Link: McKnight Revamps Workout Regimen
Joe McKnight learned on his first day of work that the NFL would be a bit more vigorious than college ball. After leaving his breakfast on the field and hitting the bench with cramps in his leg and calf, McKnight aknowledged he was out of shape and unprepared. Hopefully, there won’t be an encore as McKnight, according to the Times-Picayune, has revamped his workout regimen.
The fourth-round pick, who opted to forgo his senior season at USC, conceded he was not in the best shape this summer, when vomiting, dehydration and cramping in his leg and calf muscles sidelined him during practices and puzzled his coaches.
After his rude awakening to the rigorous NFL practices, McKnight said he is modifying his workout and health regimen, in hopes of making an impact on the Jets’ running game this season, which has a new look since New York acquired LaDainian Tomlinson and traded Thomas Jones to the Chiefs and Leon Washington to the Seahawks
“I went home and worked on my cardio — I did a lot of core training and running to get my wind back, ” McKnight said. “It’s helped me because a lot of papers described me as lazy and not hard-working. I’m still changing that perception of me.”
J.T. Curtis, McKnight’s guardian and high school coach whom he lived with as a junior and senior after Hurricane Katrina, said McKnight’s physical exhaustion at rookie minicamp practices happened because his nerves fire up so easily in new situations.
“I don’t think it was his conditioning as much as his excitement to be there, ” Curtis said. “When Joe gets juiced up, he gets a terribly weak stomach … Joe will be in top condition at training camp. There are no concerns there.”
Local NFL analyst Mike Detillier said rookies arriving with subpar conditioning is not uncommon.
“You find out real quick there’s a difference between workout condition and game condition, ” Detillier said. “If we were three weeks into training camp, I’d say it’s an issue.”
As Detillier pointed out this would be an issue if we were getting into training camp but right now its fine. But it is good to see that Joe is adjusting his habits now so he can move on and start focusing on filling Washington’s shoes and establishing himself as a threat on offense and special teams.
Hat tip to miketaliaferro for passing this along.
34 Responses to Link: McKnight Revamps Workout Regimen
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Jamarcus Russell was arrested for possession of a controled substance. Well now we definately are done with him right?
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levi,
Manish announced the other day that the Jets were just inquiring about Russell and nothing more. After this, I suspect that their interest level has dropped to about 0.
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LukeV says:
Um, Thomas Jones wasn’t traded, what’s this dude talking about?
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Harvlis says:
I’ve got a feeling that McKnight is going to be another great fourth round pick for the Jets. I would totally throw out the stomach problems. He has no pressure, a solid O-line, two good FB’s, a talented receiving corp, an up-and-coming QB, and a mentor in LT. If the opposition is not ready for him — good luck to them. I can’t wait to see him in pre-season. Is it August yet?
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Shamik says:
Look, no harm no foul. Its difficult to make the transition from being top stud at USC to third string on a loaded team. He was out of shape and looked off. It happens. By all accounts he’s worked hard to get himself in shape and learn the plays. Lets hope it sticks because he seems like he’s got all the talent in the world.
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juunit says:
EVERY player that makes it to the NFL has a world of talent. That is not the case in college. So the guys that are unprepared or rely solely on their natural superiority are in for a rude awakening when they reach the NFL, and McKnight fits that description perfectly. Not every single player can be a success, and McKnight is the ideal choice to be a failure in the NFL… it has to be someone. I understand everyone would like to be optimistic, especially since he’s never played a game yet, but it just doesn’t seem very realistic. He was a 4th round pick, if he was that talented he would’ve gone in the first round. That doesn’t necessarily mean he can’t be good, but it doesn’t bode well for him. He’s got a lot of things working against him. I’m pulling for him to play well, I just don’t actually expect him to.
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interested jet says:
shamik,
Then why did mcknight look completely intimidated during those drills in OTA’s? It should never get to the point for a professional athlete who is paid to do his job to look so intimidated and make a grande show (working with the trainers on the sidelines, complaining of cramps, etc). I believe it wasn’t nerves that caused him to vomit but his lack of preparation (mental and physical). It is this lack of preparation that separates a player like Leon Washington who came into training camp in 2006 and worked his butt off and a player who they just aquired to replace washington in mcknight.
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interested jet,
Um, isn’t this article saying that McKnight is doing exactly that (working his butt off)? Whether it was nerves or conditioning doesn’t matter, because it won’t be an issue come Training Camp. He saw his error, is working hard to correct it, and that’s a good thing.
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brendan,
How many years has mcknight been playing football?
So just because he has a small taste of playing for the jets in the offseason and it has exposed him (he is out of shape and intimidated to do some of the hard work) and his guardian has tried to build a positive vibe around him we can forget that this “hiccup” happened? So what that he is “now” working to get back into the swing of things. I remember once a person said “it is a part of the process”. Brendan, he has been working up to this point since someone put a helmet on his head.
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Brendan,
what is interesting is why didn’t Pete Carroll (his former coach at USC) draft Joe Mcknight straight from college? To make matters even more interesting is that he chose to trade for Leon Washington who was unhappy with the jets (contract dispute) and at the time recovering from a leg injury. This is not good for the jets because at least we know what we are getting from Leon Washington. We don’t know what we are getting from Joe Mcknight and from how things are folding Mcknight hasn’t done too many good things on or off the field so far.
