The Tampa Bay Buccaneers used their 2026 preseason opener against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium as a proving ground for their youngest players, and a pair of training camp standouts took advantage. CB Ayden Garnes returned a first-half interception off QB Bailey Zappe 47 yards for a touchdown and QB Jalon Daniels directed two second-half touchdown drives while completing 10 of 15 passes for 111 yards and adding a one-yard scoring run in a 24-16 win. Both Garnes and Daniels joined the Buccaneers as undrafted free agents in May.

"It was just about the mental toughness," said Head Coach Todd Bowles after the game. "A lot of young guys got to play for the first time under the lights, with referees and live bullets. I thought there were little jitters in the first half; they came back out and settled down and they closed the game out. They started communicating and I thought they played decent in the second half."

The Buccaneers sidelined all their starters and focused on evaluating second and third-string players, while the Jets chose to play their starters for most of the first quarter. New York got out to a 10-0 lead, keyed by Braelon Allen's 31-yard touchdown run, but Chase McLaughlin's 23-yard field goal and Garnes' pick-six evened things up. The home team was able to take a three-point lead into halftime on Cade York's 38-yard field goal on the final play of the second quarter.

With Baker Mayfield being rested and Jake Browning out with a back injury, second-year passer Connor Bazelak got the start and completed 12 of 20 passes for 72 yards. Daniels got the ball in the second half and displayed impressive command of the offense, making several plays on the run. He was supported by first-year RB Josh Williams, who ran eight times for 27 yards, including an impressive 12-yard touchdown scamper in the third quarter that gave the Buccaneers a lead they would not surrender.

"When the second half came, I was just like, 'Alright, take that deep breath. Breathe in, breathe out'" said Daniels. "At this point, you're going out there and playing football. You can't look at it as any different than the game that I've been playing since I was seven years old. I think that allowed me to go out there comfortably and be able to play confidently."

Neither team cracked the 300-yard mark on offense but the Buccaneers got the upper hand with the only two takeaways of the contest. One series after Garnes' pick-six, S Rashad Wisdom hauled in a deflected pass for an interception near midfield. Tampa Bay's defense also put significant pressure on the Jets' quarterbacks, recording four sacks, two by another undrafted rookie, OLB Jack Pyburn. DL Elijah Roberts and CB Damarion Williams also registered sacks. Garnes big play in the second quarter shifted the game's momentum significantly.

"He's getting better," said Bowles of Garnes. "We knew he could cover. That was the biggest thing about him, missing tackles. He missed one early, I think he let Breece [Hall] out one times, but he came back with the pick. He doesn't carry plays. The next play he forgets about it like a good corner should do. He's getting better every week."

With the game in the balance and the Bucs holding onto a one-point lead with nine minutes to play, Daniels directed an impressive drive that was kept alive when a penalty on the Jets on a punt led to Bowles choosing to go for it on fourth-and-six. Daniels found undrafted rookie WR Dean Patterson for just enough to move the sticks and keep the drive alive, eventually leading to his one-yard keeper.

"I thought he was very poised," said Bowles of Daniels, a long-time star at Kansas. "He went in relaxed. We knew he could make off-schedule plays out of the pocket but he played very confident in the pocket and he made the right reads. He zipped some throws in there. I thought he played very well."

Overall, it was an impressive outing not only for the Bucs' rookie class but for General Manager Jason Licht and the Bucs' scouting department that added so much intriguing talent after the draft in April.

"I mean, that's huge," said Bowles. "That's the part that goes unseen and you never hear about these guys. I think Jason and his staff do a great job doing the little things and finding the right guys. And that's hard to do in free agency with the money going everywhere and guys being picked by every team. But to find the right guys for our team and trust them to learn the system, and the coaches putting them to work and putting them in the right position, I think it's a great collaboration."

The Bucs got the ball to start the game after a strong kickoff return by rookie RB Kadarius Calloway out to the 38. With the Bucs' reserves going against New York's starting defense, the first drive was short-lived, with Will McDonald taking down Bazelak for a seven-yard sack on third-and-six.

After the resulting punt, the Jets brought out most of their starting offense but with rookie QB Cade Klubnik under center. Rookie CB Ayden Garnes sniffed out a shovel pass to RB Breece Hall and dropped him for a loss of five but Klubnik converted the third-and-eight by throwing deep over the middle to WR Garrett Wilson for a gain of 21. Three plays later, it was third-and-five and Klubnik once again went to Wilson, this time on a crossing route for 11 yards and a first down at the Bucs' 23. Hall broke contain on a run to the left and got 14 yards to the nine. Tampa Bay's defense held there, with Damion Williams getting credit for a two-yard sack on a Klubnik scramble, and the Jets settled for Cade York's 27-yard field goal to open the scoring.

Calloway muffed the next kickoff and by the time he got control of the ball he could only get it out to the 11-yard line. The Bucs still get their initial first down of the game on a four-yard Tucker run between the tackles and a seven-yard out to WR Ted Hurst. Bazelak extended the next two plays with heady scramble-throws but couldn't quite hook up with Hurst and WR Dean Patterson. A short pass to Patterson third-and-10 failed to move the sticks and the punt unit came on. A 62-yard blast by Riley Dixon came back on a penalty and the next one wasn't as deep, leading to the Jets getting possession at the Bucs' 48.

After gaining one first down to get the ball to the 35, Braelon Allen got two handoffs and the second one went for 31 yards and a touchdown to make it 10-0.

