Monthly Archives: May 2007
Here’s a quick rundown of the OTAs that started today. I will add more links as they show up in the RSS-O-Sphere:
The Updates
- Morning Practices: Lange strikes first with some updates on how practice went. Among his many observations, Lange likes the way Thomas Jones looks and how Revis did at 3/4 speed.
- Interviews: Lange hits first again. Canny had a great opening question for Pennington, Justin Miller was guarded (see more about from the official site’s reporter, Eric Allen in a half P.R. / half news piece).
- Coachspeak: Lange gets the notes up from the Coach’s presser.
- Penciling in Starters: Tom Rock notes who was on the field with the first team, note some exceptions with Mangold & Kendall.
- Our Favorite H-Back: Although Barnes started, Cimini notes that Stacey Tutt saw lots of work as a H-Back … nice!!
The Interesting Tidbits
- Mangold wasn’t practicing … look for some stories about this. The sky isn’t falling yet though.
- Adrien Clarke stood in for the absent Pete Kendall. Wade Smith started at center for Mangold. Watch out how this develops over the next few practices … will Jacob Bender or Adrian Jones get time with the first team?
- Mangini didn’t bite on the Justin Miller story, just saying that it was an “internal” matter.
- Mangini deflected concern over Brick’s weight by saying that he and Brick had been working together on that.
- Mangini had (predictably) nothing but praise for McCareins. With Coles, Cotch, McCareins, Dwight, Brad Smith, Frisman Jackson, Wallace Wright and Chansi Stuckey, on the roster, in addition to some tryouts, camp could get interesting.
- Brad Smith was returning kicks along with Revis … are the Jets anticipating a few game absence for Justin Miller?
- David Harris was working with the second team.
- Kellen Clemens struggled some, but at least he wasn’t yelled at by Schott.
For more information, check Randy Lange’s blog regularly.
Thanks again to zenlaw for passing along some chat transcripts, these are from 5/29 on ESPN.com.
Justin (Queens, NY): Jets will shock the world and win the division away from the Pats this year. Mark it down. Brady & co. will not be able to slow the Mangini Regime. It’s all about character.
Chris Neubauer: I agree with you if you were talking about 2008. The Patriots will win the AFC East this year and the Super Bowl.
Brian Bassett: I see your point about character, but in the coming years, don’t be surprised to see some more players like Corey Dillon, Rodney Harrison, etc once the team is more established. As far as the Pats, with very little disturbance to the coaching staff, signing one of the best free agents on the market, Adalius Thomas, to their weakest personnel grouping, and the addition of an armament for Tom Brady at receiver, the only weak link I see is their running game, which won’t matter this season anyway. As much as I would love to see the Jets win the division, I have to think it will be very tough, they’ll get their first crack at the matter Kickoff Sunday.
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Justin (Queens, NY): Have you scouted Kellen Clemens? Do you think he takes the reigns from Chad within 2 years?
Chris Neubauer: Chad Pennington keeps his job as long as he stays healthy and productive. But Clemens was drafted by the Mangini-Tannebaum regime with the idea that he will be a franchise QB some day. So if Pennington gets hurt this season, the Clemens era could begin sooner than you may think.
Brian Bassett: Two questions in one day huh Justin? Nice work! And don’t think I haven’t caught on to your fixation with Clemens. I would have to agree with Neubauer again, clearly you don’t draft a guy in the second round if you don’t want to turn the franchise over to him eventually, key word being eventually. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, and Pennington currently ain’t broke.
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Aaron EUGENE: Will the Jets find anyone to work their D Line? It seems like they are just signing anyone they can; how long until Courtney Brown and the Cleveland, I mean Denver, D Line comes over to the Jets too?SportsNation Matt Williamson: Yeah, I hear ya bro. I respect that they are trying to make changes to a DL that really needed work, but they haven’t brought in anyone who gets you excited. They finally do have some tough guys that fit the 3-4 well though and should get some stoutness at the LOS with this group…but I don’t see any pass rush and their NT situation is scarey as well.
Brian Bassett: First off, Matt, please spell S-C-A-R-Y correctly, you work for the worldwide leader, after all, yeesh. If you take a look at the free agent market for tackles and ends, there weren’t a lot of good players out there. According to ESPN’s rankings, no free agent lineman ranked better than 78 out of 100, which puts the top talent in the “Good Starter” range. If you take a look at the first round of the 2007 Draft, at least six players (seven if you count Anthony Spencer) who play D-Line were taken in the first round. I don’t blame the Jets for their strategy, but I do agree that their line needed some drastic changes. Many argue that D-Rob improved last season, and I would agree, is he a protypical 3-4 nose? I won’t say that.
As far as the pass rush … umm are you serious? This is a 3-4 Matt, ends do the dirty work for the ‘backers … the Jets had 35 sacks in 2006, the last functional year, in 2004 the team had 37, not too bad for year with a new system, compared to a year when they had two of the league’s best bookends in John Abraham and Shaun Ellis. Allow Bryan Thomas and Victor Hobson a little more grace until we see if the defense can provide a leap this season.
The hope is that Kenyon Coleman can provide the needed starting oomph to the line along with some of the vets they have brought in for rotation work, coupled with David Harris taking on guards more effectively.
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Rob, Green Bay: Which team’s offensive line has the best young talent?SportsNation Matt Williamson: Tough call-Clev comes to mind right off the bat. So does NYJ. Zona has some good young talent. TBay does too. Who am I missing?
