Jets Notes: Jason Sanders to handle Week 1 kicking duties, Omar Cooper Jr. impressing

Jets head coach Aaron Glenn provided some updates prior to Friday's practice...

Gang Green's kicker will be...

Jason Sanders.

Glenn announced that the team will stick with Sanders as their guy to handle the kicking duties for Week 1 due to the fact that he's had the most reps.

That doesn't mean he'll stick for the whole season, though.

The Jets do want to give the recently claimed Blake Grupe a real shot to stick around, but want to give him more reps with the unit before making their decision.

I want to make sure I give him the proper chance for the competition," Glenn said. I want to let this thing play out, but Jason will be kicking for us this week."

Gang Green, of course, cut Sanders after he struggled mightily in their final preseason game, but quickly brought him back on the practice squad.

Grupe was picked up last week after being cut loose by the Saints.

Cooper on the rise

Any concerns over Omar Cooper Jr.'s slow start in camp appear to be gone.

The Jets have been encouraged by what they've seen from the young Indiana product.

He's just getting better and better," Glenn said. Everything we saw during his time at Indiana we've seen in practice -- he's tough, can make you miss, can make tough catches -- I'm excited with where he's at."

The head coach noted that Cooper showed signs of that progress, hauling in a long pass down field during a two-minute drill during a recent practice.

He's expected to begin the season behind Garrett Wilson and Adonai Mitchell as New York's WR3.

Confidence in Klubnik

As we saw in the NFL season opener Wednesday night, backup QB's are extremely valuable in this league.

The Jets know that, and Glenn emphasized that the team feels very confident having Clemson product Cade Klubnik be their guy behind starter Geno Smith.

He wouldn't be our No. 2 if we didn't have our true belief in who he was as a person, as a player, as a quarterback, and his ability to lead this team -- we thought about it quite a bit and I like the decision that we made."

Klubnik went through the usual ups and downs of a rookie in camp and preseason action, but also showed flashes of his potential.