Before C.J. Mosley signed with the Jets in the offseason, he and Jamal Adams were teammates in last year's Pro Bowl, while Mosley was still a member of the Ravens. 

It didn't take long for Mosley to take note of the standout safety out of LSU. 

"One of the first things I noticed was his voice," Mosley said of Adams. "It takes a lot when guys come to the Pro Bowl to be amped up and ready to play. I saw the competitiveness in that. 

Christian McCaffrey has quickly developed into one of the NFL's most versatile running backs with the Panthers. With his size, speed, and ability to catch the ball, he is everything teams are looking for in today's backfield. 

The Jets have arguably a bigger threat in Le'Veon Bell as their running back entering the new season, a player McCaffrey can thank for helping him back in his college days when he was envisioning himself in the league. 

McCaffrey spoke on NBC Sports' Peter King's podcast, and explained how Bell reached out to him while he was at Stanford trying his best to get NFL teams on his radar. He said Bell, who was with the Steelers at the time, was more than willing to offer advice whenever he could. 

Sometimes it just takes a step away from the game to realize that you're just not done with it yet. Just ask Brett Favre. He did it numerous times. 

This is Ryan Kalil's first time returning to the game after announcing his retirement after last season. Jets GM Joe Douglas convinced him that it wasn't his time to lock up the cleats and pads for good, and he knew it was the right move on Sunday -- when he was pacing the Jets' locker room getting ready for his initial first team reps of training camp. 

"Everyone was making fun of me, I was pacing the locker room like 30 minutes before anybody else was dressed," Kalil told The Post's Mollie Walker after practice. "It's why I came back. I love football. I just do." 

Jets head coach Adam Gase had a simple, three-word response when asked if he regretted leaving in Avery Williamson as long as he did in Thursday's preseason win over the Falcons.

"Yes, I do."

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- When Le'Veon Bell takes the field on Opening Day, he will have gone 19 months without playing in an actual NFL game. And as much as he says he'll be ready, and the Jets believe him, there's no way anyone can know for sure.

But that's OK. A little mystery is better than an untimely injury - especially one that could ruin the Jets entire season. That's why Adam Gase is smart to be cautious with his star running back. And the decision he announced on Sunday night to keep the 27-year-old Bell out for the entire preseason is absolutely the right move.

The last thing the Jets need is to lose Bell before they even have a chance to use him. They spent $52.5 million on him in March, even upping their offer to seal the deal, because they knew he'd be the linchpin of Gase's attack. They viewed him as the perfect weapon to help their young, star quarterback and a way to take the pressure off their undermanned receiving corps.

Le'Veon Bell did not suit up for either of the Jets' first two preseason games, and as head coach Adam Gase told reporters following Sunday's Green and White scrimmage, he won't see the field until their Week 1 matchup with the Bills on Sept. 8. 

"Le'Veon will not play this week," Gase said. "He won't play in the fourth game. We will be holding him until the season." 

Gase had previously hinted at the possibility of keeping Bell on the sidelines until the regular season opener following Saturday's practice.

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The Giants once learned the lesson in the most painful way possible. For years they took their specialists for granted. They got kickers and punters as cheaply as possible, converted long-snappers from other positions, and considered all three very disposable and interchangeable parts.

Then came their horrific loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs in 2003, when they lost 39-38 on a dreadful triple disaster by their long-snapper, punter/holder, and kicker when they were lining up for what should've been a game-winning kick.

That's when GM Ernie Accorsi vowed: Never again. And that offseason he went on a special spending spree, bringing in quality veterans at long-snapper (Ryan Kuehl), punter (Jeff Feagles) and kicker (Mike Hollis, and later Steve Christie). He did not want to see his team lose a game ever again just because he tried to save a few bucks at those positions.

As a defensive back for the team from 2015-18, Buster Skrine has seen the Jets' quarterbacks firsthand across four years in New York.

Now with the Chicago Bears, Skrine discussed where his former team is heading under Sam Darnold.

Skrine returned to MetLife Stadium on Friday for week two of the preseason in the Bears' 32-13 loss to the Giants. After the game, he spoke to Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media and had high praise for his former quarterback.

For the second-straight game, the Jets took the field for a preseason meeting without running back Le'Veon Bell on Thursday. That same trend could continue during their final two preseason games as well. 

New York head coach Adam Gase indicated on Friday that Bell, 27, didn't play during the team's exhibition against the Falcons because of a good week of practice. 

"I just liked his week of practice," Gase said. "He got a ton of reps this week."

The Jets have added a new linebacker following Avery Williamson's season-ending torn ACL.

The team announced on Saturday afternoon that they have signed veteran Albert McClellan and placed Williamson on Injured Reserve.

