One year ago, everything was new for Elijah Moore. 

It was his first NFL training camp, and the Jets receiver was in a “learning state” — taking everything in. Then, he led the Jets in receiving yards last season, despite playing just 11 games. Now, the 22-year-old Moore knows what he’s doing. And he has walked into 2022 with expectations around him for the next step. 

“Finding ways to keep grinding, keep getting better, honing in on your craft, all the things you do have control over — I think Elijah’s wired that way,” head coach Robert Saleh said. “You want him to master the playbook, which he has control over. You want him to master the precision of his routes, which he has control over. And as long as he’s aiming to do that, he’ll get better.” 

That was not meant as a challenge, but as a statement of how Moore works. His route running was a strength coming out of Mississippi. He wants to get better, though. 

“The more times I hear the play, coaches saying the route 100 times, just seeing the looks in practice, I’m only gonna get better at it,” Moore said. “I’m waiting, I’m ready for the game.” 

That sentiment, in a lot of ways, encapsulates what Moore is bringing to his second year in the league. There’s comfort in familiarity. He has it now. 

“I had to go experience it,” Moore said. “It was my first time going to do it. Seeing this look. Understanding the speed. I feel like as time went on, just like you did with Zach [Wilson], you get more comfortable. So now just hearing it over again, it’s more like clockwork. I’m just grateful for that.” 

In what will be a young receivers room, that will matter more than it might elsewhere. The Jets’ long-term hopes involve skewing to the youngest in Moore and Garrett Wilson. Moore said he sees himself in Wilson, picked 10th in the 2022 NFL Draft by general manager Joe Douglas. The Ohio State product, he said, is doing so much of what he did last season. 

The Jets will hope that bodes well. 

“Whenever I can give him a tip — not even football related, just handling something in the building, I try to do that,” Moore said. “He’s picking up on things really fast.” 

The chemistry has developed around the Jets’ offense, in part because of a bonding trip Zach Wilson organized to Northern Idaho. Moore said it took him 7 ¹/₂ hours to get to where they were staying, near Coeur d’Alene. And it was well worth it. 

Wilson and the Jets’ backup QBs threw passes on a field they had painted with NFL lines. But the value of the trip came from something else. 

“We all talked about when we was up there, it wasn’t even about the throwing,” Moore said. “It was about us hanging out. Us, the tight ends, the other quarterbacks, it was just a great time. We all ain’t never had those moments where everybody put down their phones and really, really talked. 

“It was just something great. I’m really blessed.”