“He’s tough, he’s physical, he’s versatile,” Glenn said. “He’s one of those guys that we can put in the fullback position. Obviously, he can play the tight end position. You can flex him out, and he’s one of those guys that in the run and pass game, he’s been pretty valuable for us. Some tight ends, they focus on the passing game some focus on being blockers. Man, he’s one of those guys that can do both.”
Ruckert never got to see AG play in person. He was born in the summer of 2000, during Glenn’s next-to-last summer camp as a Jet before he headed to Houston, Dallas and points south to finish his playing career. But Ruckert knows plenty about Glenn, and in part that seems to be because the two — Glenn with his feisty cornerback-on-an-island mentality and Ruckert with his quiet, meat-and-potatoes, jack-of-all-trades TE — have developed an interesting relationship this year.
“He’s one of the closest head coaches I’ve had in my football career,” Ruckert said. “I have the ability to go to him and talk about anything. I wouldn’t say he’s hard on me. He just believes in me and stresses that I could do a lot of great things in this league.”
Glenn didn’t agree. He said he’s been plenty hard on his tough TE from LI, and for good reason.
“I’m one of the coaches that’s harder on Ruck that anybody, and the reason why is, man, there’s so much meat on the bone with him improving,” Glenn said. “And he’s improved so much from the start of training camp up to now.”
It’s great to have a 6-5, 250-pound tight end to pair with rookie Mason Taylor and help the evolving position room become a bigger factor in the offense heading into the future. AG and the Jets, of course, need more than one man to turn that record around and get back to winning and playoff football. But both the coach and his mature player newly in the fold believe in the process.
What his tight end possesses, Glenn said, is “a true value for us in the system we’re trying to build here.”
And Ruckert said he’s all-in with his head coach and with the team that’s been his for a quarter of a century and figures o be his for a few more years ahead.
“Getting the support and commitment to be here the next couple of years to build this thing, I don’t take that lightly at all,” he said. “I’m super-grateful for the organization believing in me and giving me the chance to help build this thing the right way.”