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In this edition of Website Whispers, Dan gets into topics including furlough repayments, blather and some undrafted free agents to keep an eye on . . .
ESPN New York’s Rich Cimini wrote the following today – “With the NFL lockout on the verge of ending, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson assembled the entire organization Monday morning in the team’s auditorium and told about 150 employees that all lost wages from the lockout would be returned to them by the time they returned to their desks, according to a person familiar with the meeting.”
Jetsconfidential.com premium members know this isn’t entirely what is going on here. This isn’t a shot at Cimini, just a realistic look at how the repayments really worked. Cimini is correct, the workers got all their money back.
Yes, the Jets employees who had to take furloughs during the lockout got their compensation back.
But not all of that money came from the Jets.
The Jets furloughed employees (one week a month during the lockout), were eligible for unemployment insurance for the weeks they were forced to take off. The Jets are only making up the difference between the unemployment money and the worker’s one week salary.
So this isn’t entirely what it seems, but it’s certainly good for the Jets staff that they didn’t end up losing any money . . .
I think Rex is an very good head coach, and a BRILLIANT defensive mind, but let’s be honest, he’s given to hyperbole when addressing the media or fans. While I have a great deal of respect for the coach, I’m not going to sit here and let everything he says go unchecked, like some others. I’m not looking to be a hater, I’m just doing my job. Too many reports have turned into stenographers.
In an video address to Jets fans today he made the following statements –
Rex – “The Ground & Pound offense is ready to roll…Let’s get it on”
Rex on Sanchez – “We’re going to let it fly a little more than we have in the past.”
Okay, let me get this straight, the “ground and pound is ready to roll, and “Sanchez is going to let it fly.”
So you are going to be combination of “Ground Chuck” and “Air Coryell.”
He also said about the lockout – “We got better. I don’t know if any other team did. But we got better.”
You have 17 free agents and had no access to the players for five months and you got better?
I think the Jets are going to be really good this year (continuity is king this year, and the Jets have a lot of it), but I refuse to sit here, listen to blather, and not question anything like a lot of reporters. There are way too many people doing this right now on the Jets beat (and lots of other beats in sports and news).
I refuse to do that.
And this isn’t a matter of being negative.
That is not what I learned in journalism school . . .
A couple of undrafted free agents to keep an eye on – Nebraska guard Rich Henry, a tough SOB, who was recruited to Nebraska by Bill Callahan, and Troy pass rusher Mario Addison, perhaps the best pass rusher available on this list.
