Tanner Engstrand seen through eyes of those who led him down path to Jets

The car carrying Tanner Engstrand and Sammy Lawanson into work at 6 a.m. usually was a little lighter on the way home.

After logging his own 15-hour day, Lawanson headed back to the cramped two-bedroom basement-level AirBnB the two coaches shared during a short stint as assistants for the XFL’s DC Defenders in 2020.

Because Engstrand was the driver and often stayed in the facility another three hours to do midnight modifications to that week’s offensive game plan with head coach Pep Hamilton, Lawanson needed other one-way means of transportation.

“I’ll catch an Uber,” Lawanson would say. “Don’t wake me up when you come home.”