A 33-year-old out of Marshall, McClellan played his first six seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, before splitting time last season with the Ravens and New England Patriots. 

Which three current Jets would you invite to dinner?

That was the question asked to head coach Adam Gase and general manager Joe Douglas, as they walked the Jets' practice field.

Jamal Adams seems like an obvious answer, but some of Gase's choices may be a bit of a surprise. 

Former Jets quarterback Josh McCown, who retired in June after spending the last two of his 16 professional seasons with the team, has now decided to un-retire according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. McCown will sign a one year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, making them his eleventh NFL team. The contract includes $2 million fully guaranteed and could be worth up to $5.4 million, per source.

Last season with the Jets, he appeared in four games after starter Sam Darnold was out with a foot injury. McCown had been a strong mentor for the No. 3 pick in the 2018 Draft, and had spoken very highly of him.

"I root for those guys, and I want to see Sam have a lot of success. Now he has to make it happen. If he needs me, I'm only a phone call away," McCown said.

Jamal Adams has already proven himself to be a leader on the back end of the Jets' defense.

This past offseason, the team went out and added CJ Mosley in free agency, adding another playmaker, and giving Adams another leader he can rely on in the Jets' front seven.

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The most important thing for every NFL team in every preseason game is to simply come out of it with their starting lineup intact. Whatever the starters get out of a few meaningless snaps is rarely worth the risk of a devastating injury.

The Jets and linebacker Avery Williamson were just reminded of that in the worst way possible, thanks to the worst decision of Adam Gase's short Jets career.

The Jets suffered a huge blow on Friday when their worst fears were confirmed - that Williamson suffered a torn ACL in the Jets' 22-10 win in Atlanta on Thursday night. And the insult to the injury is that it was truly meaningless and could have - should have - been avoided. The 27-year-old was injured with 3:52 left in the first half, long after all the other Jets defensive starters had departed.

The Jets received a big blow to their defense on Friday as linebacker Avery Williamson has suffered a torn ACL. SNY's Ralph Vacchiano confirmed NFL Network's Ian Rapoport's first report on the injury. Williamson will miss the entire 2019 season. 

Williamson was curiously left in Thursday's preseason contest against the Falcons for an extended amount of time when he sustained the injury. 

Williamson went down on the field with approximately four minutes left in the first half while in coverage on a passing play. The Jets brought in a new defensive coordinator this offseason in Gregg Williams and Williamson was tabbed as the defensive play-caller on the field. 

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New Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said this week that he hasn't really started bringing the pressure with his play-calls yet.

All that changed on Thursday night.

Actually, it didn't matter because he was getting plenty of pressure from his defensive line, but Williams turned up the heat in the second game of the preseason. The Jets were all over Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan in a 22-10 win in Atlanta. They sacked him three times on the 17 times he dropped back to pass, and pressured him on almost every other pass. He was still 10 of 14 for 118 yards thanks to his talent and a porous Jets secondary. But by the time he left, one thing was clear:

Through two preseason games, the Jets have looked strong on both sides of the ball.

Sam Darnold and the first-team offense have shown efficiency moving the ball down the field, and Gregg Williams' defense proved on Thursday that they can bring the heat on opposing quarterbacks.

One glaring issue for the Jets through these two games, though, has been their kicking game.

The Jets wide receiver room doesn't exactly scare anyone from top-to-bottom, but there's talent. 

The top-three targets for quarterback Sam Darnold on the outside are Robby Anderson, Jamison Crowder and Quincy Enunwa. In that group, New York head coach Adam Gase doesn't want or see football players.

Instead, Gase wants basketball players, and he thinks he's got them. 

The Jets continue their preseason schedule on Thursday night on the road against the Falcons in Atlanta. Their first game was a loss in the "Snoopy Bowl" to the Giants, something they're looking to bounce back from tonight. 

It will definitely be a tough task to do so, especially when you consider one big strength and one big weakness for the Falcons and Jets respectively. 

Last season, the Falcons -- led by Matt Ryan on the offensive side of the ball -- were a pass-heavy team. That's not to say the rest of the NFL hasn't turned into that, but the Falcons did better than most teams. They finished fourth in passing offense for the regular season with 209.8 yards per game. 

The Jets' hottest new commodity in Le'Veon Bell is still getting acclimated to his new team. He was absent from most of the team's offseason voluntary workouts as he continued his routine of working out in Miami to prepare for the new season. 

But, since Bell has been at training camp for the past few weeks, his new Jets teammates are learning what the dynamic running back is like on and off the field. 

