ARE YOU READY?
Ravens pose big challenge for Gabbert
October, 24, 2011
Oct 242:32PM ETEmailPrintComments2Two teams seemingly heading in opposite directions are set to face off on Monday Night Football (8:30 ET on ESPN).
At 4-1, the Baltimore Ravens look to equal the best six-game start in franchise history. In 2000, they opened 5-1, on the way to a 12-4 finish and Super Bowl XXXV title. Meanwhile, at 1-5, the Jacksonville Jaguars have matched their worst six-game start in team history (started 1-5 in 2003).
After defeating the Titans in Week 1, the Jaguars have lost five straight, their longest losing streak since losing 6 straight games from 2002-03. Jacksonville is facing its fourth straight opponent currently 4-2 or better.
The Ravens have dominated the series of late, having won seven of the past eight meetings. However, six of those wins came by seven points or fewer. History is also working against the Jaguars, who have lost their past six games in primetime.
While defenses now have Ray Rice and company to worry about, the Ravens’ defense remains its core strength. Baltimore is allowing an NFL-low 14.2 points per game, which would be the fewest since the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers (13.9).
It’s vital to strike early against the Ravens, who have allowed only six points in the fourth quarter this season. That’s reminiscent of the 2000 squad, which allowed only 42 fourth-quarter points all season.
Fewest 4th-Quarter Points Allowed
This Season
Ravens 6
Falcons 17
Jets 23
Browns 24
Lions 26
Maurice Jones-Drew is averaging a career-high 4.8 yards-per-carry, but he faces one of the NFL’s top rush defenses. Baltimore is allowing just 76.6 rushing yards per game and 3.3 yards per carry, both third best in the NFL.
That puts added pressure on rookie Blaine Gabbert, making his fifth career start. Out of 34 qualifying quarterbacks, he currently has the second-lowest Total QBR (18.8) ahead of only Kerry Collins (13.6).
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, over the past 10 times a rookie quarterback has started against the team allowing the fewest points per game, his team has won just once. That came in the 2007 regular-season finale, when Matt Moore led Carolina over Tampa Bay, which was resting its starters.
Blaine Gabbert by Throw Location
2011 Season
Inside Numbers Outside Numbers
Comp pct 52.4 45.8
Yds/att 7.8 3.9
TD-Int 4-0 0-2
QBR 78.8 15.0
Gabbert’s biggest strength has been throws inside the numbers, where he’s completed all four of his touchdowns and is averaging 7.8 yards per attempt. Compare that to outside the numbers, where he averages 3.9 per attempt and two interceptions.
Of course, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed might have something to say about that. The Ravens are allowing the lowest completion percentage inside the numbers this season (55.7 pct)
There is reason for hope in Jacksonville. According to Elias, the Ravens have won just two of the last six games in which they faced a rookie starting quarterback, including losses to Charlie Frye and Trent Edwards
Favre? Who Else Would We Be Talking About?
Mon Sep 19 12:01pm EDT
And now they’re calling for Brett Favre in Indianapolis
By MJD
Most of the Brett Favre(notes) talk this offseason was done half-jokingly. Sure, there were desperate teams out there, and you can’t rule anything out with Favre, but when his name was brought up, it was mostly done without any real expectation that anything would happen.
It still probably isn’t going to, but the pleas for Favre to come back are getting a little more desperate and a little more serious. Here’s Bob Kravitz of the Indy Star, making the case that the Indianapolis Colts should give Favre a call.
The next time Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay tweets about visiting Hattiesburg, Miss., here’s hoping he’s not joking around.
Seriously, what’s there to lose at this point with the Indianapolis Colts’ season swirling — having swirled — hopelessly down the drain with Sunday’s 27-19 loss to the Cleveland Browns?
Why not try something a little crazy and see if Brett Favre is interested in dismounting his tractor and taking over the Colts offense?
What was once a Twitter joke now looks like a semi-reasonable option, at least if the Colts can figure out some way to make it work with the salary cap. Sure, it would be a Hail Mary, a desperate move in desperate times, but what do the Colts have to lose?
That’s the bigger point Kravitz makes — that the Colts don’t have anything to lose. And I hate to admit it, but a call for Favre does make sense. Clearly, nothing good is happening under Kerry Collins(notes), so why not give Favre a call and take a long-shot on a miracle, as opposed to sticking with the sure thing of a lost season under Kerry Collins?