Brian Bassett: The Jets line is “young” and potentially “best” at two spots, but with some room for growth, and some need for long term replacements at Guard and Right Tackle. I know you probably don’t want to see this, but the Pats have a fairly young group of players under 30, and have them all locked up for at least two years. I really don’t have the energy right now to look around the league and see what else is out there, sorry.
- Eric Allen catches up with Tim Dwight’s off the field projects, as well as his eagerness to return to the Jets. I have to say, if you read his comments at the beginning, he’s seems not sure he is going to make the team.
- Dave Hutchinson does a bio of Thomas Jones.
- The Jets are planning on working out receiver Evan Prall on June 13th.
- Andrew Gross updates Jets Journal with some information on Justin Miller.
- Eric Mangini has a charity bowling event coming up on June 11th.
- Matt Miller at New Era has another post up about scouting fullbacks.
- Is Mark Cuban serious about a new football league?
- Walking is hard … and I would like world peace.
- Best. Blog Post. Title. Ever.
- Must be nice to not have to rehab all offseason!
- Lets hope that Brady won’t be getting much sleep at night come early September.
- Is Losman going to be a star?
- Rookie on their visit to Fleet Week.
- More on the impending parking mess.
- Quincy Carter still struggling to stay in the game.
- Langer writes an update on Jamie Thompson in NFL Europa.
- Eric Allen writes a bio on camp QB Brett Ratliff.
- Leberfeld writes on David Bowens, and that the Jets were competing with New England and Carolina for Bowens services.
No more updates today, I am getting on a plane for most of the day.
Matt Miller over at New Era Scouting (his site was the one who provided you with the in-depth scouting reports for the NFL Draft) has taken his blog in a bit of a new direction over the past week, and is giving us fans a better perspective on what it takes to look at a collegiate prospect as a potential NFL contributor. So far his series has two posts up, one about scouting QBs and another about scouting RBs, very interesting stuff. Here’s a taste from the running backs post on scouting for speed:
Unless you can gain access to a Pro Day or the NFL Combine, speed is hard to scout on film. You can watch to see how quickly a player hits the hole or if he can run away from defenders, but a lot of this also depends on the defender chasing. The best way to scout for speed is to watch the defense. If they are taking angles and still not catching a player, it is safe to say he has the needed speed to make it in the NFL.
Definitely worth the read!!
Hey gang! Still in Colorado with limited access to the Interwebs, but I took a few hours to get out of the house and hang at a bohemian coffee spot … crunchy Colorado style. Anyway, if you are a fan of the NBA, my good buddy Jeff from Celticsblog and I have been working on the NBA portion of Rookiepedia. Please check it out, make additions and corrections, and spread the word, just like the NFL version.
Thanks!
More news came out in yesterday’s Daily News about the incident involving Justin Miller, but basically the story is just getting some details fleshed out. Details like that Miller was probably intoxicated, and that the girl he hit is an aide for Senator Obama. Although that sounds serious, I don’t really know how that makes a difference in the administration of his charges. Although there was no mention Miller being drunk in the first accounts, I had imagined it was the case, as if you remember after he hit the girl, he then shoved her to the ground. Most likely because he was off balance, I imagine. An eyewitness who was in the group of people who Miller swung at says he was drunk.
“He was drunk. His friends were trying to make him stop talking. … He started to make rude comments to everybody,” Turner said. “We didn’t even know who he was.”
Ironically, for all the bad press “posses” can get, they were the ones trying to keep Miller out of trouble.
- Leberfeld writes a quick blog post about the Jets’ good attendance of the offseason workout program.
- Sadly, young Patriot DE Marquise Hill has died due to a boating accident over Memorial Day weekend.
- Randy Hill makes a list of rookies that will make an immediate impact. David Harris makes the list.
- Jets’ UDFA Linebacker Jason Trusnik was a part of Project Hope last week during Fleet Week in New York.
“The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.”
–Thucydides
Heading out to Estes Park today, but before we leave, I wanted to remind those from the U.S. of the significance of this day. Today is the day we remember those who fought for our sake and gave their lives in defense of our freedom, in situations where they knew what was in store. If you feel so moved, please give to a veterans’ fund. TJB is donating their first advertising revenue check to this cause.
- Blake Costanzo has had a good season in NFL Europa.
- Gary Myers late hits the Justin Miller & NFL Conduct Policy scenario.
- Eric Allen, from the Jets’ site catches up with Kerry Rhodes during a trip to visit a school last week.
- The mayor who helped bring the Jets to Florham Park is up for reelection.
- Does Parcells still have some coach left in him? I wouldn’t be surprised.
The Daily News Journal of Murfreesboro, TN has an article about the Wide Receiver dilemma facing the Titans, and gives the rundown on some players that the Titans might be interested in. The article, which quotes Jeff Fisher, Head Coach of the Titans, says this about McCareins:
Former Titans receiver Justin McCareins, now with the New York Jets, is another possibility if he’s released by the Jets.
Said offensive coordinator Norm Chow: “Yeah, it would be nice to get an older guy, but I don’t think we should get an older guy just to get an older guy. He has to be able to help.”
So, they don’t want to pay for the option to get him, not surprising. McCareins might not be the quickest receiver, but he seems best on long routes, and is better the longer the route gets. I have to imagine that with Vince Young, that’s an interesting option for the Titans, but whether they are willing to pay for him, that remains to be seen.
This week’s action in the league that keeps giving was comfortable wins from the league’s top two teams and solid but unspectacular performances from our Jets-allocated players. If you don’t care, then don’t bother to click on…
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