Monthly Archives: July 2005
Vick King, who just retired from football and the Jets has been replaced by Terry Butler, a rookie free agent. Butler is a 6'1″, 200-pound back who rushed for 2,080 yards in his four years at Villanova.
I am guessing this kid is camp or practice squad fodder, but thought it was worth noting…
Training camp is my oasis.
For
the past few months now, there has been scarce little information about
most teams, and I feel like I have been parched for a drop of Jets, or
for that matter NFL news. But to keep up with the sheer volume of
stories right now is like (as my old boss would say over and over and
over) “drinking from a firehose.”
With Day 2 of camp over, it seems that Cimini is continuting his more upbeat tone about Chad with some notes sprinkled in on Coles, and Henderson's take on Law. Cimini' second story today is the dissection of the Coles/Moss deal, starting from the inception (Coles telling John Abraham at the Pro Bowl he wanted to be traded), to the signing of the papers.
Dave Hutchinson from nj.com sounds optimisitic about the defense again this year,
and why not be? Hutch writes about how the Jets will be a more
congealed unit this year with just 3 new starters and a better sense of
their capabilities… though like most of us, I still wonder about the
loss of Ferguson.
Sione Pouha
is the topic of Karen Crouse's pen from the NY Times. An interesting
article, but a lot of rehashed stuff (saving the lady from the fire)
but has some more insights into his family & heritage.
Some more notes from around the sites on the Jets camp.
1) Check out some pictures from Newsday's site from Friday's practice.
2) Take a gander at some of Mark LaMonica's videos from Friday (one of Newsday's KBQBs)
3) Also, it's worth checking out his Friday diary from camp, pretty funny.
4) Our friend, Mr. Lange has a blog now at northjersey.com!
Wow, what a couple of weeks for me! Pete Hunter, a Jet!!!!
No,
in reality, getting married, going to Saint Lucia and coming back the
U.S. on my birthday, it has all been a great but somewhat surreal
whirlwind. Although getting back to my “regular life” (i.e. not sitting
on a recliner, on the beach, under a grass hut, on a black sand beach,
looking out at azure water, drinking Pina Coladas all day) is somewhat
sad, at the same time, it has been somewhat exciting as I am glad to be
coming back to all the great stories, rumors and general excitement
around the Jets, training camp, and the NFL in general.
Again, my deepest thanks
to Bent (and the “nonnies”) for keeping the site cruising along while I
was gone. Bent did a great job keeping up with the Jets news from the
other side of the pond… I greatly appreciate your hard work!
So
to get back in the swing of things, here are some of my quick thoughts
& links of some of the stuff getting knocked around.
On Pete Hunter:
Back
to the Hunter thing, I won't say this was a shock to me, or should be
to you if you have been reading this site for a while… do you
remember when the rumors swirled around back in late April? I even made
some posts on this… here and here.
Although Bradway denied even talking to the Cowboys at the time, it
would seem pretty silly to him to deny any talks for Hunter back in
April at this point… lightning doesn't strike twice, does it?
On Chad's Shoulder:
Glad to see today's good news that the beat writers are reporting on about how Chad's shoulder is feeling great… but what was the hubbub about him not being ready for Game 1 while I was away? I remember reading on footballoutsiders.com
in a comments section a while back that the most important plays to
watch how Chad can throw will be on the posts and flags (if I remember
correctly) because of the precision and distance
necessary for the throw. I want Chad to be 85% at this time, and I
would think that is good progress, but it is hard to really know what
his prognosis is, no matter what the media reports.
On the Bad Penny (A.K.A. Ty Law):
The
story that just won't go away. I am glad to hear that the Jets might
have made him an offer, though I wonder how much of it is guaranteed
money (not enough I guess, otherwise he would have signed already) but
apparently there is still a large gap in the offer between the Jets and Law.
On the First Day of Camp:
Has Cimini turned over a new leaf? Reading his notes from the Law article
(same as linked above) there are some funny and downright positive
notes. I have to say, the story about the fan getting involved in the
special teams practice is pretty amusing. Glad to hear Jolley and
Miller are fitting in. Although the notes about Chrebet is a little
disconcerting… pay attention to his health as camp runs on. Losing 14
pounds for a tonsilectomy sounds like a bit of a stretch…
Glad to be back!