And if not Favre, why not stick Curtis Painter(notes) in the lineup? That way, at least you learn more about Painter, you get him some experience and see if he’s worth hanging on to for a while. And if he continues to be as miserable as he was in the preseason, then the upside is that you’re in position to draft Andrew Luck.
It’s worth pointing out, too, that despite all this, it’s pointless to be mad at Kerry Collins. No, he hasn’t played well, but he walked into an impossible situation, and Kerry Collins is, well, Kerry Collins. He was never going to step in and replicate Peyton Manning(notes). At best, at this point in his career, he’ll manage a game for you, and if the rest of your team is good, maybe you’ll win some games.
Unfortunately, the rest of the Colts team is not good. No matter what they do — Favre, Painter, Collins — Colts fans aren’t going to have anything to be excited about until next year, when Peyton Manning is back, perhaps tutoring Andrew Luck.
Playoffs? Playoffs! Dont Talk To Us About Playoffs!
Where do the Colts turn with an injured Manning and with Kerry Collins suffering a concussion in Sunday night’s game against the Steelers?
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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The New England Patriots are honoring the memory of Myra Kraft by wearing her initials on their uniforms during every game this season.
The wife of Patriots owner Robert Kraft died July 20 after a battle with cancer. She was 68.
The team announced Tuesday that to recognize Myra Kraft’s charitable efforts a patch with the initials MHK will be placed on the upper left chest of its uniforms starting with Thursday’s preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
She managed the Robert and Myra Kraft Family Foundation and was president of the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation, which contributed millions of dollars to area charities.
The organization will honor her with a moment of silence before the regular-season home opener on Sept. 18 against the San Diego Chargers.
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NFL PRESEASON
Vick, starters expected to play first quarter vs. Ravens
By Associated Press
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Michael Vick and the rest of the starters are expected to play one quarter when the Philadelphia Eagles open the preseason against against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night (watch on NFL Network Thursday at 11 p.m. ET Thursday).
Eagles coach Andy Reid has a simple rotation. He’s going to play the first unit in the first quarter, the backups in the second and the third-string in the third with the rest of the players fighting for roster spots finishing up in the fourth.
Watch preseason games LIVE online in HD. Get the Back to Football special at NFL.com/preseasonlive.
Vick won’t have starting wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. Jackson just reported to camp on Monday after holding out. Maclin still remains sidelined by an undisclosed illness. Several others won’t play, including defensive tackles Mike Patterson and Trevor Laws. Patterson had a seizure during practice last Wednesday, and was later diagnosed with a brain condition.
Veteran Jason Avant and second-year pro Riley Cooper will start at wide receiver in place of Jackson and Maclin.
“I’m comfortable with those guys and we’re going to go out and try to put on a good performance,” Vick said.
The game marks the debut of several newcomers, including Pro Bowl cornerbacks Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, quarterback Vince Young and running back Ronnie Brown. Young will play the second quarter.
Considering the lengthy NFL lockout and the new rules for practice, this won’t be a typical preseason opener. Players have been at training camp less than two weeks and free agents only started practicing last week.
“I think for the short period of time that they’re in, they’re going hard,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said. “They know they don’t have a lot of plays. They’re going to get in and try to show, and I think for those younger players, or the veteran players trying to make the team, or a team, you get an A-effort for wherever they’re at right now condition-wise and knowledge of the offense or defense-wise. Everybody is going to play in this game, so that gives them an opportunity, if they don’t make this team, then at least they have some tape out there and some work they’ve shown on tape that they might be able to get picked up by another football team. So it’s important that they give it their best shot.”
Eagles defensive coordinator Juan Castillo will coach his first game since switching from the offensive side, where he coached the linemen for more than a decade.
“I don’t think anybody really game plans a game,” Castillo said. “It’s more of we’ll go in and do the things that we’ve been practicing and then try to match up their stuff. Really, they have not watched any tape; we really don’t game plan. All we want to do is really what it allows us to do is kind of refresh and go through all the coverages and blitzes we’ve been practicing. Kind of like little review, really.”
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
New Haven Register Sports Writer Will Be Missed
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dave Solomon, the Register sports columnist, died Saturday evening in a one-car accident. He was 59. His wife, Judy, requested that his column run today.
