Link: DeVito Ready to Make an Impact
When the starting safety makes a declaration on Twitter that his team going to be the best defense in the league, it makes headlines. When a backup undrafted defensive lineman does it, will people really notice?
Shouldn’t the reverse be true? How does a backup player have the right to be so confident? Enter Rex Ryan.
Jane McManus asked him about how things are going this year, and what he expects out of himself and his team. When asked about what he’s learning and what role he’ll play early in the season, DeVito didn’t shy away.
Given that Jenkins has been injured and will miss tonight’s game, and Ellis is suspended for the first game of the regular season due to last year’s arrest for marijuana possession, DeVito should have plenty of opportunities this season.
“This camp I just feel like I’m getting so much better,” DeVito said. “The stuff that were doing – the drills – everything is applicable to what I’m going to be doing on the field. I feel like I’m getting so much better learning so much. I’m just so excited to put it to the test.”
So DeVito was here for two years before Ryan, and although he’s not saying anything about past coaches, it’s easy enough to infer that he feels like he’s getting more out of this coaching staff than he did with last one. It’s really cool when a player on the Jets was once a fan of the team for which he now plays and DL Mike DeVito is one of those guys.
DeVito is going to need to have an impact on this front for the first few games. With Pace out for the first four, Ellis likely to be suspended for one and the likelihood that Kris Jenkins will get more help to keep him fresh, DeVito is going to be a big part of that equation over the first month of the season.
Read Janes two accounts of DeVito, note that her blog has some awesome audio with DeVito making predictions about the defense being the best.
[Suffern's DeVito looks for bigger role - Lohud.com Sports]
[DeVito Coming Up - Jets Journal / Lohud.com]
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off topic but i think the jets are really strugglin to rid of these season tickets this season… i signed up for an account just to see what season tickets they had available on there website and a rep already called me today trying talk me into them and telling me what offers they had for me….
kinda makes me a little worried about the stadium being half empty for games….takes away the home field advantage something our defense needs this year
I like Devito and love seeing him play hard every down. But I take what these guys are saying about how much better this camp is very lightly. I loved that Mangini pushed the players and made camp hard. I though he should be fired but commnets like this happensevery time a new coach comes in…
I LOVE Rex and wanted him hired but they said the same things about W Phillips in Dallas after Parcells left.
I think Rex is the right man for this team but I ignore what every player says at this point. They all are drinking the Kool-Aid right now.
Also off topic, but this story got me wondering. With all the new-found confidence and openly verbalized bravado from Jets players, I wonder what Bob Sutton has to say about last years regime and Rex Ryan’s approach. Personally, i thought he should’ve been canned after last year, but since he is still here, I’d be curious if he is “drinking the green kool-aid” too ,or is he taking the latest comments from DeVito, Lowery, Rhodes, etc. as a slap in the face?
Bubby’s point about Bob Sutton is a good one. It would be interesting to have a side conversation with him.
Mangini is a good coach and over time will get better. Last season the Jets didn’t reach their potential, especially the defense. They won some big games and lost some “should win”s. Mangini was let go.
Ryan comes in and its a breath of fresh air. The players genuinely seem to like Ryan and he may well be a better D coach than Eric. While I’m an optimist, the Jets have yet to play a game.
Liking Ryan is not disliking Mangini. The Press disliked Mangini because he was secretive. Hurt their business. So they stick the knife in when they can. Ryan’s turn will come. It’s in the nature of a piranha.
There would be no Devito, Murrell or Trusnik without Eric. Remember Cotch on the sidelines. It was Eric who got him on the field. He did an excellent job with Kris Jenkins last off season–helping him change is attitudes and approach to the game.
I think the Jets did the right thing bringing in Ryan. But I’m pretty sure that Eric will be an excellent headcoach down the road. He may have made a mistake going to the Browns immediately. I think he could have used some time to rethink some of his approaches, but that’s life. No one turns down an opportunity to coach if its reasonable.
And remember, Eric now has Ryan-2 as his DC, not Sutton.
Totally agree with everything Addage just said.
Mangini should no longer be the head coach, but he got us to where we needed to be. He set this team up for a guy like Ryan to come in a finish the job.
Mangini will be a great head coach in the future. Trust that.
Addage:
Thank you for an outstanding post