With master Jetsblogger Bassett
returning today, it is time for me to return the keys to
thejetsblog.com and hand things back over to Bassett. I'll still be on
board giving my thoughts from across the pond in the run up to and
during the season.
To quickly get you back up to speed, Bassett, here's what you missed while you were off on honeymoon for two weeks:
* We still don't know if Chad can play
* We still don't know if Abraham wants to play
* We still don't know if the Jets will sign Ty Law
* We still don't know if Adrian Jones can play right tackle
* We still don't know who the starting LCB, SS, NT and P will be
Somehow,
despite all that, there was still so much to report that we barely had
time for any of my dry (N.B. dry = unfunny) humour. The readers were
spared!
Anyway, dude, many congratulations to you and Mrs B. on getting married. Happy birthday and welcome back!
Use
the comments below if you want to congratulate Bassett, wish him a
happy birthday, welcome him back or request that he fires me.
With master Jetsblogger Bassett
returning today, it is time for me to return the keys to
thejetsblog.com and hand things back over to Bassett. I'll still be on
board giving my thoughts from across the pond in the run up to and
during the season.
To quickly get you back up to speed, Bassett, here's what you missed while you were off on honeymoon for two weeks:
* We still don't know if Chad can play
* We still don't know if Abraham wants to play
* We still don't know if the Jets will sign Ty Law
* We still don't know if Adrian Jones can play right tackle
* We still don't know who the starting LCB, SS, NT and P will be
Somehow,
despite all that, there was still so much to report that we barely had
time for any of my dry (N.B. dry = unfunny) humour. The readers were
spared!
Anyway, dude, many congratulations to you and Mrs B. on getting married. Happy birthday and welcome back!
Use
the comments below if you want to congratulate Bassett, wish him a
happy birthday, welcome him back or request that he fires me.
As training camp action begins this morning, we can expect to receive the usual reports from the official site.
They will give daily updates on who is performing well and (hopefully
not too often) any injuries. It tends to be mostly good news though.
Here is an example from last year.
Personally,
I cannot help but read this things with a “glass half-empty” view. When
someone makes a good play, obviously that is positive, but I find
myself thinking “who's fault was it?”
For example, a report from last year might say:
“Jerricho Cotchery was all over the field making several tough catches.”
Whereas the reality of the situation might was:
“Terrell Buckley got burned over and over again by a rookie. Put a fork in him�he's done”.
Or maybe, the report would say:
“Jonathan
Vilma continued to turn heads with his playmaking ability, tipping one
pass that was intercepted and forcing two fumbles.”
Whereas in actual fact, a more honest report would have been:
“Quincy Carter kept turning the ball over. If Chad Pennington gets hurt, the Jets are screwed.”
I
know I try to read too much into these reports. For example, if Curtis
Martin isn't mentioned, I find myself thinking “Curtis Martin did
nothing in practice�what if he's completely lost it? Maybe he's
injured. That's it�our Superbowl aspirations are over”. On the other
hand if Anthony Becht wasn't mentioned, I would find myself thinking
“Anthony Becht did nothing in practice�Hmmm. Quite a productive outing
by his standards”.
Addition by subtraction. Addition by
subtraction. Addition by subtraction. I keep telling myself – we're
going to be fine. (Although, if Chad gets hurt we are screwed!)
News update:
First day of camp reports from Newsday, NY Daily News, NJ.com and North Jersey Media Group.
The news is that Abraham did not show up as expected, but the Jets are
hopeful and Law seems to want to be a Jet, but Bradway denies making an
offer.
Registercitizen.com's preview says the Jets need to watch out for the Pats. Well, duh!
The Pats LB unit took another hit when Ted Johnson retired. Also, Richard Seymour (like Abe) was a no-show).
There's an interesting discussion going
on over at footballoutsiders.com about the over/under for the NFC East
and AFC East…and with that, you're fully up to date.