I was thinking:
While Osi Umenyiora and the Giants continue to fuel a tense situation with terse words and actions, we need to examine Umenyiora’s charge that NFL teams have no contract loyalty to the players. Umenyiora asks why players should be held to a higher standard of loyalty in long-term contracts than the owners.
We have no argument that Umenyiora is being underpaid at $7 million for the next two seasons combined. And surely we don’t know what Giants GM Jerry Reese said, or promised Umenyiora behind closed doors back in April of 2008.
But as to the loyalty issue, the players showed little inclination in collective bargaining to change a system that not only permits teams to cut players in the later years of their contract (when no guarantee money is owed), it financially encourages that practice as good business sense.
The lack of guaranteed money to players has been a major problem in pro football for years, yet if the players won’t fight to change a system that encourages the Bengals to say “take it or leave it” to Carson Palmer, and for the Giants to renege on giving Umenyiora the freedom to work out his own deal, then why should we feel sorry for them?
Most of the guaranteed money paid out by the clubs is front-loaded — as the players want it. But don’t come running back in years three, four and five, complaining that the contract signed in good faith years ago suddenly pales in the current marketplace.
The players had their opportunity to take a strong stand on this issue and never attempted to make changes to a system that year after year leads to an angry cadre of football players around the NFL.
‰Can you think of two coaches who are more polar opposite than the last two Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinators — currently Rob Ryan, and Paul Pasqualoni in 2010?
‰I offer this public service to global IWT readers as an aid for the upcoming NFL season — particularly in the early weeks.
Smart money favors the veteran teams across the board — and double up when a veteran team is facing an opponent with a new coach/new system.
With the lockout keeping football in gridlock for nearly five months, rookies and free agent signees just learned hours ago where the men’s room was located at their respective training camps. Moreover, new coaches and new systems are at a huge disadvantage in this abbreviated preseason and voided offseason. Everything’s coming at the new players in a hurry and it’ll be reflected on the field.
Consider that the last good advice I’m likely to give.
‰Join with me in a hearty snicker over the “commitment” of Andy Roddick to the upcoming Winston-Salem Open — which most recently was the men’s Pilot Pen tennis tournament in New Haven. In the six years that the men’s tournament played alongside the women in New Haven, Roddick failed to show up even once, telling tournament organizers without fail that it didn’t suit his preparation for the U.S. Open the following week.
Now, all of a sudden, it feels right to play the week before the Open?
Our skepticism, put in question form to New Haven Open CEO and International Tennis Hall of Fame nominee Mike Davies, resulted in the following response:
“Well, what do you think it’s all about?” laughed Davies, knowing the answer as well as I. “What can I say? Either he really needs to practice the week before the U.S. Open, or somebody’s making an offer he can’t refuse.”
New Haven, under either the Pilot Pen or its current multi-pronged corporate umbrella, has always drawn a line in the sand when it comes to paying appearance fees.
Davies acknowledged that the proliferation of appearance fees is worse outside of America, but in regard to Roddick’s commitment the week before the Open, Davies said, “My first reaction was, ‘Well, somebody opened the coffers or made some deal that is obviously very attractive. That’s about all I can say.”
‰To paraphrase a once-great basketball player:
Alex Rodriguez was playing poker. We’re talkin’ about poker, man. We’re talkin’ about poker. When you come to the ballpark and see him play, you see him play right, you see him give everything he’s got. But we’re talkin’ about poker right now, man. We’re not even talkin’ about the game, when it actually matters. We’re talkin’ about poker.
‰New Haven’s Tony Sparano, head coach of the Miami Dolphins, could use a mulligan for publicly allowing himself to be goaded by the fans who chanted Kyle Orton’s name as an indictment of Dolphins starting quarterback Chad Henne in practice last week. Sparano said the chanting “made him sick.”
You know what really ought to make him sick? The fact that the team didn’t rectify an unacceptable situation at quarterback for the second straight year. Good luck against the Pats and Jets.
‰We’re reminded by IWT sentinel of New Haven sports lore, Joel Alderman, that a precious piece of New Haven and Yale football history passed away last week. Dr. Len Fasano, a teammate of the immortal Levi Jackson at Hillhouse, Yale and in the Army camp at Lee, Va., passed away at the age of 84 on July 31. Through the years, Fasano became a vigilant spokesman against the segregation and prejudice that Jackson faced though his playing years and tour of duty in the armed service. Jackson was Yale’s first African-American football captain in 1949.
