{"id":122986,"date":"2025-06-12T03:08:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T03:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/122986\/"},"modified":"2025-06-12T03:08:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T03:08:11","slug":"jets-steve-wilks-challenging-sauce-gardner-to-reach-next-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/122986\/","title":{"rendered":"Jets’ Steve Wilks challenging Sauce Gardner to reach next level"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Jets defensive coordinator Steve Wilks gave cornerback Sauce Gardner<\/a> a challenge when the two met after Wilks was hired.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been a Pro Bowl player,\u201d Wilks said. \u201cHow consistent can he be to take it to another level? That\u2019s one of the things that I challenged him on Day 1 when we had our conversation. I felt like, and you guys feel the same way, that he\u2019s one of the top corners in the league, but that consistency of being that dominant player each and every week, that\u2019s what we\u2019re looking for and that\u2019s been his challenge this offseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very gifted, and I told him sometimes your greatest strength is your greatest weakness. He\u2019s a guy that sometimes that 85 percent is still better than everybody around him, so his thing is, and I told him, compete against yourself. That\u2019s where he has to get better, which he will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gardner was first-team All-Pro in his first two seasons but did not have as strong of a season last year. He is eligible for a contract extension, and the Jets face a major decision on how much to invest in the star corner. One knock on Gardner in his career has been his lack of interceptions. <\/p>\n

\"SauceSauce Garnder runs a drill during Jets\u2019 minicamp practice on June 11, 2025. Bill Kostroun for New York Post<\/p>\n

He has three in three years, including one last year. Wilks said Gardner is working on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s finishing as we talked about, and he\u2019s been working on that for us,\u201d Wilks said. \u201cTaking more time with the Jugs [machine] and getting extra catches in and understanding how to catch the ball away from your body just like a receiver would do. But I always say this, and I know there\u2019s a lot of talk about him, but he\u2019s only going to be as good as the guys around him, so it\u2019s all about trying to make sure that we all, particularly on the back end, pushing in the same direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Second-year WR Malachi Corley missed practice again Wednesday with an undisclosed injury. <\/p>\n

\"JetsJets offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand talks with reporters on June 11, 2025. Bill Kostroun for New York Post<\/p>\n

Corley has missed a lot of time this spring, and it could cost him in a tight competition at wide receiver. <\/p>\n

Offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand said Corley will have to catch up in training camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a great question really for him to ask, \u2018How do I get myself mentally caught back up, because I wasn\u2019t able to get the physical reps this spring?\u2019\u2009\u201d Engstrand said. \u201cAnd ultimately, that\u2019s going to be what it is, because the other guys do, they have a handful of practices ahead of him and those physical reps. So, he\u2019s going to have to find a way to catch himself up with that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet the insider\u2019s view on Gang Green\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Jets by Brian Costello, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Rookie WR Arian Smith also did not practice Wednesday. <\/p>\n

LB Quincy Williams was on the field in uniform but did not participate in team drills.<\/p>\n

QB Justin Fields said he plans on getting together with the wide receivers and tight ends during the break before training camp.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Jets defensive coordinator Steve Wilks gave cornerback Sauce Gardner a challenge when the two met after Wilks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[5561,7,226,1917,255,2321,2097,6,9,22352],"class_list":{"0":"post-122986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-ahmad-sauce-gardner","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-jets","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-jets","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkjets","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-steve-wilks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114668195400366925","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}