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correction:
From how things are unfolding…..
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interested jet,
Where has it ever been written that McKnight was “intimidated to do some of the hard work”?
It’s rather hard to be fully prepared for something you’ve never experienced. He’s never had an NFL workout before this year, and with the circuit of post-season awards dinners/shows, and all the other things that come with playing at a top college program that went to a bowl game, he just didn’t realize the extent to which he has to work.
Since that first day there have been dozens of articles written about how everyone is saying McKnight is working hard to ready himself. So a 22 year old kid made a mistake in March (an incredibly correctable mistake, mind you), and you’re still holding it against him?
How about you wait until camp actually starts before saying McKnight will be not worth the trade. Seeing how Leon will most likely miss part of the season while on the PUP list, I think you should settle down a tad.
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interested jet,
I think you’re confusing Leon Washington 2008 version with Leon Washington 2010 version. Leon suffered a catastrophic leg injury that he is STILL recovering from. Not “at the time recovering from a leg injury. ” Unless by “time” you mean presently and for the foreseeable future.
Things are unfolding? The team is in pre-preseason practices, and you’re writing the 3rd RB on the team off. I just don’t understand the logic behind this way of thinking. He threw up once, had some cramps, and since then has been applauded for his improvement and hard work. But yeah, it makes sense to write him off the first week of July.
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brendan,
The only thing I have to see is a picture of him doing drills that one of our beloved jets fans on this blog was able to post with his comments to feel convinced that he was intimidated during those two days in OTA’s.
On a futher note Leon Washington IS leon washington. Leon Washington said he ahead of schedule and should return to play this season. It is a shame that fans like you only see a physical injury on a player and automatically think they can be replaced. So what if he is injured physically. I rather have a physically injured leon washington coming back to play than a mentally injured joe mcknight who doesn’t have a clue what to do.E-Weeks don’t get yourself tied up into knots it is all in good fun.
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interested jet,
“and should return to play this season.” “Should” isn’t “will”. Like I said, it’s more likely than not that Leon starts the season on the PUP list. So they Jets chose to go with a younger, healthier scat-back.
So from one practice and a couple of fan photos you think McKnight is “mentally injured”? That’s ridiculous.
I’m not sure where you get your information, but Rex has been raving about the skill McKnight possesses. And multiple people were quoted as saying McKnight is picking up the offense rather quickly because of all the extra time he’s putting in. I think you’re the only person who hates McKnight before he even sets foot on a field during a real game. He’s going to be a huge part of the offense, so you should start rooting for him and not crying because Leon’s limpy self isn’t on the team anymore.
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Bent says: Hey, “interested jet” – why the name change?
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brendan,
Thank Rizzo for this…
http://www.newyorkjets.com/fan_zone/download/photos/17114
I am just copying this from his post in May.
Brendan, again there is a possibility he will return to 100 percent but do we know now? I don’t think so. I certainly don’t believe it. Just because he is not 100 percent doesn’t mean he won’t play. I am saying he should return because of this type injury and the role he will be playing (similar to mcknight) this year in seattle should motivate him to play again. I have no doubt that leon’s motivation this year will be higher than last year. Mcknight is all together a different story. Seattle will use Leon more on kickoffs in the beginning of the season. You can’t expect him to return to a 2006 or 2007 pro-bowl form.
Again brendan you drink too much of the kool-aid when it comes to how the jets make their player moves. Leon wanted to play for the jets. He was a team MVP, a pro-bowl player and above else a player with high character who thought of the team first (not money like mcknight and his face paint mind you), leadership, and his presence will be missed.
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interested jet,
Nice picture. Now, if you’re using a facial expression from one-hundreth of a second in a multi-hour long practice to deduce that McKnight is “intimidated” then I think they should up your meds.
I’m not saying Leon isn’t returning. I’m saying his return won’t be until midseason, his return won’t have him as explosive as he once was, and his return won’t have him nearly as effective as he was here.
Key word in your post is “was”. Leon “was” a bunch of things, including a Jet, but he snapped his leg in half and the Jets moved to get younger at the position. Remember, we’re talking about a guy who will get 10-15 plays a game, if that much.
Leon thought team first? He didn’t think about money? And you’re calling ME a kool-aid drinker? The reason Leon isn’t here, is because he fought with the Jets over money and they wouldn’t budge. Then he snapped his leg and didn’t get paid and was traded. My, how nice it must be to have a selective memory.
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bent,
Because it is going to be an very VERY interesting season.
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Hey brendan,
Did you see how big his eyes got? I mean that is a problem. It was like someone was coming after him with an axe.
Brendan, he has a bunch of new teammates in seattle. Who says he cannot duplicate the same success again?
If you look back Tannenbaum was not going to pay leon the money he deserved. Leon needed security, the jets didn’t give it to him. He had to have his medical insurance cover up for him last year while he was out. What kind of a front office does that to a player?