‰The only thing that could possibly be of less interest than an NBA lockout would be a UFL lockout.
‰We’re glad to see that the Governor gave the student-athletes at the vo-tech schools a reprieve. It was wrong to include them in his political fight in the first place.
‰The moment we suggested in this space last week that Robby Cano completely screwed up his swing during the All-Star Game’s home-run derby, he puts together a seven game stretch (through Friday) in which he’s hitting .462 with an on-base percentage of .533 and a slugging percentage of .807. We don’t take the credit for his resurgence, just the mortification for suggesting he was tumbling fast.
‰After last year’s big-time non-league schedule, maybe my expectations were too high for the 2011-12 UConn men’s basketball schedule. But on paper, this year’s non-league lineup leaves us completely underwhelmed. In addition to the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament in the Bahamas, with a field including UConn, Harvard, Florida State, Utah, UMass, Central Florida, the College of Charleston and UNC-Asheville, UConn will play, Columbia, Wagner, Maine, Coppin State, Arkansas, Harvard, Holy Cross, Fairfield and Tennessee.
You can’t spin gold from that list, hard as some people may try.
‰How many zeros at the end of a blank check will it take for Tiger Woods to quash the proposed new tell-all book by his former caddie Steve Williams? Here’s hoping we get to read the juicy details.
NEVER FORGET
THEN ONE DAY YOU FIND, TEN YEARS HAVE GOT BEHIND YOU
9-11 Opening Day, Dedicated To The Men And Women Of New York’s Finest, Thank-You To The Owners,The Players, And The National Football League For Making It Happen
F….D….N…Y, JETS,JETS,JETS
Let us “NEVER FORGET”, hard to believe its been ten years. Please revive the chant for new yorks finest.
FDNY, JETS,JETS,JETS
Thank-You to all of you who gave everything. May god bless New York.
Yes Its True Brett Farve Will Stay Retired……….. In Miami
“Brett Favre’s retired, that’s all I can say. He’s like Elvis now. People just won’t let go.” Bus Cook, Favre’s Agent
I always wanted to retire in Florida
Time for Dolphins to call Brett Favre
By DAVE HYDE
Sun Sentinel
Published Wednesday, August 3, 2011
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Do they break the glass? Do they call 911? Do the Dolphins think this quarterback situation is dire enough to utter the two words that could solve all their problems immediately?
These two words: Brett Favre.
Followed by these two words: Don’t laugh.
Oh, that’s not fair. Go ahead and laugh. It’s funny. It’s crazy. It’s absurd. It’d be the most desperate act imaginable in a training camp where the Dolphins already have some measure of desperation.
But when you finish having a good chuckle, take a deep breath and ask yourself this: Doesn’t this move make some good sense if Favre is healthy enough? Admittedly, that small word – if – can clog this dream up in a quick phone call.
But here’s the laundry list of reasons why the Dolphins should be making that phone call to Hattiesburg, Miss.
1. With this defense, this team is an average quarterback away from a 10-win season that would save a lot of good work.
2. Favre is smart, very experienced at 41 and a one-year rental for only dollars, not draft picks.
3. For as bad as 2010 was for him, he’s a season removed from a 33-touchdown, seven-interception season with Minnesota.
4. Brian Daboll, the new offensive coordinator, was Favre’s quarterback coach in 2008 with the New York Jets.
5. He’d immediately turn the Dolphins from a team no one’s talking about to one everyone is.
Don’t dismiss that final point. The Dolphins’ season-ticket sales have dropped off dramatically the last several years, a serious issue for the business side of this franchise.
Here’s the real question: Is this franchise ready to set sail into 2011 with Chad Henne at quarterback? Because if they are, we’re at the point it’s time to stand up and say so.
Dolphins coach Tony Sparano did a commendable job when asked how he felt to hear fans boo Henne and chant, “We want Orton” at the welcome-back, feel-good practice at Sun Life Stadium on Monday.
“Besides the fact it really makes me sick?” Sparano said.
