Rookie Free Agent Jason Brownlee’s Journey to the Jets Is Starting to Pay Dividends

Wideout on His 1st Pro TD vs. Washington: ‘When the Opportunity Comes, You’ve Got to Take Full Advantage’

Jason Brownlee led the Jets this preseason with 10 catches and 102 yards, and he was a member of the highly anticipated young wide receiver class of 2023, which also featured Xavier Gipson and rookie Irv Charles, to make the 53-man active roster. That has been a long time in wideout years.

 

In the first nine games, he was little involved. Then, it was difficult to recognize No. 16’s contributions when he did receive offensive snaps and even during his first few NFL starts.

 

However, Brownlee has adhered to the tried-and-true route that rookie free agents eventually take to establish themselves in the lucrative game.

 

“The most important lesson I’ve taken away from the NFL is to simply be patient, remain humble, keep working hard, and when the When an opportunity presents itself, you must seize it fully, Brownlee said to Ethan

Greenberg of newyorkjets.com this week. “That’s what I’ve been doing, just staying

patient and finally getting some playing time, trying to go out there and make

plays for the team and be there for the guys.”

It was an easy game for a young player to get lost in, and Brownlee’s first start occurred in the home game versus Miami. He did record two receptions as a professional and 57 offensive snaps.

 

But before he faced the Commanders on the TD map, he would have to sit out two more games because of an ankle injury.

 

Just 4:34 into Sunday’s festivities, Brownlee found his first professional

touchdown, an 8-yard run to the end zone. “If the linebacker blitzed, my route

became hot, so automatically [Trevor Siemian] knew to throw it to me right

there for an easy touchdown,” Brownlee said. “The defender had to go over the

top of Garrett Wilson, which really provided me enough space to catch it

and show up. I simply caught it and continued in after seeing that blast come

off the edge and realizing it was aimed at me.”

So all went to plan … except that he lost track of that personally significant pigskin that he carried across the goal line.

“Yeah, we got the ball back,” he said with a smile. “I got too excited and I dropped the ball.”

 

Brownlee is a Mississippian all the way, growing up in West Point, MS, and stopping at East Mississippi CC before finishing at Southern Miss, where he compiled 101 catches for 1,534 yards and 16 touchdowns his last two seasons. His work down south set the stage for the first part of his journey up north, coming to the Jets after the draft and making enough room for himself to stick around.

 

He is a part of the Jets’ cadre of young players who have had an impact on the slow growth of the offense after Aaron Rodgers’ opening-night Achilles injury.

 

“Brownlee gets his first touchdown, Xavier Gipson is becoming more and more of a player,” head coach Robert

Saleh said after the win over Washington, evaluating some of the

names in his last two rookie classes. “Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall are still

just second-year players and both were obviously major contributors, like they

are every week. [Joe] Tippmann is a rookie, Carter Warren’s a rookie, Jacob

Hanson is trying to prove that he belongs.

 

“So there’s a lot of youth on the offensive side of the ball that is just trying to find

ways to get a little bit better and really kind of propel themselves into the 2024 season.”

Saleh’s conclusion is supported by the fact that in the Jets’ 30-28 victory over the

Commanders, rookie and second-year players accounted for 89% of the team’s

rushing yards, 83% of its receiving yards, and all three touchdowns.

 

But before he enters the offseason and plays road games against the Browns and

Patriots to end his first Jets season, Brownlee still has work to do.

 

“I just want to continue to play and learn, continue this experience and this journey,” he stated. “Taking advantage of

all my opportunities, going out there and playing hard for my teammates and just

leaving it all out there every play and every game.”