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Florham Park – For a 3-7 team, there is still plenty of going on at One Jets Drive, and here is a heaping helping of Jets Website Whispers to get your plugged in to what’s up . . .
Jets defensive line coach Pepper Johnson had a bizarre encounter with the media today.
He was requested by a few reporters. Assistant coaches are required by the NFL to speak three times a year.
He came in the press room and said he would only answer questions about himself, not his defensive line.
The session lasted a minute.
I think Johnson is ticked off at the media bashing some of his players, specifically Mo Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson.
There is this obsession by some in the press that guys must speak to them and when they don’t, certain reporters trash them, as to say, “we’ll show you who is boss.”
Mark Cannizzaro really went after Mo and Sheldon after the Miami game for not wanting to talk. Mark has a history of trashing players who won’t talk. He’s written many columns like this over the years.
I don’t think Pepper wanted to talk to the room, so he took a minimalist approach to get his requirement out of the way. NFL rules dictate access, not quality of quotes.
But you know what, what he did today probably wasn’t a great career move. Johnson wants to be a defensive coordinator (and probably a head coach). I think he’s frustrated that he’s pigeon-holed as a defensive line coach.
However, whatever you think of the media, handling the press this way isn’t a good optic, for team’s that might be looking for a coordinator after the year. It can’t help him.
Sometimes you just need to play the game, whether some of the reporters are obnoxious or not . . .
Speaking of the media, Ryan Fitzpatrick refused to do a group interview today when the media invaded the locker room.
He didn’t like how the press conference went Sunday night after the game. He felt reporters asked him the same question over and over and over again about whether he wanted to play on Sunday.
But the interesting thing was he would do one-on-one’s today, and he did quite a few. He just didn’t want to do a group session where there was a good chance the same question would be asked over-and-over by different people.
And Todd Bowles has said who the quarterback is going to be against New England. So in Fitz’s mind, nothing has changed from Sunday, so why do a press conference.
Well actually, Bowles did say who his QB would be against New England, when he said he would play the QB who gives them, “the best chance to win.”
That is Ryan Fitzpatrick. It’s a no-brainer. Even with his short-comings, he’s better than Bryce Petty right now. Petty led the Jets to six points against the Rams, and was very hesitant to pull the trigger on a lot of passes. Like I said the other day, to use a scouting term, he “didn’t trust his eyes.”
Now if the Jets want to spend the rest of the season playing Petty to develop him, and get him some experience, that is an entirely different story. But that doesn’t fit the narrative of playing the QB who gives the Jets, “the best chance to win.”
We are talking about two entirely different concepts here. They can’t be mixed up.
While we don’t get to watch the offensive portion of practice, we watch the special teams, but during that time, the three quarterbacks were taking snaps for centers off to the side. Fitzpatrick was taking snaps from the current starting center, Wesley Johnson, and Petty was with backup center/guard Dakota Dozier and Christian Hackenberg I believe was with Brian Winters, who is the emergency center.
So maybe that tells us a little.
The bottom line is this – the Jets need to win a game now. The morale in the building isn’t great. It doesn’t matter if they are out of the playoff picture. They need to win a game. And there is a chance Rob Gronkowski (punctured lung) won’t play against the Jets, so that makes New England a little more beatable.
And honestly, do you think that offensive performance the other day from Petty, that led to six points, gives the Jets any kind of chance to beat New England and Tom Brady. No way. You need to score points against the Patriots.
Fitzpatrick gives the Jets “the best chance to win.”
And if Bowles goes with Petty, he can’t sell this narrative.
November 15, 2016
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