The problem is, for the last six months everyone in the organization from the owner on down has discussed finding a quarterback to challenge Henne, at the very least. That’s the mindset they’ve developed.
No matter what people think, General Manager Jeff Ireland and Sparano have built a solid roster. Look at it. The defense is one of the league’s best. The offensive line, though costly, now looks solid. There are weapons like Brandon Marshall and Reggie Bush.
The special teams? Well, let’s wait and see on that.
The point is, this team needs a quarterback. Maybe Henne becomes that guy. If not, the draft didn’t bring anyone. Matt Moore isn’t that guy. Kyle Orton was the hope, but even Denver admitted Wednesday that that deal is dead.
As the other answers fell away, one by one, isn’t Favre the best answer? And might he not be the perfect one?
Will he want to play? Who knows? He’s retired, after all. But that hasn’t exactly stopped him in the past. Favre could look at this defense, this offensive line, some of the weapons waiting for him and decide it’s worth getting off the couch. He can’t be happy he threw 11 touchdowns, 19 interceptions and had a 69.9 quarterback rating in his last year.
Is he healthy enough? Motivated enough? That’s easy enough to find out. Pick up the phone. Make the call. Sell him on this role. (And by all means have him take a physical.)
When the Marlins hired 80-year-old Jack McKeon as manager, who didn’t chuckle? But it made sense when you wrapped your mind around it. Look how it’s played out, too.
Those “We Want Orton” chants weren’t the time and place, just as Sparano said.
But here’s another thought as this franchise keeps you wondering just what they think of their quarterback.
“We Want Favre.”
Read more: http://www.islandpacket.com/2011/08/03/1747241/time-for-dolphins-to-call-brett.html#ixzz1U6RWy6Wj
Heeeeez Baaaack!
By NFL.com Staff
–>
Published: August 4th, 2011 | Tags:
Brett Favre, Brett Favre
Watch, Bus Cook, Jason La Canfora,
Miami Dolphins,
Tony Sparano
Really, all it takes is for one meddling columnist to connect some wayward
dots and then … sound the Brett Favre Watch!
Yes, we’re talking about Favre. Again. And you thought this was over.
It all started Thursday when Dave Hyde of
the Sun Sentinel laid out a list of reasons why the Dolphins should put in a
phone call to Hattiesburg, Miss. It escalated when Omar Kelly posed the question
to Dolphins coach Tony Sparano, who did nothing to squash the
story.
“I can’t rule anything out. … I’m giving you the
only answer I can give you,” Sparano said about possibly exploring Favre, according to a Tweet from Kelly.
“We always have our eyes open, and are always
exploring possibilities,” Sparano added when asked if the team is still looking for
QBs.
Yikes. And Chad Henne woke up this
morning probably thinking things couldn’t get any worse.
But NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora jumped into the
fray and checked in with Favre’s agent, Bus Cook, who when
asked if the Dolphins or another team could entice Favre to return, responded
with “He’s retired.”
So, in other words, there’s really no closure here.
– Frank Tadych
Yahoo Sports
//
If you’re going to be a truly horrible personnel executive, it’s best to have your moves still wreaking havoc with your former team even after you’ve moved on to greener pastures. Such is the case for Josh McDaniels, who did quite the waste job on Denver’s roster in less than two full seasons before he was summarily dismissed late in the 2010 season. Getting rid of Jay Cutler(notes), Brandon Marshall(notes), Peyton Hillis(notes) and Alphonso Smith(notes) were the moves that set off bombs at the times they happened, but it was a 2010 first-round draft pick that may leave the largest impact — and not necessarily a good one.
When the Broncos selected Tim Tebow(notes) 25th overall in 2010, it moved the media hype around Tebow from Florida to the Mile High City, especially when Tebow played reasonably well in Denver’s last few games after starter Kyle Orton(notes) suffered a season-ending rib injury. This offseason, the Broncos tried to engineer an Orton trade to the Miami Dolphins, but it hasn’t happened yet. New team president John Elway and head coach John Fox may still move Orton, and if they do so in favor of Tebow, it sounds like the team’s veteran offensive skill players might not be too happy about that.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Jim Trotter, the Broncos are weighing two divergent factors: It’s clear that Orton is far ahead of Tebow at this point, and even third-stringer Brady Quinn(notes) may be ahead of Tebow at this point in a pure football sense. But the Tebow mystique — the intangibles and off-field aura that have made him a star before he’s done much in the league — have Denver’s fans clamoring to see a guy whose jersey sales have far outstripped his football accomplishments to date.