The Bucs went into a hurry-up at the start of their next drive and quick completions to WR Dennis Houston and Tucker produced a first down at the Bucs' 44. Two plays later, Bazelak scrambled for eight yards and a first down at the Jets' 45 as the first quarter came to an end. The Bucs quickly faced a third-and-five at the 40 and Bazelak found Hurst over the middle for a chain-moving 12-yard completion. Shortly after, the Bucs faced a third-and-eight at the Jets' 26 and Houston found a wide-open Houston over the middle of the field for a 19-yard connection down to the seven. The next two plays netted only two yards, and Bazelak couldn't quite fit the ball in to Hurst on a quick slant on third down. Chase McLaughlin put the Bucs on the board with a 23-yard field goal with 10 minutes left in the first half.

McLaughlin's kickoff after that score hit short of the landing zone, which gave the Jets a starting point of their own 40, but that advantage didn't last long. Three plays into the ensuing drive, with Bailey Zappe in at quarterback, Garnes picked off an intermediate seam pass and weaved his way through traffic to run untouched for a 47-yard pick six, tying the game.

Tampa Bay's defense, getting into a groove, made short work of the Jets' next drive. Second-year DL Elijah Roberts broke through quickly on the Jets' first-down play and dropped Zappe for a nine-yard sack. On the next play, Zappe tried to hit WR Arian Smith downfield but it went through the receiver's hands and was intercepted by S Rashad Wisdom, who returned the ball to the Jets' 38. Unfortunately, a holding call on first down short-circuited the ensuing drive and the Bucs ended up punting into the end zone for a touchback.

Another big play by Roberts, this time knifing through the line for a four-yard TFL on RB Kene Nwangwu that led to a three-and-out and a punt down to the Bucs' 31 2ith four minutes left in the half. Tampa Bay's next drive was equally brief, leading to a punt back to the Jets, who started at their 26. New York faced a third-and-one at their 41 right after the two-minute warning and moved the sticks on a five-yard Nwangwu run. Three plays later, Zappe delivered a strike over the middle to rookie WR Omar Cooper for a gain of 26 and the Jets called a timeout at the Bucs' 20 with 24 seconds left. Bucs OLB Mohamed Kamara trapped Nwangwu for a loss of eight two plays later, eventually leading to the Jets trying and making a 38-yard field goal as the first half expired.

New York got the ball to start the second half but the Bucs' defense responded with a three-and-out, capped by rookie OLB Jack Pyburn's seven-yard sack on third-and-three. The Bucs' first drive of the half started at their own 20 after the punt, with rookie Jalon Daniels coming in at quarterback. After an out to TE Bauer Sharp made it third-and-four, Daniels ran out of a collapsing pocket and eluded a tackler to run for five yards and a first down. A holding call on the next play, however, put the Bucs in a hole and led to a third-and-13. Daniels had time to throw on third down, however, and found WR Garrett Greene down the left sideline for a gain of 35 to the Jets' 37. Two runs by Josh Williams made it third-and-two at the 29 and the line cleared a lane for him over left guard to move the chains on third down. Two plays later, Daniels found Sharp in the right flat and he turned it upfield, powering over tacklers for a gain of 13 to the 12. On the next snap, Williams got the handoff heading right and made two sharp cuts to get through the defense for a 12-yard score.

A holding call on the resulting kickoff forced the Jets to start at their 20, with Brady Cook coming in at quarterback. New York got one first down then faced a third-and-two at their 41, and rookie RB Chip Trayanum was able to power over left guard for the first down. A heady scramble by Cook two plays later made it third-and-two again, but this time Trayanum was met in the backfield immediately by rookie LB Caden Fordham. That led to a punt which the Jets were able to down at the Bucs' two-yard line.

Daniels handed off twice to Williams in an attempt to get away from the goal line and the back got a total of three yards to make it third-and-seven as time ran out on the third quarter. After a false start backed them up, the Bucs chose to hand it off and Williams lost a yard, leading to Dixon's punt out to the Tampa Bay 42. A nine-yard catch by rookie RB Sam Scott was followed by a holding call on second down and a pass in the right flat to TE Chase Curtis to make it third-and-one. Scott converted that third down but the Jets then incurred another holding call. That stalled the drive and the Jets settled for Jason Saunders' 47-yard field goal, making the score 17-16 in the Bucs' favor with just under 10 minutes to play.

After a touchback put the Bucs at their 35 for the next drive, Daniels rolled out to his right on play-action and hit rookie WR Eric Rivers for a 12-yard completion. After a false start, Daniels zipped a hard pass through traffic to TE Devin Culp for gain of 15 to the Jets' 42. However, the next three passes were incomplete and the Bucs elected to punt. However, the Jets were penalized for 12 men on the field on the punt, making it fourth-and-five, and Bowles elected to go for on fourth-and-five from the Jets' 37. That paid off when Sharp ran a slant out of the right slot and Daniels put it in his hands for a first down at the 30.Three plays later, it was third-and-six at the 26, and Daniels hit a diving WR Dean Patterson right at the line to gain. A pass in the flat to Green two snaps later made it first-and-goal at the nine. A defensive holding call and a one-yard run by Calloway made it second-and-goal at the one and the Jets called a timeout. After the delay, the Bucs rushed up to the line and let Daniels keep it, as he powered over left guard for the game-clinching score.

The Jets got two big plays to get into Buccaneers territory in the closing minutes but a second Pyburn sack put the offense into a fourth-and-13 and a deep pass by Cook was broken up by rookie DB Keionte Scott.