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interested jet,
You assuming off of a random picture. Have you ever played football? Were you in complete control of your facial expressions for every single moment on the field? I sure wasn’t, for all I know I was hanging my tongue out of my mouth look very DERP. It’s a split second, and you’re using it to make assumptions about the guys mental makeup. Needless to say, this is a first.
Leon is on a worse team, with a bad offensive line, coming off a catastrophic leg injury. If he has his best season this year I’ll sign over my PSL to you.
What kind of front office doesn’t overpay for a 3rd down back when he wants to be paid more than your starting 1,400 yard RB? Um…a good one?
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Bent says:
He has a point:
I mean, check this image out. You can practically see the loyalty, steely determination and preparedness in his eyes…
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Bent:
Great observation. Great picture, right?
It’s basically not fair though because any player worth his salt would look and feel that way after scoring a touchdown !!!!
Do you really think we will see this in McKnight this year?
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Brendan:
You are on, and I hope you honor your word !!
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Um, interested jet, I won’t speak for Bent, but I got the impression he was joking when he said that. Pointing out that a single picture is not sufficient evidence to assume anything about a player.
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Brendan:
Continued:
Brendan, on July 6th, 2010 at 10:52 am Said:
interested jet,
“……….Leon is on a worse team, with a bad offensive line, coming off a catastrophic leg injury. If he has his best season this year I’ll sign over my PSL to you”
—————————————————————————I hope you honor your word because I will be tracking Leons game stats starting the first game of the season !!
Let me know what Sec, Row and Seat #…..Cant wait to see the new stadium up close and personal !!!!
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Brendan:
What happened to the old adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words”
I guess you can be TAUGHT to “SEE” anything by the Jets Brass if you drink enough of their Koolaide
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Bent says:
The funny thing is I actually photoshopped Joe McKnight’s face onto that image of Leon Washington.
I don’t have high expectations for McKnight and I wasn’t a huge fan of his in college. Anything they get from him is gravy as far as I’m concerned. However, his problems in rookie camp are not an issue for me, just like Leon’s own struggles weren’t at rookie camp in 2006 (he reportedly ran more Mangini penalty laps than anyone, because he kept muffing punts and dropping catches).
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interested jet,
I’m sorry I don’t live my life according to cute little sayings. A picture can be whatever you make it, but it’s still just a picture. You basing your entire belief about a player on a single picture is just plain moronic.
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Brendan:
Hate to break it to you but the adage of “a pic=1000 words”is not a “cute litle saying” It is a life long adage used in all eternity (that’s right, cavemen did it) by Kings and Queens, and me and every one.
And FYI, that pic of McKnight came with a short story of how he showed his fear of the BIG boys during OTA’s.
So please don’t break this discussion down to calling names !!
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……I’m not calling you any names.
Really? “A picture is worth 1,000 words” has been around for all eternity? Haha dude, I’m sorry, but I’m not getting into an argument this silly. To say you can seriously make an assumption about McKnight’s makeup from a still image of a random spring practice is foolish.
Where is the short story, then? Maybe if you showed me that, and it came from a credible source, and then it repeated 15 or so times, maybe I’ll start to believe you.
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miketaliaferro says:
I officially nominate this thread for this year’s Dopiest Thread When There’s Nothing To Talk About award.
Thanks for the h/t, E. Weeks. And Thanks for finding another story to run with other than the one from The Poop, which I first mentioned. I’ll take the N.O. Picky any time.
As per McKnight, it’ll be interesting to watch as this plays out.
I felt much as IntJet seems to re: Leon, but he’s gone now. It’s over.
I felt much as Bent does re: McKnight, not expecting much of him coming out of USC. Yes, it caught my eye that Pete would rather have Leon on one leg than this kid on two. That says a lot to me. And it did appear that he was a fairly big-sized BMOC jerk walking off the USC turf.
But I refer everyone to the Chris Carter speech vid, now running on NFL.com, that he gives to rooks every year. He says it, and you can feel it in the room, that some will listen to him, and some are just too cool to be less than Too Cool for the NFL thing. McKnight struck me as perhaps one of those.
Much of NFL life, according to Carter, comes down to if you “get it.”
And it’s amazing what total personal embarrassment and catastrophic public humiliation can do to whack someone up side the head and spin them around — and maybe, just maybe, even get their attention. Maybe even long enough to “get it.”
Thanks to Twitter, our little BMOC was a cruel universal joke within minutes of losing his breakfast on his first day at Big Kids’ School.
McKnight was just like WWII — “It was in all the papers” in both cases. McKnight’s been ripped apart as being useless by everyone in and out of the world’s media. Hell, Al-Jazeerah probably ran with the story, for cryin’ out loud. The media did everything but run captions with him crying, “Mommy!!!”
But…
If it turns out that he has the guts to respond to all of that, and yes, allow it to drive him to work harder to win back his lost and ravaged respect, I would indeed begin to cheer for him, as possibly one of the feel-good stories to emerge from camp. His 3rd-string status is immaterial.
If he doesn’t respond, then, fine, cut his ass and let’s move on.
It’s McKnight’s move now.
So does that mean he’s going to puke in his first playoff game too?