Robert Saleh is delaying significant 49ers-focused prep for Jets: ‘Slip them in’

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jets coach Robert Saleh admits he began thinking about the Week 1 matchup with the 49ers as soon as the schedule was released in May.

But he isn’t quite ready to start talking to the team about that game.

Saleh said he has introduced a few concepts for the 49ers game in practice, but he won’t really start focusing on them until training camp is over.

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“We slip them in,” Saleh said of 49ers plays. “We want our players focusing on techniques and fundamentals, we’ll slip them into group install, and walk-throughs here and there.

“Offense might go against a couple looks, defense play a couple looks, but it’s all just getting it on tape just to see what we look like. But as far as actually introducing it to the players, that won’t happen until the 53 [-man roster] is set.”

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There is a raging debate about how much starters should play in the preseason. Saleh has clearly fallen on the side of not playing them much, if at all. He explained why this week.

“Back in the day, when there was three or four preseason games, you played a quarter, then you played a second quarter, then you brought your guys out for the third quarter. That’s not the case anymore,” Saleh said.

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“Now it’s a matter of really looking yourself in the mirror as a coaching staff, and are you just trying to check boxes to say, ‘OK, I played my guys for a series,’ or is it actually going to help us perform at our best in Week 1’?

“And so, just going through that evaluation process — like I said, we’ve got another inter-squad scrimmage next week versus the Giants — we’re getting a lot of reps, a lot of quality reps, and just looking at the overall body of work throughout training camp whether or not our guys need that extra work, we’ll make that decision when it comes to it.”

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