“It’s the Tebow Thing,” receiver Brandon Lloyd(notes) told Trotter. “They’ll put Kyle on the trading block because they don’t want to deal with the Tebow Thing. But it’s not going to end until [Tebow] plays. The faster they get this Tebow Thing over with, one way or the other …
“I spent the entire offseason preparing myself for Tim being the quarterback, because the organization put Kyle on the trading block at the end of the year … what pass plays are we going to be running? Are we going to be running sprint plays? Throwing from outside the pocket? Running routes is easy, especially with a pure drop-back passer like Orton. But with Tim, the ball is going to be coming from different spots and different angles. That takes getting used to.”
Tebow is a left-handed quarterback who’s better out of the pocket, and the option offense he ran at Florida left him with a major uphill battle when it comes to acclimating to a complex pro-style offense. The Broncos were able to scheme around Tebow’s limitations last year when the season was long over and everyone was marking time, but things become far more complicated if Tebow is truly named the face of the franchise sooner than later.
At that point, the Broncos are building for the future, as opposed to trying to win now. That’s never something the fans want to hear — and as much as they may want to see Tebow now, the glow could wear off fairly quickly when he’s asked to lead the team and those limitations show up under a microscope. Many tape junkies have insisted that Tebow simply isn’t ready for the NFL (not even close, in some cases), and ESPN “NFL Matchup” analyst Merril Hoge is one of them.
From his Twitter feed Wednesday morning (tweets slightly edited on our side):
Sitting watching tape of Bronco offense from last year! Orton or Tebow? It’s embarrassing to think the broncos could win with tebow!!
Orton or tebow? QB play is not just about who works hard gives rare rare college speeches or who is a good guy!! Because orton works hard and is a good guy as well.
It’s about who can play!! I just watched Tebow throw 5 out routes to a wide open WR! He was 1 for 5! 2 went in Dirt 2 in the stands!
That throwing motion he changed? U can’t change who u r! Just watched 2 throws and he throws like he did in college!!
You must possess a skill set to play! Tebow struggles with accuracy!
Football sense or fan pressure? Which way will the Broncos go? McDaniels, who’s now working with Sam Bradford(notes) as the St. Louis Rams‘ offensive coordinator, must be having a bit of a chuckle over the drama he created.
Congratulations World Champion Green Bay Packers
Welcome Coach Sidney Keith Contributing Editor & World Class Green Bay Packer Fan
Three things we learned Tuesday – Jets Blog – ESPN New York
New York Jets
Three things we learned Tuesday
August, 2, 2011
Aug 2
9:59
PM ET
Comments2
By Rich Cimini
1. Woody Johnson has deep pockets. To no one’s surprise, the Jets hammered out a new contract for David Harris — four years, $36 million, including $29.5 million guaranteed. That’s a serious amount of coin for an inside linebacker, usually not a premium position, but Rex Ryan obviously believes Harris can be his Ray Lewis. Between Harris, Santonio Holmes and Antonio Cromartie, the Jets have doled out contracts totalling $118 million, including about $75 million guaranteed.
So now they’re set for a long time, right? Well, not exactly. A year from now, Dustin Keller and Shonn Greene will be entering their walk year. In two years, Mark Sanchez will be entering his final year.
2. Rex likes Mo — a lot. Ryan talked up first-round pick Muhammad Wilkerson, anointing him the starting right end (for now) and predicting a significant role for him this season. Wilkerson has a lot of potential, for sure, but methinks the coach was using the media to pressure the unsigned Shaun Ellis, a free agent. They’ll never admit it, but as much as they like Wilkerson, the Jets need Ellis’ know-how and leadership on defense. He’d be a good mentor to Wilkerson and the other young linemen.
3. Crunch time. A year ago, the Jets conducted 36 training-camp practices. This summer, they’re scheduled for 24, according to Ryan. That, coupled with the lack of an off-season program, has put a tremendous burden on the coaches to get the players up to speed. And it means there’s less free time for the players, who are in catch-up mode. Right now, it’s a heavy in
via Three things we learned Tuesday – Jets Blog – ESPN New York.
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