So many links, so little time…it
seems like optimism is the order of the day. Nugent is signed, Chad
will be ready, Jones CAN play right tackle and Herm is confident that
Abe will be here. The media doesn't necessarily concur…
A look at some key issues heading into camp
Edwards is confident about Chad and Abraham
SI.com�s Jets preview is thorough but out of date�Donnie Abe and Mousey are long gone, guys
Ex-Jet Jason Glenn signs for the fish
5 Questions for the Jets. Hmmm�original concept
Chad is back�but he�s still only 85%
Poston only wants the Jets for his client
A �source� says Abe will not be at camp
Sorry if any of those links don't work. It's very late here and that took ages! I'm looking forward to Bassett's return now.
OK, I've got some decent links for you now.
Ty Law's agent says the Jets made an offer
averaging over $6m per year. Don't get too excited though…I don't
think the Jets can afford that and it makes little sense for them to
make an offer before Law works out. This sounds like classic Poston -
trying to get the Lions or whoever to make a bigger deal. The Jets have
probably indicated their offer will be too low for their taste. That's
my take, anyway.
We finally signed Justin Miller.
Good stuff. Now only Nugent is unsigned. Mike Tannenbaum has 24 hours
to sign him and extend his perfect record of no camp holdouts. Someone
call Jack Bauer!
USA Today ranks the wide receivers.
Coles comes in at 15, ahead of the likes of Branch, Porter and Burress.
Interestingly Santana “The Crab” Moss is ranked 21st.
Today is Reggie Lewis day.
You can read my tribute to a special basketball player here.
Since I can't find anything interesting to link to today (OK, the NY media is getting all excited over Ty Law's comments
that I linked you to yesterday and US Today ranks the league's best
Tight Ends (yeah, like *that* was ever going to feature any Jets) but
other than that…nothing). Instead I want to talk about where I've
been getting my football fix from these last few weeks. The Canadian
Football League! (Hey, it's better than NFL Europe).
I was
actually a CFL fan before I was an NFL fan, as my parents lived in
Toronto from 1968-1970 and used to go and watch the Argonauts, so they
gave me some old game programmes and an Argos bobblehead, that inspired
me to watch the NFL and become a Jets fan.
They are 5 games into
the season up there and the main thing that surprised me was that the
nine teams in the league were all in existence when my parents used to
watch (and they do have cooler names than NFL teams). I'm used to
expansion and relocation, so it is really refreshing to see a league
with that kind of history.
There are several interesting
characters in this year's CFL, that had links with the Jets, so I
thought I would let you know how they're getting on.
Ricky Ray
who was with the Jets last year in preseason is now back with the
Eskimos. He leads the league in passing yards and TDs and has also
rushed for 3 scores, as Edmonton are 4-1.
Randy Chevrier
is starting at nose tackle for the Calgary Stampeders. He played in
preseason last year for the Jets but was cut. Chevrier is also a long
snapper and the Jets may have kept him on to do that, if Michael Ricks
hadn't been such a disappointment that the Jets retained Dearth.
Brett Ralph
(WR) is also with the Stampeders. His connection with the Jets is that
his brother, Brock, will be trying to make the team this year. Brett
has 8 catches for 123 yards this year.
Ken-Yon Rambo also
plays at wideout for Calgary (and returns kicks). You may recall Rambo
had a 100-yard receiving day in the final preseason game of last year,
when the Jets came from behind with three late TDs to beat the Eagles
28-27. He led the Jets in receiving yards in last year's preseason but
fell victim to a numbers game. He has 462 combined yards so far this
season, and one TD catch. Cool name, too.
Matt Dominguez
is another wideout from last year's camp. He had a 15 yard TD catch in
the 17-10 win over the Giants and scored the winning TD with 8 seconds
remaining in the game against the Eagles. Despite being injured earlier
in the season, he has 11 catches for 142 yards and 2 TDs this year for
the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Kenton Keith was a running
back the Jets tried out the year before last. He has rushed for just 84
yards so far this season, but at an average of 4 yards per carry.
Craig Yeast
was with the Jets in 2001 (Herm's first year, when Hall kicked the Jets
into the postseason against the Raiders). He was used as a return man
with Chad Morton out and averaged 23 yards per kickoff return and 9
yards per punt return. He had 145 return yards in a sloppy 13-12 win
over the Panthers that began a 4 game winning streak. Yeast has not
played in the NFL since then, but now plays for the Hamilton Tigercats
and has caught 15 passes for 256 yards. He also had a 72 yard punt
return for a TD.
