide the Jets with some veteran insurance in the likely chance that an injury pops up.
He’s probably cooked since his last two years haven’t been good, but he was solid during his Philly tenure and in his first year in New England. I’ve seen some Pats fans say he was mediocre last year (in limited snaps) but better than he was during an atrocious 2022, so maybe he can recapture some of his form as a part time player in this scheme if he’s elevated.