If I can’t say anything nice…
That was the approach Jets star cornerback Sauce Gardner took after Wednesday’s joint practice with the Giants at Florham Park.
The Jets defense arguably “won” the game against Daniel Jones and the Giants, and Gardner was asked to evaluate Jones afterward.
“He’s a good quarterback, you know that,” Gardner said. “He was trying to intercept him. … He was trying to throw a checkdown to Wan’Dale at the last moment. [Robinson]”I thought I had the pick, but he kept it.”
Gardner then paused, looking anxious as he considered what else to say about Jones.
At one point, he looked toward the Jets’ media relations representative, as if searching for instructions or an outlet from behind the podium.
“It was very competitive,” he said. “It was fun. I don’t know what to say.”
Gardner later tweeted about his silence during the interview, saying, “I said ‘he’s a good QB’ but I just got distracted halfway through the interview…”
Gardner offered some more comments after the Jets stopped the Giants in a two-minute drill and Jets backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor closed out the game with a touchdown run to Jason Brownlee on the final play of the game.
Gardner showered kisses on Jets fans in attendance and waved goodbye to the Giants players as they left the field.
“They can do it. They won on the day,” Giants rookie receiver Malik Neighbors said. “Their defense came out here and played well. We beat ourselves today. It’s just a matter of going back to our playbook, continuing to be ourselves and trying to figure out what this team wants.”
The last time the Giants participated in a joint practice, it cost the team $200,000 in damages — the same amount the NFL fined both teams for multiple fights between them during the two days of joint practice.
Coach Brian Daboll said he gave his team the same warning this time around: “We don’t want to fight. I said that last time, too.”
This time there was no major brawl between the two teams who share MetLife Stadium.
Daboll solved a bit of a mystery: Why was Tommy DeVito, not Drew Lock, the quarterback who practiced next to Jones on Tuesday?
Daboll said that one play call was for a pass and that “Drew wasn’t going to throw that pass yet.”
Lock has been dealing with a hip issue and did not practice against the Jets.
Several players were unable to board the bus and remained at the Giants’ facility to continue their rehab: TE Lawrence Cager, G John Runyan Jr., LB Micah McFadden, KR Gunner Olszewski, CB Cordell Flott, LB Matthew Adams, LB Doyontae Johnson, S Jahvarius Owens and S Jonathan Sutherland.
Rookie running back Tyrone Tracy (ankle) is no longer on injured reserve.
