Andre Cisco brings 'natural leader abilities' home to Jets
Andre Cisco after Jets practice on Wednesday. Credit: Ed Quinn
Andre Cisco used to go to summer camp at Hofstra and would see all of the Jets’ emblems and equipment they needed for training camp.
He was drawn to the Jets, even more so because through his mother’s job, they had tickets to their games at MetLife Stadium. Cisco spent many Sundays cheering on the Jets while growing up in Valley Stream.
Now Cisco is 25, wearing Jets colors, playing safety for them and calling MetLife Stadium home.
Cisco left the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency, landing a one-year, $8.5 million contract with the Jets. He called it “a no-brainer” to return to the area and play for Aaron Glenn, a former defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach who played cornerback for 15 seasons.
“It was mutual,” Cisco said after a Jets OTA practice this past week. “The interest and coming back home, being a part of something great with Aaron Glenn at the helm. What attracted me to AG was his history with the back end, and obviously his vision for that has been fruitful for the last few years.”
The Jets have retooled that back end around two-time All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner. Cisco and former Ravens cornerback Brandon Stephens reached agreement with the Jets on the first day of free agency.
Cisco, who can be a ballhawk, believes the Jets should field one of the top secondaries in the NFL this season.
“I think we should set the bar in terms of what it looks like at a high level around the league,” he said. “I think guys should be able to look at this secondary as the play style and effort, the smartness in terms of IQ. We should be able to set the bar high in this league.”
Cisco played for St. Anthony’s High School for two years before attending IMG Academy in Florida. In college, he was a freshman All-American at Syracuse after recording 60 tackles and intercepting seven passes. In four NFL seasons with the Jaguars, Cisco had 229 tackles and eight interceptions.
He made headlines last year after a lopsided loss to the Bears, saying he saw “a lot of quit” from his teammates. Cisco said it was not his norm to call out his teammates publicly, but he prides himself on being a leader with his actions.
“I try to come in to work every day and just be consistent,” he said. “I think one of the things that happens with football and everything in general is just first-day enthusiasm and then it kind of dies down after that. I try to emphasize being that kind of guy every day. So that’s kind of what I lead with.
“In terms of calling the guys out, that’s not my style all the time. I try to be more one-on-one. Sometimes emotions run high. That’s kind of what happened there.”
Glenn said Cisco has “natural leader abilities” and will continue to grow in that role and in this defense.
“He’s a really good football player,” Glenn said. “He’s a player that can get the ball back for you. He believes in team and he’s a guy that, when he was at Syracuse, he made a lot of plays on the ball. Those things I like about him.
“You watch him how he operates with his teammates, you could tell that he’s a true team guy, and I think that’s only going to get better once we continue to coach him and once he understands the dynamics of everything that we got going on.”
McDonald impresses
Glenn called third-year edge rusher Will McDonald “a dynamic athlete” and said he should be able “to set the edge a lot better” after adding 15 pounds.
McDonald, a 2023 first-round pick, was about 240 pounds last year and led the Jets with 10 1⁄2 sacks. The Jets don’t want him to lose his speed off the edge, as Glenn called it his “superpower.”
Glenn is excited about the player McDonald can become.
“He’s a guy that has a skill set as far as rushing the passer that I haven’t seen around a lot of guys, just in my coaching tenure, like what we have with him,” Glenn said. “I’m going to enjoy seeing exactly what he’s going to be able to do with us. And we’re going to let him go. We’re going to let him loose. We’re going to let him go get the passer. That’s what he does best.”
Players all-in on OTAs
Glenn was pleased that the Jets had perfect attendance for the start of voluntary OTAs. He said it sent a strong message.
“These men want to win,” Glenn said. “These men want to work. And this coaching staff wants to do everything they can to give them the tools that they need to be successful.”
Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams said having 100% participation is “amazing” and shows “the belief that we have in the new staff, the new head coach and the new regime and the way we want to get this thing going.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