Ezra Landry has no real connection with
the Jets whatsoever, but I thought it was interesting that he had a 125
yard missed field goal return for a TD. (He also ran back a punt 74
yards for a TD in the same game). Chris McAlister has the longest
return in NFL history (108 yards), but Aaron Glenn previously held the
record with a 104 yarder for the Jets against the Colts in 1998. There
you go, a very tenous link.
As you are probably aware, there are
subtle rule differences and it got me thinking that maybe last year's
Jets would have been better off in the CFL – or if the NFL adopted some
of these rule changes. Here are the differences I am aware of…
1.
Three downs instead of four: Hackett would have been in heaven. Punting
on third down would save so much time because he never bothered to try
and convert a third down the whole time he was here.
2. Wider,
longer fields and bigger end-zones (the anti-AFL): Santana Moss might
have been dissuaded from running straight to the sideline on a punt
return, because it would have taken so much longer. With a longer field
it would be longer before the Jets were in range to go into
conservative mode. Bigger endzones might have increased the probability
of Hackett realising there was such a thing as an endzone.
3.
Singles: You basically score a point if you register a touchback. Doug
Brien's second missed field goal against Pittsburgh could have still
given the Jets a one-point win.
4. Goalposts on the goal-line:
With the goalpost that much closer, his first field goal against the
Steelers would have cleared the crossbar easily. This would have the
potential downside of being skilled enough to cover Anthony Becht,
despite being completely inanimate.
5. 12 men, not eleven: No
more stupid 12 men on the field penalties (although at San Diego, we
went a whole series with ten men). I'm not sure how 6 eligible
receivers would help us either, considering the only passes Hackett
ever seemed to throw were screens.
6. The ball is bigger:
Probably not good news for Chad, given the fact that everyone knows his
arm strength is just about enough to open a jar of pickles
(notwithstanding the fact that he threw Santana Moss a perfect 60 yard
bomb in last year's playoffs, despite having a torn rotator cuff).
7. Three minute warning, instead of two: As if Dick Curl and Herm Edwards didn't get confused enough already…
8.
Wideouts can get a running start before the ball is snapped: This was
banned in the NFL when Bob Hayes started to do it. I'm sure it would
really help the Jets receivers to get downfield quicker, so that they
could turn back around, watch a two yard run up the middle and then
trudge back to the huddle.
9. There are many two-way kickers
(i.e. Kicker/Punters): Hmmm. The Jets kicking game last year was woeful
enough without putting it all on one guy.
In conclusion, then,
perhaps last year's Jets and the CFL is not such a great marriage,
Hopefully Heimerdinger can create an offense that will spread the
field, so Chad will feel like he has more wiggle room anyway.
OK, guys. It's time for you to do some
work. I don't know how comfortable Bassett would be with me calling an
audible at this point, but hey…you snap me the ball, I'm gonna make
the call.
An audible is one of Bassett's inventions and it
basically represents a chance for you to offer your comments and/or
predictions. I have three issues for you to discuss using the comments
below.
1. Which veteran will have a breakout year this year? The
surprise contributors from last season were mainly the rookies (Vilma,
Coleman) and the free agents (Barton, Barrett, Kendall – who each
arguably didn't really have a breakout year, just became known to NY
fans). If I had to pick a veteran Jet that broke out last year, I
suppose Bryan Thomas is the best I can come up with (maybe Brandon
Moore too). Robertson made strides, but that was expected. So who will
step it up to the next level this year? Hobson? Askew? Strait?
Cotchery? Or maybe a decent player will become a superstar. Vilma?
McCareins? Pennington? Let's have your suggestions.
2. Who is
going to be the scapegoat this year? With Mousey, Buckley, Becht, the
crab, Hackett and Brien gone, who can we vent our frustration at? I
don't think it's healthy for it to be someone high profile like
Pennington or Herm, but these seem to be at least media targets right
now. My money is on Dick Curl or John Abraham. Who else could there be?
3.
Simple one this…which of these three will be playing for the Jets on
opening day? – Chad Pennington, Ty Law, John Abraham. You have a
one-in-eight chance of going three for three. I'm going to have a stab
at it being Chad, but not Abe or Ty. Register your official guess now
and win everyones enduring respect.
