New York Jets running back Xazavian Valladay delivered an inadvertent hit on Saturday to a member of the New York Giants coaching staff.
Aaron Wellman didn’t quite get run over by Valladay, but he did take a pretty serious hit. And perhaps most impressively, Wellman bounced off the turf at MetLife Stadium, doing so with a smile.
Wellman is the Giants’ executive director of player performance.
Valladay took a slant from quarterback Andrew Peasley for 17 yards and a Jets first down, getting knocked out of bounds where he collided with Wellman. The Giants staffer went head over heels before making like Teflon and bouncing up.
“I saw that this morning. [director of coaching operations] ‘LY’ (Laura Young) showed it to me and that was a pretty big hit,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll told reporters on Sunday.
“So one, he’s tough. He got right back up. And two, the clip that she showed me… He’s not a big smile guy. He’s pretty serious. I think that’s the biggest smile I’ve ever seen him have since I’ve met him.”
First off, a nice catch-and-run by Valladay, who finished the preseason finale with six catches for 62 yards.
Coach took this hit like a champ 😅👏 pic.twitter.com/2WborNQioY
— NFL (@NFL) August 25, 2024
Valladay made one appearance for the Jets last year. So far in preseason, he has 25 rushing attempts for 45 yards.