In between the hashes, Bell is the exact same player that he was when we last saw him: a patient yet explosive back that knows how to read defenses and make his opponents miss. He didn't show that against the Giants in preseason Week 1 as he sat out, but there have been spurts at practice where he's shown his mastery with the ball in his hands. 

As Quinnen Williams gets acclimated to his new team, the Jets first-rounder is also getting used to his new surroundings. 

Sitting down alongside his D-linemate Leonard Williams and SNY's Jeane Coakley, Quinnen Williams admitted that he has never been this far north. He has been in Alabama his entire life, growing up in Birmingham and playing in Tuscaloosa. 

But Quinnen Williams is slowly learning how cool New York City and New Jersey can be. And maybe one day soon Leonard Williams will take him out on the town...

Sam Darnold had an impressive preseason debut last Thursday, and that may have a lot to do with his relationship with head coach Adam Gase.

The second-year quarterback was recently asked to describe what he enjoys the most about getting to know his new head coach, and Darnold explained that Gase has offered him advice pertaining to both on the field and off of it. 

"He's crazy in the best way. I think we all are," Darnold said about his head coach. "You've got to be a little crazy in this profession, and it's fun to be able to gameplan with him, talk about football, but the coolest thing is being able to talk to him about things outside football - family life, friends and family, all of that kind of stuff."  

After the Jets lost their top cornerback in Trumaine Johnson following Sunday's practice, GM Joe Douglas moved swiftly to help fill the void.

The Jets signed seventh-year veteran Marcus Cooper, the team announced on Tuesday, waiving tight end Nick Truesdell to create room.

The Detroit Lions cut Cooper on Monday.

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FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- The Jets knew the cornerback position was their biggest flaw, even before Trumaine Johnson injured his hamstring at practice on Sunday. They were shorthanded from the start at one of the most important positions in football.

Now, with Johnson out for the foreseeable future -- "I don't think it's going to be months," Adam Gase said, "but I mean, we'll see." -- the situation is dire.

The Jets' intensity level at training camp thus far has been through the roof, and that's always a good sight when there is so much change going on with a franchise. Head coach Adam Gase is setting the tone early on with his offensive group, and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is doing the same with his unit. 

When those competitive juices do get flowing at practice, the Jets have seen a scuffle or two occur on the gridiron. 

And that's perfectly fine for Williams in particular. Speaking after practice on Tuesday, Williams explained to the media that he loves his highly-competitive group, and the fights and arguments at practice will happen when everyone is competing for a job on the 53-man roster. 

If there's anyone who knows what it takes to play quarterback for the Jets, it's probably the man who was under center for the team's lone Super Bowl appearance and victory. 

And Joe Namath continues to be impressed by the player who is now taking snaps for Gang Green some 50 years later, Sam Darnold.

"I liked what I saw of him physically when he was at Southern Cal before he got here," Namath said. "When he got here, I liked what the coaches and players had to say about him.

Following the first week of the exhibition season in the NFL, the optimism surrounding both of New York's football teams is through the roof. 

The Jets' Sam Darnold led a single drive that was near perfect, as the second-year pro was 4-for-5 passing with a touchdown. The Giants' once looked down upon rookie QB in Daniel Jones was one pass better, as he was 5-for-5 passing with a touchdown.

So... Jets vs. Giants Super Bowl?

For players, coaches and general managers alike, training camp is a grind. Between meetings, workouts and practices, it can sometimes seem the work never stops. So, every now and then, who doesn't need to blow off some steam and belt it out at karaoke night?

Well, Adam Gase, for one. The Jets head coach told SNY's Jeane Coakley that he'd "never be asked to do karaoke and would decline if he was." But general manager Joe Douglas takes Gase for a grunge guy, saying he could "crush" Pearl Jam, given the opportunity. 

Douglas is more of a low-key, country-western guy himself, tapping Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler" and John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" as his specialties when he gets the mic. 

Jets quarterback Sam Darnold said following his team's preseason opener against the Giants last week that he's hoping the first-team offense gave fans a "taste" of what's to come in 2019.

The second-year QB was 4-for-5 passing in the game with a touchdown pass. Running back Le'Veon Bell didn't play in the game and the starters only played one series. Regardless, the group left a good impression.

The Jets will continue their exhibition season on Thursday against the Falcons and head coach Adam Gase revealed that the team will probably give fans a bigger taste than it did in Week 1. 

The Jets have a favorite for the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year Award in running back Le'Veon Bell. 

BetOnline recently released odds for the honor, and Bell is tied with 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo as the favorite to win the award at 4/1 odds.

Bell, 27, would be a true comeback, as he signed a four-year deal worth $52.5 million and $35 million guaranteed this offseason after sitting out the entire 2018 season while looking for a new contract from the Steelers.